College hosts international planning conference Feb. 18-23

More than 75 leading land-use scholars will explore the growing, worldwide impact of natural hazards and global warming in the 13 ^th annual conference of the [International Academic Association on Planning, Law and Property Rights] (http://plpr2019.arch.tamu.edu/) Feb. 18-23 at the Texas A&M Memorial Student Center.

Presentations at the conference, “Planning for Climate Change in the Planned and Unplanned City,” will also consider environmental law, transportation planning, sustainable development, among others.

“The theme of this year’s conference is particularly important as we seek to navigate the challenging future ahead of us,” said Dawn Jourdan, executive associate dean and professor of landscape architecture and urban planning at the College of Architecture, which is hosting the event.

Keynote speakers will include Shannon Van Zandt, head of the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M, who will address the importance of understanding the equity implications associated with resiliency planning.

Van Zandt, also a research fellow with the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center, is an expert in coastal resilience, social vulnerability to disasters, and low-income housing.

She began a multi-year National Science Foundation study of community recovery in Galveston, Texas, after Hurricane Ike, and currently leads four disaster mitigation-related NSF-funded studies. She co-authored the 2014 book " [Planning for Community Resilience: A Handbook for Reducing Vulnerability to Disasters] (https://islandpress.org/book/planning-for-community-resilience) " from Island Press.

Also delivering a keynote address, Michael Gerrard, professor of law at Columbia, will present a talk: “Urban Heat Waves: Legal Adaptation to the Most Lethal Climate Disaster.”

See the full event [schedule] (http://plpr2019.arch.tamu.edu/Conference%20Program/PLPR-2019-Schedule.pdf) .

Sarah Wilson
swilson@arch.tamu.edu