Professor Jeffery Raven‘s presentation at the NYC Department of City Planning provided an operational framework and case studies for practicing urban design professionals, and a policy framework for municipal governments. It laid out the case for configuring climate-resilient urban form to strengthen community adaptability to climate change, reduce energy consumption and enhance the quality of the public realm.

Prof. Raven was joined by Dr. Gerald Mills, a leading international scientist on urban climate planning and design based in University College Dublin, and colleague of Prof. Raven from the International Association for Urban Climate. As a part of the presentation to government officials, MAURD student Shiva Ghomi described student research from the MAURD Urban Climate Lab “Cool District for a Hot City.” Ghomi is currently Graduate Intern at the NYC Department of City Planning, Urban Design Office.

AIA New York President Lance Brown and AIA DfRR Co-Chair Joan Capelin described an exciting series of collaborations between AIANY and MAURD on urban climate, highlighted by Prof. Raven’s urban design presentation at the Center for Architecture in April 2015 and major Hot Cities NYC conference in November 2015. The MAURD Urban Climate Lab begins in February 2015, and the NYC Department of City Planning officials expressed interest in collaborating.