Imagining Downtown: A Global Comparison

This year’s Imagining Downtown luncheon is all about the big moves Edmonton must consider in order to keep up with similar cities across North America and the world. This year, we welcome three panelists with international experience and expertise who will provide an unbiased review of our downtown and its current trajectory.

Panelists:

- Larisa Ortiz is an internationally renowned retail environment strategist who’s spent more than two decades working with private and public sector clients on neighbourhood improvement strategies. She has developed an award-winning approach to understanding place-based challenges that has served as the methodology behind the City of New York's Commercial District Needs Assessment, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Rapid Recovery Program, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico's Bottom-Up Recovery Plans, among many others. Larisa is based in New York City and is currently the Managing Director for Public Non-Profit Solutions at Streetsense.

- David Downey is the President and CEO of the International Downtown Association and has been a city advocate since the 1980s. He regularly convenes downtown leaders from across North America through IDA’s many programs and events, and he speaks frequently across North America and has also delivered talks in the UK, Italy, Sweden, Australia, Japan and more.

- Trent Edwards is President, Canada Land & Housing at Brookfield Properties’ development group and is extremely passionate about building great cities and communities. As co-chair of Calgary’s Real Estate Advisory Committee, he has played an integral role in the private sector driving major change in Calgary’s downtown development.

Each panelist will provide a short presentation followed by a provocative and engaging discussion led by Puneeta McBryan, CEO of the Edmonton Downtown Business Association.

Doors: 11:00am

Program Starts: 11:30am

Program Ends: 1:30pm

Host or Publisher Downtown Business Association of Edmonton