Professionals working in the built and natural environments have been through tough times before. A recent webinar offered a few prominent urban designers a chance to discuss how they coped with the last big economic downturn.
"The Great Recession had a devastating impact on urbanists—architects, developers, and planners went out of business in large numbers in 2008 and 2009," writes Robert Steuteville. "Yet the upheaval also brought opportunity and innovation along with other silver linings."
Searching for signs about what to expect for the related fields of planning, architecture, and development, the Congress for the New Urbanism held a webinar on the subject. Steuteville recaps the discussion in the source article. Many of the participants in the discussion talked about the opportunities for reflection and evaluation during a downturn, and the possibility for innovation born out of a necessity for adaptation.
FULL STORY: Lessons from the (last) recession
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Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research