The Ecocity World Summit garnered some great coverage from the media, showing how relevant the concern is amongst global trendsetters. Here are a few highlights:

• Landscape and Urbanism
• Treehugger
• BBC World Service
  
• World Changing
• USAToday
• TV20
• Public Radio International

Judy Lawley, Waitakere Ecocity, New Zealand

Fifteen years ago Waitakere became the first New Zealand city to adopt the Ecocity name.  Making that vision a reality has been an all-encompassing task of sensible targets and exciting technology across all areas of city development.  Real sustainability there, however, depends on people’s involvement.  Judy was an early pioneer of the Waitakere Way – working in partnership. She is a member of the governing council of Waitakere’s tertiary institute, Unitec, is a three-term City Council Member. Prior to becoming a city councillor 7 years ago Judy managed a NZ education project to develop values education in schools.

City of Waitakere: www.waitakere.govt.nz

Audience Q & A with Walter Hood, Brent Toderian and Maria Rosario

Walter Hood, Principal, Hood Design, Oakland, CA

In his landscape architecture practice Walter Hood’s interests include the critical examination and development of specific urban landscape typologies for the American city. He likes to reinforce specific cultural, environmental, and physical complexities of the city and neighborhood landscape. He is renown for his much-enjoyed public opens spaces such as “Splash Pad Park” in Oakland.  He is currently working on the Ecocity Builders sponsored redesign of the open space where Center Street is now located in downtown Berkeley where his new design will celebrate and help reveal the dynamics of Strawberry Creek and the connection between city and campus.

Hood Design: www.wjhooddesign.com

Director of Environmental Policy for PG&E Wendy Pulling speaks at day 2 of the Ecocity World Summit.

Audience Q & A with Judy Lawley, Rusong Wang and Jaime Lerner at the closing session of the Ecocity World Summit

Jaime Lerner, former Mayor of Curitiba, Brazil

If there is a Mr. Ecocity anywhere on the planet, it is without question our keynote speaker and former mayor of Curitiba, Brazil. Lerner is the architect planner who led the work to transform his city, starting in 1972, into a world model of ecological and social policies, designs and built projects. The chief architect of the Curitiba Master Plan, he was appointed mayor during Brazil’s military dictatorship in 1971. When the nation returned to democracy, he was elected to two more terms. During his 12 years in office, Lerner devised many of Curitiba’s innovative, inexpensive solutions to city problems. For example, to combat Curitiba’s growing litter problem, he created more incentives for recycling, including exchanging bottles, cans and other recyclables for food. Lerner believed in implementing plans swiftly — in just 72 hours, he converted several blocks of the downtown into Brazil’s first pedestrian mall. Lerner’s track record in Curitiba helped him gain the trust and confidence he needed to attain the governorship of his State of Parana from 1994 to 2002. Today, Lerner consults with cities on their plans for addressing long-term growth and sustainability. At the Ecocity World Summit he will be describing his new ideas for strategic intervention and course-correction in city development he calls “urban acupuncture.”

In this conference, Mr. Jaime Lerner will approach what in his views are the main issues concerning cities nowadays and their future perspectives, portraying them as important solidarity refuges.  Strongly supporte by concrete examples, it will focus on the role they plan in contemporary society, enhancing the meaning of design both in structuring urban growth and in the development project of a city, a state, a country.  It will also target mobility – stressing the importance  of public transportation – sustainability and identity as key areas for intervention.  The concept of “Urban Acupuncture” as a strategy to achieve effective results in the qualification of the urban environment will also be explored.

Jaime Lerner: www.jaimelerner.com

Rusong Wang, President, Ecological Society of China, co-convener, Ecocity World Summit

Wang Rusong is head of the Center for Ecological and Environmental Sciences at the Chinese Academy of Science and has been one of the pioneering leaders in ecological city theory and support of those practicing the sciences and arts of ecocity building. He is one of the founders of the Ecology Society of China he has been one of the most accomplished ecologists and champion of solutions in waste treatment and pollution abatement for the health delivery systems in China.  Internationally he is known as one of the founders of SCOPE - the Scientific Committee on Problems in the Environment.  Rusong has convened many conferences for SCOPET kindred to our International Ecocity Conferences. He expounds a theory based on ancient Chinese tradition and modern science, with a growing emphasis on remapping cities for reshaping them for minimum energy demand and maximum ecodiversity.  He is also a member of the Peoples Congress of China.

Ecological Society of China: www.rcees.ac.cn/dse/en/team

Maria Rosario, PADCO/AECOM, Washington DC

Maria Rosario is Senior Architect and Planner, PADCO/AECOM, working in the Latin America from Washington, DC. Her 26-year international career in architecture, urban design and urban planning has been deeply influenced by her work at IPPUC, the Institute for Research and Urban Planning of Curitiba. As IPPUC’s official representative for their ecological innovations, policies and projects, she was one of our key speakers at Ecocity 4 in Curitiba and Ecocity 5 in Shenzhen, China. Her work calls for an integrated macro vision of urban planning: land use, transportation and circulation, plus the preservation of natural resources, combined to promote social and economic development.

PADCO/AECOM: www.padco.aecom.com