Mayors' Institute on City Design

The Mayors' Institute on City Design is a program dedicated to improving the design and livability of America's cities through the efforts of their chief elected leaders, their mayors. The program is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, established by the NEA in 1986 and now administered by the American Architectural Foundation in partnership with the NEA and the US Conference of Mayors.

The Institute hosts a series of two and one-half day long symposiums on city design organized around presentations and roundtable discussions. Participation is limited to less than twenty persons, half mayors and half a resource team made up of outstanding urban design and development professionals. At each meeting, participating mayors present design issues currently facing their cities as waterfront redevelopment, downtown revitalization, neighborhood revenue, new public buildings such as sports or arts facilities. Following each presentation, mayors and designers identify issues, offer suggestions, and discuss alternative paths toward a solution. The interchange sparks lively debate, opens new perspectives and generates creative ideas. Members of the resource team also make presentations on the role of their profession in the process of city design, illustrated by outstanding examples and best practices.

Over the Institute¹s 18-year history, more than 600 mayors and 400 design professionals have participated. Mayors who have attended credit the experience as transforming the way they look at their cities. As one alumnus, Mayor William A. Johnson, Jr., of Rochester, NY, said "In more than 33 years of professional experience, no program or learning experience has been more beneficial to me than this one." The Institute also been recognized with a number of awards, including a Presidential Award for Design Excellence in 2000, a Progressive Architecture award from Architecture magazine in 1997, and an Institute Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects in 1992.

Learn more: MICD Website