KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Seven southeastern mayors are working with University of Tennessee architects Nov. 5-7 to help solve design problems in their cities.
The Mayors’ Institute on City Design is being hosted by UT-Knoxville at its Urban Design Center in Chattanooga. The conference is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and organized by the College of Architecture at Georgia Tech.
Stroud Watson, UT-Knoxville architecture professor, said mayors are attending from Chattanooga; Roswell and Savannah, Ga.; Miami Beach, Fla.; Chapel Hill, N.C.; Brownsville, Texas; and Oxford, Miss.
Watson said the mayors will present case studies of critical issues in their cities to UT faculty, designers, developers and others to offer ideas and possible solutions.
Issues to be discussed include neighborhood revitalization, downtown redevelopment, traffic control and how closing university streets affects nearby off-campus traffic, Watson said.
“The fundamental goal of the mayor’s institute is to involve political leadership in the design process and to explain the values of design and theory as a fundamental underpinning of the quality of life in the city,” Watson said.
The Institute, created by the NEA in 1986, is co-sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the American Architecture Foundation.