11th New Partners for Smart Growth Conference: Building Safe, Healthy & Livable Communities
After celebrating its 10th anniversary in Charlotte, the New Partners Conference begins its second decade by heading west, back where it started—San Diego, California. The eighth-largest city in the United States, San Diego is one of the most livable and sustainable major metropolitan areas in the nation. An innovative pioneer in the smart growth movement, the San Diego region provides inspiring models for creating transit-oriented, compact development; transforming downtowns and ethnically diverse, older neighborhoods; designing walkable, mixed-use urban villages; and fostering the emergence of leading high-tech, telecommunications, and clean-tech businesses.
Surf, Sunshine and Smart Growth: From its mile-high mountains to pristine beaches, eco-friendly San Diego is an international city, blending Pacific Rim and Latin American connections, renowned for its idyllic climate, and home to such world-class destinations as San Diego Zoo, the historic Gaslamp Quarter, SeaWorld, Legoland and Balboa Park—the largest urban cultural park in the U.S.
San Diego has used smart growth principles to create a vibrant, sustainable community by implementing a program of transit-oriented development that addresses wetlands restoration, transportation planning, urban growth and hillside preservation; guiding infill redevelopment in the Downtown and waterfront district to create housing and jobs while removing blight; and conserving resources through renewable sources of energy, efficient building design and integrated land-use planning.
Today, we are faced with economic, environmental, and social challenges that will define our generation, shape our future, and test our resilience as neighborhoods, cities, and a nation. Join leaders from across the U.S. as we tackle these challenges head-on and demonstrate smart growth solutions that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil, create a more resilient economy, assure a healthy population, foster more equitable development, and expand transportation and housing options for all Americans.
The program will span three full days with optional pre-conference events scheduled for Wednesday, February 1st and Sunday February 5th. The main program will kick off on Thursday morning, February 2, and continue through Saturday afternoon. The schedule includes a dynamic mix of plenaries, breakouts, implementation workshops, specialized trainings, peer-to-peer learning opportunities, and coordinated networking activities. It will also feature exciting tours of local model projects in and around the San Diego region. There will be something for everybody, from veteran experts to smart-growth novices, with 100 sessions and workshops to choose from. Learn from hundreds of speakers who cross disciplines to share insights, valuable tools and strategies for making smart growth a success in your community. The program will be infused with sessions and case studies focusing on important equity and environmental justice issues.
