The Mayor’s Institute on Urban Design is a partnership among the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM), the National Endowment for the Arts, and the American Architectural Foundation along with 15 University partners. Plusquellic has played an active role in the USCM and presently serves as Chairman of the Conference’s Advisory Board.

"Akron has been invited to participate by presenting one design problem, and then we’ll get to do some brainstorming on the problem with some of the top minds in the country," Plusquellic said. In 1996, Akron participated in a similar session, focused on the downtown Lock 3 development. Plusquellic has selected to present issues surrounding the development of the neighborhood generally referred to as Hickory Street/Cascade Locks, which stretches from Memorial Parkway to downtown, along the Ohio-Erie Canal.

"In the past, our focus has been using the Canal for recreation, and we’ve spent a good deal of time and money on the towpath hike and bike trail, and in restoring Mustill Store," Plusquellic said. " But the focus of Thursday’s meeting will be housing. We need to reinvigorate downtown with new, quality housing. This is a beautiful, wooded area that has an interesting topography that presents both challenges and opportunities."

The mayor said that at the end of the session, the Harvard School of Design will pull together the comments of the dozen or so participants who will sit in on the brainstorming session, and will add their own ideas, that will be shared with the City in a written report following the meeting.

The Mayors' Institute on City Design was initially proposed in 1985 by Mayor Joseph Riley of Charleston, South Carolina, who recognized that a Mayor is really the chief urban designer of the city. Most large development plans come through the mayor’s office, and so are the opportunities to make plans better for the city or to allow them to be ordinary - -or worse. The Institute upholds the principle that the more sensitive the Mayor is to good urban design, livability, scale, and diversity - - then the more willing and able he or she will be to help develop higher quality.

"Mayors fulfill their role more profoundly when they accomplish something that will enhance their cities for fifty to a hundred years to come," says Riley, who is also a past-president of the USCM.

Mayor Plusquellic stated that Mayor Riley has been a role model for him and for many mayors. At the USCM’s annual meeting in Madison,. Wisconsin last June, Riley delivered a compelling speech on the importance of good design of public spaces after September 11.

"Public places are even more important now," Riley said. "We need less separation and more opportunities to come together as citizens and celebrate our freedom, and we do that best in cities. If the result of 9-11 is that public buildings turn their back on our citizens and make us look like we're afraid, the terrorists win."

The Mayors' Institute on Urban Design meets six times each year at various universities. The city of Akron’s participation is made possible with funding provided by the Institute.