Urban Retail: Best Practices for Cities and Town Centers

Harvard University Graduate School of Design - Executive Education
Date:
Wednesday July 15, 2020
Location: Cambridge, MA
Website


Now in its twenty-third year, this fast-paced, three day program is one of Harvard’s most popular and longest running executive education urban planning and real estate classes. The session examines the proven planning approaches, retail design and merchandising principles necessary for the creation urban retail in cities and new town centers. This includes tactics used by leading retail developers and considers how they can be applied to a variety of urban settings. Retailing—the exchange of goods, services, and experiences—is in the midst of change unprecedented in modern times. The class includes numerous guest speakers who have managed or developed some of the most successful and innovative cities and Post-War walkable town centers.

Many recent expensive efforts to revitalize downtowns or build new centers have failed because the adopted design and planning recommendations along with poor implementation approaches hurt commerce. New and old towns need intelligent strategies for the survival of their commercial life. Sustainable development and vibrant community life are impossible without these strategies. In this program, we will explore the practical science of analyzing and adjusting all elements known to affect a shopper's mood in the marketplace, and how that informs design and development principles for reviving retail in declining downtowns and for establishing viable commerce in new ones.

This program is ideal for architects, city officials, institutional lenders, policy makers, real estate investment trusts, policy makers, residential and commercial real estate developers, retailers and urban planners

Instructors:
Robert J. Gibbs, ASLA, Gibbs Planning Group, Birmingham, MI
Terry Shook, FAIA, Shook Kelley, Charlotte, NC

Other guest lecturers may be added prior to the course.

CEUs: 21 AIA/CES (HSW); 21 AICP/CM; 21 LA/CES (HSW)

Posted February 19, 2020



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