Join us to celebrate the launch of the new book Place and Placemaking (Routledge, 2026). In the book, over a dozen leading thinkers debate how to position, envision, co-create, and communicate place. This is the first in the Rudy Bruner Center Debates on Urban Excellence book series, produced at the School of Architecture and Planning, University at Buffalo. The book is available for sale in print, and free to access online, in line with the Rudy Bruner Center’s mission to set the broad agenda for urban excellence. 

Today, placemaking is everywhere. From temporary bike lanes to streateries, community murals, and urban agriculture, placemakers promise more nimble, more democratic, more visible, and more rewarding urban change. But where does this growing movement find its place? After all, the social, ecological, and cultural odds are still heavily stacked against those unique environments that give us a sense of connection, belonging, and purpose—in other words, a sense of place. Can placemaking overcome the accelerating erosion of meaningful places in the face of contemporary homogenization, isolation, obliviousness, and polarization? 

Moderated by editors Conrad Kickert, Robert G. Shibley, and award-winning place author Tony Hiss, this book launch asks contributors Tracy Hadden Loh, Ethan Kent, Marc Norman, Dan Pitera, Tim Tompkins, Leonardo Vazquez, Joyce Weil, and Sharon Zukin to debate their views on place and placemaking.

Audience questions are welcomed and light refreshments will be served.

Speakers:

• Conrad Kickert, Program Director, Rudy Bruner Center for Urban Excellence and Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Planning, University at Buffalo
• Robert G. Shibley, FAIA, FAICP,  SUNY Distinguished Professor and Founding Director, Rudy Bruner Center for Urban Excellence
• Tracy Hadden Loh, Fellow, Brookings Metro
• Tony Hiss, Author, Lecturer, Planning and Environmental Consultant; Visiting Scholar, New York University
• Ethan Kent, Executive Director, PlacemakingX
• Marc Norman, Larry & Klara Silverstein Chair and Associate Dean, Schack Institute of Real Estate, New York University
• Dan Pitera, Dean, School of Architecture & Community Development, University of Detroit Mercy
• Tim Tompkins, Fellow, Marron Institute of Urban Management, New York University
• Leonardo Vazquez, Executive Director, Northern New Jersey Community Foundation
• Joyce Weil, Associate Professor, Gerontology, Towson University
• Sharon Zukin, Professor Emerita of Sociology and of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Brooklyn College, CUNY Graduate Center