Pacific Cities Green Transportation Conference: Mobility, Livability, and Economic Growth: Sustainability Lessons from the Pacific Rims

The Pacific Cities Sustainability Initiative presents a conference exploring California's sustainability policies to its counterparts in the Pacific Rim.

As cities become the center of global commerce and daily life, movement within cities and the connections between them can influence business opportunities and determine quality of life. Effective public transport systems not only boost a city’s competitive advantage and enhance its livability but can serve as models for sustainable mobility. How can cities in Asia experiencing increasing urbanization take advantage of current technology to create efficient and sustainable transportation systems? As California and the US struggle to overcome a staggering economic crisis, how can sustainable transportation solutions increase cities’ economic advantage? And how can such cities in North America and Asia learn from each other?

This conference will explore sustainable transportation ideas, policies, and technologies from California’s largest metropolises to the other side of the Pacific. The San Francisco conference will focus on the importance of transit on urban livability and its impact on cities’ economic competitiveness as well as on innovative sustainable transportation technologies and systems in North America and Asia. The Los Angeles conference will explore how sustainable mobility can help LA recreate itself as a vibrant green metropolis and focus on best practices, cultural differences, and how North America and Asia can work together to solve collective problems.

These conferences seek to promote long-term collaboration between the US and Asia on sustainable growth by bringing together specialists from the fields of research, technology, architecture, business, urban planning, and policy.

Conference Schedule:
Keynote Remarks

Panel Discussion I:  Re-imagining Los Angeles: How Can Los Angeles Become a Global Sustainable City?

Panel Discussion II: Public/Private Partnerships: Models of Success and Lessons for California

Lunch

Panel Discussion III: Pushing LA Ahead: Global Best Practices and Opportunities for Collaboration

Speakers:
Paul Bunje
Executive Director, UCLA Center for Climate Change Solutions

Peter Calthorpe
Architect, Urban Designer, Urban Planner, Calthorpe Associates

Richard Drobnick
Director, USC Center for International Business Education & Research
Managing Director, Association of Pacific Rim Universities World Initiative

Feng An
Founder & Executive Director, Innovation Center for Energy & Transportation

Jeffrey Heller
President, Heller Manus Architects

Steven Lewis-Workman
Transport Economist, East Asian Department Transport Division, Asian Development Bank

Kurt Ramey
Partner, KPMG

Invited Speakers:
Rod Diridon, Executive Director, Mineta Transportation Institute
Ray LaHood, U.S. Secretary of Transportation
Wilfred Lau, Director, Ove Arup & Partners
Lee Jong-cheol, Commissioner, IFEZ (Incheon Free Economic Zone)
Stella Li, Senior Vice-President, BYD
Norman Mineta, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Retired
Brian Taylor, Director, Institute of Transportation Studies, UCLA
Jonathan Thorpe, Vice-President & CIO, Gale International