What should the next century of urban development look like? How should it be carried out? And how do we best marry the varied critical interests all vying for influence over this process, including finance, design, culture, neighborhood groups, and normative civic governance? This talk will set a foundation for an open and vigorous discussion about how we should build cities for the 21st century.

Coby Lefkowitz is a principal of Backyard, a real estate development and consulting firm focused on creating more beautiful, walkable, dynamic, and affordable communities. He is a leading writer within the worlds of urban planning and real estate development, and the author of the Best-Selling book "Building Optimism". Coby is a professor of Real Estate Development at the Schack Institute of Real Estate at New York University.