The Purpose City

At the invitation of NBBJ and Imperative, fifty of the world’s most dynamic urban leaders—mayors, policy makers, entrepreneurs, business leaders, designers, planners, scientists, technologists, activists, and citizens—convened in Dallas, TX, in June 2014 to discuss and develop long-term visions and specific action plans for the Purpose City. Public City partner Sharon Lyle was tapped as both a speaker and co-facilitator for the day, and Public City co-hosted the after party with NBBJ.

NBBJ describes the Purpose City workshop on its website as follows:

In most of the world's cities, the information economy has driven innovation and economic growth, but a new generation of workers, consumers, and citizens is increasingly looking for experiences that connect to a greater purpose, enabling them to have social impact and find like-minded communities. How can we reinvent our cities in this new “age of purpose?” Can we build — or rebuild — city spaces in ways that enable more trust among both familiars and strangers? How do we nurture happiness and wellbeing?

Inspired by the principles of a design hackathon, The Purpose City Workshop convened 50 bold leaders in urban design, management, business, and academia in a vibrant, day-long forum to explore how we bring meaning and purpose to cities as the numbers of urban citizens swell, as cities densify, and as the digital and physical increasingly merge.

The Purpose City workshop, held as a side-event to the New Cities Summit, will be a mix of rapid ideation and protoyping, rich discourse and debate, and hands-on collaboration. The outcomes of workshop will be presented at the end of the day to attendees from the local community and from the two concurrent conferences, the New Cities Summit and the U.S. Conference of Mayors. It will also be shared here after the event.

Read the Public City recap here.