Renowned Panel of Resilience Experts to Advise the City from August 10-12

For more information contact [email protected], or Justin Arnold, 202-448-8717

WASHINGTON (August 11, 2020) – A group of nationally recognized land use, resilience and urban planning experts representing the Urban Land Institute (ULI) will be making recommendations to the city of Dallas, Texas, on how to promote greater social cohesion near Walnut Hill/Denton Drive station while promoting climate resilience and environmental justice. ULI is a global, multidisciplinary real estate organization whose work is driven by more than 45,000 members dedicated to responsible land use and building thriving communities.

The ULI representatives will convene virtually through ULI’s renowned Advisory Services Program, from August 10-12, and will include interviews with a variety of stakeholders in the community along with a virtual tour of the site. Panelists will consider the distinct business and demographic populations approximately a half mile around the Walnut Hill Lane and Denton Drive DART station, and advise on:

• The policy and regulatory adjustments that should be considered to impact localized investments and broaden the types of small and minority-and-women owned business enterprises in the study area;
• Policy, planning and design opportunities to reduce resident vulnerability to extreme heat and other extreme weather;
• The types of infrastructure investments that would make multi-modal transport easier and more frequented by the area’s residents and workers;
• Design types and infrastructure needed to attract and sustain a growing population of mixed-income residents while ensuring climate resilience and environmental justice; and
• Which stakeholders and organizations need to be brought together to impact the physical environment, economic growth and quality of life for residents and workers.

The panel will be chaired by Ladd Keith, Assistant Professor of Planning and Sustainable Built Environments and Chair, Sustainable Built Environments, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona. “We are excited to bring the experience of our ULI members to the City of Dallas through the innovative virtual Advisory Services Panel format,” said Keith. “Our panel will examine the social, economic, and environmental conditions of the Walnut Hill DART Station study area, listen to a variety of stakeholders, and use their expertise to offer practical recommendations to equitably enhance the resilience of the community.”

Keith will be joined on the panel by Pegy Brimhall, principal, Figurd Development, San Antonio, Texas; Jill Allen Dixon, associate principal planner, Sasaki, Boston, Massachusetts; Chanceé Lundy, co-owner, Nspiregreen LLC, Washington, D.C.; and Riki Nishimura, associate principal, Populous, San Francisco, California.

The assignment for Dallas is one of eight projects in an advisory services, technical assistance, and peer learning program called the Resilient Land Use Cohort (RLUC) being supported by JPMorgan Chase to advance the Institute’s promotion of climate resilience. With JPMorgan Chase’s support, ULI is leveraging the substantial expertise of its members to provide guidance on community building in a way that helps to preserve the environment as well as foster a high quality of life.

This panel is a virtual Advisory Services panel (vASP), a new Advisory Services product created as a response to continuing ULI’s mission of creating vibrant, sustainable communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The vASP is a two-and-a-half day panel that convenes a multi-disciplinary team of between four and six experts from across the United States who possess a range of professional backgrounds and use their collective skills to meet the needs of an identified land use or policy challenge.

Now in its 72^nd year, the ULI advisory services program assembles experts in the fields of real estate and land use planning to participate on panels worldwide, offering recommendations for complex planning and development projects, programs and policies. Panels have developed more than 700 studies for a broad range of land uses, ranging from waterfront properties to inner-city retail.

According to Thomas Eitler, senior vice president of ULI’s advisory services program, the strength of the program lies in ULI’s unique ability to draw on the substantial knowledge of its 45,000-plus members, including land developers, engineers, public officials, academics, lenders, architects, planners and urban designers. “The independent views of the panelists bring a fresh perspective to the land use challenge,” Eitler said. “The advisory services program is all about offering creative, innovative approaches to community building.”

NOTE TO REPORTERS AND EDITORS: A livestream of the panel’s recommendations will take place on August 12 at 9:30 a.m. Central Time, and can be viewed here.