The Master of Science in Urban Studies and Planning program at Savannah State University will host the annual Urban Planning Conference on Friday, April 1, in the Student Union. Sessions will run from 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. on Friday. On Saturday, April 2, there will be a special session from 10 a.m. – noon in downtown Savannah. This year’s conference theme is Planning Across Generations: Deconstructing the Past, Shaping the Future.
 
Conference participants will explore the nexus of past and future facing today’s planners and policymakers from an interdisciplinary perspective and learn how planners can avoid repeating past mistakes that have led to unjust, unsustainable, and unhealthy cities present today. Presenters of the conference consist of various planning professionals, public administrators, college professors, design professionals and historic preservationists.
 
The keynote speaker is Kevin J. Krizek, Ph.D., professor and director of the Environmental Design Program at the University of Colorado Boulder. He concurrently serves as the visiting professor of “Cycling in Changing Urban Regions” in the Nijmegen School of Management at Radboud University in the Netherlands. He was a 2013-14 fellow of the Leopold Leadership Program and was awarded a 2014 U.S. - Italy Fulbright Scholarship focusing on sustainable transport.
 
Also featured is Anh Nguyen, a data dissemination specialist of the U.S. Census Bureau, who will share the updates to databases and mapping tools.
 
All sessions are open to the public. All participants must register and pay the conference fees of $50 (presenters and regular participants) or $75 (AICP participants who are seeking CM Credits). Savannah State University, Armstrong State University and SCAD students may attend for free with valid ID. All fees benefit students of the Urban Studies and Planning program at SSU.