2020 GPA Fall Conference in Review

2020 State of Change

Date :: September 23 – 25, 2020
Location :: Virtual

GPA would like to thank everyone who attended the 2020 GPA Fall Conference, our first virtual conference! We engaged with over 200 attendees and were able to further connect through our virtual networking hour and virtual Emerging Planners Group (EPG) social and trivia night happy hour! We appreciate our annual sponsors, who helped to make this milestone conference a big success.

Keynote Speakers

Our Keynote address spoke on the historical and present day impacts of land use policy on equity and communities of color. The keynote address, Dismantling Exclusion by Design, was given by Suzanne Burnes and Dwayne Patterson from Partnership for Southern Equity.

This presentation is rooted in the belief that land use policy is a reflection of the values of people in power. In the American South, your zipcode shapes your opportunities, health and life expectancy – a consequence of land use policy. As the planning profession more deeply understands social determinants of health and embraces sustainable design principles, how does it reconcile with its legacy of policies that have excluded generations of communities of color from the basic building blocks for success? How does it weave value for Black lives into land use policy and practice today? We must begin with an equity analysis if we plan to transform the hearts and minds of the people for change, and build the courage to create systems that reflect our values today. Together we prosper!

Conference Presentations

• Transportation Planning in the Era of Smart Cities – Caitlin Shankle, AICP, Andrew Heath, Maria Roell, Tom Sever, Natalie Smusz-Mengelkoch
• Setting the Stage for Community Revitalization: A Case Study of Memorial Drive – Eric Lusher, AICP, Larry Washington, URP, Jen Price, AICP, Jonathan Gelber, AICP, Cedric Hudson
• Balancing Preservation and Growth in Historic Roswell – Caleb Racicot, Jackie Deibel
• Innovative Public Engagement – Transcending the Open House – Rebecca Keefer, AICP, Matt Dickison, AICP
• The ARTP: Our Regional Transit Vision – Kirsten Mote, AICP, Leslie Langley, Aileen Daney
• Navigating Combining a Comprehensive Plan Update with the Development of a New UDO – How Norcross did Both in 12 Months – Craig Newton, Norcross Mayor; Tracy Rye, AICP, Robert Patrick, Paul Culter
• 2020 GPA Legislative Update – Jim Summerbell, AICP, Patrick Burns, Sara Patenaude, Emily Ritzler

Conference Schedule

View and Download the Conference Program Here

Wednesday, Sept 23

Track: Community / Economic Development & Transportation