UNIVERSITY PARK ALLIANCE URBAN INNOVATORS SPEAKER SERIES FEAUTURES URBAN DESIGN EXPERT JEFF SPECK

Akron, Ohio, Jan. 6, 2010 — Jeff Speck, principal of Speck & Associates LLC in Washington D.C., will kick-off the University Park Alliance Urban Innovators Speaker Series on Thursday, Jan. 20 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Andrew Jackson House, 277 E. Mill St. in University Park, Akron.

            A city planner and urban designer, Speck has written extensively on smart growth and sustainable design, and will present “City Design as if People Mattered.” He is contributing editor to Metropolis magazine and co-author of Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream, which the Wall Street Journal calls "the urbanist's bible,” and The Smart Growth Manual, just published by McGraw Hill. From 2003 through 2007 he served as Director of Design at the National Endowment for the Arts. Prior to this federal appointment, he spent ten years as Director of Town Planning at Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co., Architects and Town Planners, a leader in the international movement called “New Urbanism,” which promotes alternatives to suburban sprawl and urban disinvestment.
            UPA’s Urban Innovators Speaker Series features world-class urban thinkers and practitioners who will present creative approaches to planning, economy, and culture that can catalyze economic transformation in Northeast Ohio. The program provides a platform for the exploration of ideas to strengthen the innovation capacity of our region’s urban centers, creating new investment and jobs. “Historically, cities have been the engines of the U.S. economy and today play an even greater role in fostering economic growth as incubators of innovation,” says UPA Executive Director Eric Anthony Johnson Ph.D. “This series is designed to transform thinking and accelerate the kinds of core city investment that will lead to competitive success for Greater Akron in the new urban economy.”
           UPA’s Urban Innovators Speaker Series is presented with support from the Greater Akron Chamber and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and in conjunction with promotional partners Western Reserve Public Media, through its new show “Neotropolis,” and GAR Foundation.

Upcoming speakers in the series are Deborah Shufrin, senior vice president and director of programs for the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City in Boston, who will present “Investing in Your Inner City” on Feb. 22; and, Emily Talen, professor at Arizona State University and author of Design for Diversity and New Urbanism and American Planning: The Conflict of Cultures who will present “Diversity and the Power of the Place” on March 22.
The presentations are free and open to the public. Seating will be limited to 100 per presentation and reservations are required. Call 330-777-2070 or email info@upakron.com.

About University Park Alliance

The mission of University Park Alliance is to revitalize and transform the diverse University Park neighborhood, a 50-block area immediately surrounding The University of Akron, through engaging the community and leveraging real estate and business investment. UPA was established through a major grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and is comprised of partners including The

University of Akron, City of Akron, Summa Health System, Akron Children's Hospital, Akron General Health System, Akron Beacon Journal, Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority, the Greater Akron Chamber, Akron Public Schools, and the University Park business and residential community.

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