The panel discussion addressed the topic of leveraging technology for adaptable city planning.
On Wednesday, March 6, KPF hosted the publication’s annual program in New York. Metropolis Editor-in-Chief Avi Rajagopal moderated a panel of distinguished guests who addressed the topic:
Technology is rapidly changing our cities. Automation and the sharing economy are transforming our experiences of retail, hospitality, and transportation, as well as how we inhabit urban environments as a whole. From San Francisco to New York, are we fully prepared for this paradigm shift?
The panel comprised the experts in urban, transportation and infrastructure planning:
- Stefan Al, Senior Mobility Specialist, KPF
- Will Carry, Senior Director, Policy Group, NYC Department of Transportation
- Iben Falconer, Director, Gehl – Making Cities for People
- David Gilford, Principal, HR&A Advisors
- Constantine Kontokosta, Associate Professor, NYU Center for Urban Science and Progress
- David Vega-Barachowitz, Senior Urban Designer, NYC Department of City Planning
These industry leaders offered diverse perspectives on the data and tools that architects, planners, and policy makers need in order to engage proactively with disruptive technologies. They also shared both potential ideas and preexisting efforts to measure how these changes will impact our quality of life and improve decision-making in urban design.
Following the panel, KPFui Director Luc Wilson and his team demonstrated one of the firm’s latest interactive mapping tools, which allows users to analyze the amount of urban space used for parking and replace it with other programs. This application responds to the rise of autonomous vehicles and their influence on cityscapes – a theme that permeates KPFui’s work within the studio and with clients and city officials.
Metropolis live tweeted and streamed the panel through Facebook Live. Watch the full session here.
Think Tankis a continuing education series that travels to leading architecture and design firms throughout North America. Focusing on the areas of education, workplace, wellness, hospitality and urban design/mixed-use, Think Tank brings manufacturers, architects, industrial and interior designers, industry experts, engineers, developers, end-users, and thought-leaders together, challenging them to examine the strengths and weaknesses of current design-thinking and practice.