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The City of Iowa City, University of Iowa School of Urban Planning, and University of Iowa School of Music partnered to bring author and walkability advocate Jeff Speck to the Iowa City community. Speck speaks about the importance of making cities walkable.

Speck is a city planner and urban designer who advocates for more sustainable cities. In his latest book, Walkable City, Speck writes that creating a walkable city is more than constructing sidewalks, rather, the urban environment must be designed so that walking is useful, safe, comfortable, and interesting. He states, ". . . we must understand that the walkable city is not just a nice, idealistic notion. Rather, it is a simple, practical-minded solution to a host of complex problems that we face as a society, problems that daily undermine our nation's economic competitiveness, public welfare, and environmental sustainability."

Speck previously served as Director of Design at the National Endowment for the Arts from 2003 to 2007, where he presided over the Mayor's Institute on City Design and created the Governor's Institute on Community Design, which are leadership initiatives that help local officials address critical urban design challenges. Since 2007, he has led Speck & Associates, a planning firm that specializes in American downtowns.

To learn more about Jeff Speck, visit jeffspeck.com.