Transforming Cities

On this episode I’m speaking with Pinar Guvenc. Pinar is the Partner of SOUR an international, award-winning architecture and design studio with the mission to address social and urban problems through sustainable, adaptive and inclusive methodologies. In addition to managing the business operations, she also leads the strategic planning, research and partnerships efforts of the studio.

Prior to SOUR, Pinar co-founded various ventures where she helped set up company infrastructure and grow them through funding or incubation, achieving international recognition and awards.

Pinar is a Part-time faculty at Parsons School of Design, within the School of Design Strategies. She serves on the Board of Directors of Open Style Lab, a nonprofit organization initiated at MIT, with the purpose of making style accessible to people of all abilities. She also created and teaches a strategic collaborations workshop series for Pratt Center for Community Development and the Made in NYC initiative.

Pinar is a frequent public speaker and a guest lecturer and hosts the What's Wrong With panels and podcasts by SOUR, a series of discussions with progress makers and experts to diagnose real problems, ideate solutions and raise awareness to the general public.

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On this episode I’m speaking with Matt McPheely. Matt is a native of Greenville, SC, and recently moved back home after a decade(+) in San Francisco and Austin, TX. His work over that time has been at the intersection of finance, entrepreneurship, and real estate - an admittedly strange combination, but one that has led to a drive to challenge the status quo of the way real estate development is done.

He’s gone from learning the ropes in fundraising and financial analysis in the private equity world to partnering with developers around the country to structure, finance, and market real estate projects, to acquiring and developing his own deals.

He’s now taking what he’s learned and going all in creating a sustainable model for real estate development as a force for good in our communities. Most recently this can be found within the Chapel Greenville project.

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On this episode I’m speaking with Adam Fenton, Principal and Co-Founder of Narrate Companies. Adam brings over 14 years of experience in direct equity real estate investment and development, having developed over 1,500 units, valued at nearly $900 million.

Raised in Iowa, Adam started his career as Principal Real Estate investor on the Equity Investment Management team. Seeking a change in lifestyle, he moved to Denver in early 2011 and ultimately worked alongside the teams at Holland Partner Group and BMC Investments.

Adam has been responsible for the development of over 1,200 units in Denver’s prestigious Union Station neighborhood, and also focused on Denver’s Cherry Creek North Neighborhood while at BMC. Today, Adam is focused on growing a new type of real estate firm through Narrate.

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On this episode I’m speaking with Jonathan Berk. Since 2016 he’s served as a Director at the Detroit-based placemaking startup Patronicity, and their new Placemaking Advisory firm, Bench Consulting, supporting hundreds of community-driven placemaking projects across the country. Jonathan is also the co-founder of Retail Reimagined, an organization leveraging creative collaborations and innovative solutions to bring a new vibrancy to vacant storefront spaces and main streets.

Jonathan is a placemaker and New Urbanist in every sense of the word with a voracious appetite for studying and learning about new methods of community and economic development from around the world. His focus remains on building vibrant communities that foster connectivity and creativity and support a thriving, healthy downtown, small business ecosystem and community.

He currently sits on the local advisory board of Leading Cities, a global leader in Smart City solutions, city diplomacy and collaboration advancing sustainability and resilient city strategies and technologies.

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On this episode I’m speaking with Tanya Spaulding, Principal and a 20-year Shea Design veteran. Before coming to Shea, Tanya started her career in marketing, advertising, and public relations having worked for two Minneapolis-based firms including Weber Shandwick and Martin Williams. Her focus has always been on consumer-based brands and businesses.

Tanya is a member and frequent speaking contributor to local and national organizations including MCSA, MREJ, the AMA, and the Downtown Council.  Shea has also been recognized through the Business Journal’s Women to Watch.

A note to listeners: our interview with Tanya was conducted pre-Covid-19 and pre-Anti-Racism protests across the globe.

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On this episode I’m speaking with Karin Brandt, CEO and founder of coUrbanize. An urban planner by trade, Karin launched the coUrbanize platform to power more effective community engagement throughout the planning and development process.

Karin holds a master’s degree in city planning from MIT and began her career in urban development at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, where she co-edited Infrastructure and Land Policies. In 2018, she was selected as one of Real Estate Forum’s 50 Under 40 in Commercial Real Estate in 2018.

A note to listeners: our interview with Karin was conducted pre-Covid-19 and pre-Anti-Racism protests across the globe.

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Placemaking is a hot topic for real estate companies and urban planners alike. But how do you activate space in a way that’s truly reflective of the community and also drives economic impact? We explore this in our new guide on placemaking.

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On this episode I’m speaking with Andrew Davidge, Senior Urban Planner at Gladki Planning Associates, based in Toronto, Canada.

As a policy planner, his work focuses on helping municipalities develop frameworks to manage growth and development in a way that fosters successful communities.

A particular area of focus has been creating a clear idea of what a healthy and complete community looks like, and how it can be achieved through the planning process. Public and stakeholder engagement is a big part of this process. Having public conversations on the future of communities is one of Andrew’s favorite parts of the job.

Andrew is a member of the Canadian Institute of Planners and a Registered Professional Planner.

A note to listeners: our interview with Andrew was conducted pre-Covid-19 and pre-Anti-Racism protests across the globe.

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On this episode I’m speaking with Kelly Regan, Editorial Director at Next City. Kelly has been working for two decades in magazines, books and digital publishing, overseeing content creation for outlets such as Google and the Frommer’s Travel Guides. She’s a longtime freelance editor and writer, specializing in science, travel, educational publishing, and dream interpretation. She’s also the author of the book Field Guide to Dreams, which was published by Quirk Books.

In her current rule, she manages content development, hosts webinars, and commissions long-form journalism at Next City, a nonprofit news organization.

Next City covers issues in urbanism through the lens of equity, to highlight ways that cities are dismantling institutional and legacy systems of oppression to create a level playing field that makes life better and more sustainable for all urban residents. Beats range from transportation to housing to tech, culture, climate change mitigation, and equitable economic development.

Next City’s premier event is the Vanguard conference, an annual gathering of rising urban innovators who work across disciplines to make a change in cities.  Each Vanguard cohort includes policymakers and politicians, architects and urban planners, artists and media makers, all of whom are selected through a competitive application process. We’ll talk more about the Vanguard Program and the opportunity to submit your own host city application later in the podcast.

A note to listeners: our interview with Kelly was conducted pre-Covid-19 and pre-Anti-Racism protests across the globe.

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On this episode I’m speaking with Danielle Arigoni, Director of Livable Communities at AARP. She works to support AARP’s 53 state offices (including DC, USVI and Puerto Rico) -- and the nearly 500 localities and several states enrolled in the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities.

Danielle leads the team responsible for supporting Age-Friendly Network members; developing free practitioner-focused publications on topics ranging from ADUs to placemaking to rural livability, and delivering direct technical assistance to nearly 100 communities each year. Her team also disseminates a free weekly newsletter on livable communities-related issues, reaching more than 85,000 local leaders around the country.

She’s an urban planner by education and has nearly 20 years of professional experience, including prior leadership positions at USEPA and HUD. She also serves as a Board Member of the League of American Bicyclists.

A note to listeners: our interview with Danielle was conducted pre-Covid-19 and pre-Anti-Racism protests across the globe.

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On this City Sessions episode I’m joined by Leith Dumas, Vice President at The Opus Group, and Paul Hyde of Hyde Development. With construction being deemed an essential business in much of the country, we discuss how job sites continue to function in the current climate. We also touch on the velocity of certain product types, as well as the contractual fine print during this pandemic.

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Music by æon.

© 2020 Authentic Form & Function