Author, educator offering April 6 New Urbanism lecture, workshop

Urban planning author and educator Emily Talen will lead a planning workshop and present a lecture on New Urbanism, a planning movement that champions compact, walkable urban spaces, during a Monday, April 6 visit to Texas A&M.

Talen, professor of geographical sciences and urban planning at Arizona State University, will present “Summing Up New Urbanism: Wins, Losses and Future Prospects,” 4 p.m., Monday, April 6 in Geren Auditorium, Building B of the Langford Architecture Center. Her public lecture is part of the [Dr. Frederick E. Giesecke] (http://archcomm.arch.tamu.edu/archive/news/fall2006/giesecke.html) 1886 Lecture Series, which honors the founder of Texas A&M's architecture program.

The series, which began in 2006, was established by Preston Geren, Giesecke’s grandson, and his wife Colleen '45 to bring outstanding, world-class speakers to the Texas A&M College of Architecture.

Prior to the lecture, Talen will lead “Walkable Streets: A Hands-On Workshop Using Global Information Systems and Sketchup,” from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. at a campus location to be announced.

In the workshop, participants will be introduced to the primary principles of multimodal street design, enhance their ability to translate street design principles into actionable strategies and learn how to improve visualization of their street design concepts using GIS and 3-D visualization tools.

Registration, $25 for practitioners and $10 for students, is available [online] (https://secure.touchnet.com/C21490_ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=3818) .

Talen has published more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles on urbanism, urban design, and social equity, and has written four books: “ [New Urbanism and American Planning: The Conflict of Cultures] (http://www.amazon.com/New-Urbanism-American-Planning-Environment/dp/0415701333) ,” “ [Design for Diversity] (http://www.amazon.com/Design-Diversity-Emily-Talen/dp/0750681179) ,” “ [Urban Design Reclaimed] (http://www.amazon.com/Urban-Design-Reclaimed-Emily-Talen/dp/1932364633) ” and “ [City Rules: How Regulations Affect Urban Form] (http://www.amazon.com/City-Rules-Regulations-Affect-Urban-ebook/dp/B008LVR2QU) .”

In a forthcoming book, “Neighborhood, the Measure and Meaning of an Urban Ideal,” Talen will explore the ideal of the neighborhood, comparing a wide range of perspectives on what makes a neighborhood, and the relationship between idealized neighborhood plans and reality.