Resiliency is a key theme at this year’s Louisiana Smart Growth Summit, which kicked off this morning at the Manship Theatre in downtown Baton Rouge.
The two-day event, now in its 11th year, is hosted by the Center for Planning Excellence and will feature breakout sessions that focus on making housing, communities and cities more resilient.
CPEX President and CEO Elizabeth “Boo” Thomas says resiliency was an obvious focus this year given the devastating August flood that left 13 dead and impacted 359,619 residents.
Developers, planners, housing and public policy experts from around the country will join CPEX to discuss topics such as transportation planning, flood risk reduction, building resilient housing, land use and zoning and planning in the age climate change among others.
Gov. John Bel Edwards also is scheduled to deliver an address about moving forward from the flood at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. Other featured speakers include Charles “Chuck” Marohn Jr., president of Strong Towns; and Harriet Tregoning, principal deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Community Planning and Development at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Tregoning will close out the summit with a keynote address from 4:05 to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. This year’s summit also includes a walking tour of downtown Baton Rouge.
See the full list of events taking place as part of the Smart Growth Summit.
