75th Anniversary Symposium: Sustaining Greenbelt's Legacy        April 27 & 28, 2012       Greenbelt Community Center       15 Crescent Road       Greenbelt, MD 20770

"Sustaining Greenbelt's Legacy"  is a two-day symposium celebrating the 75th Anniversary of this New Deal Community.  It is being held in the Greenbelt Community Center--the original Resettlement Administration elementary school.  The event will celebrate the City's significant accomplishments since its 50th Anniversary in 1987, and will analyze physical and social improvements in the New Deal nucleus as well as more recent districts.  Academics, community members and activists, along with planners and city staff, will discuss interests surrounding Greenbelt's legacies and will include the following topics:

• Community planning
• Provision of recreation facilities and cooperatives
• Activism and volunteerism
• Historic Preservation
• Greenbelt Museum's expanding outreach
• Inclusion (religion, age, physical handicaps, race and gender diversity)
• Transportation networks policies
• Physical connectivity between Old Greenbelt and its Eastern and Western sections
• Ongoing initiatives for sustaining buildings and landscapes
• Promoting heritage tourism

Providing an international perspective will be Dr. Mervyn Miller (London) who will give a keynote address on the influence of English Garden Cities on Greenbelt and the reverse impact of Greenbelt on post World War II British New Towns.  Other speakers include Associate Professor Isabelle Gournay, who is an appointed member of the City of Greenbelt's 75th anniversary committee, and URSP director Jim Cohen, presenting the "Pilot Program for Energy Efficiency," which he is shepherding on behalf of Greenbelt homes Inc..  In the area of historic preservation, HISP Affiliated Professor Mary Corbin Sies will discuss community planning tenets in Greenbelt and HISP adjunct, Mary Konsoulis, will present the outcome of a studio on preservation policies for downtown Greenbelt.  Walkability studies being presented by Deborah Sward and Mark Noll were prepared in conjunction with Professor Hiroyuki Iseki's transportation class.

Greenbelt, Maryland is a planned community built in 1937 as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal.  One of three Green Towns built during the Great Depression, the project put struggling Americans to work, provided much needed low-income housing in the Washington, D.C. region and was a bold experiment in town planning and cooperative living.  Despite nearly doubling in size to accommodate WWII era housing, and steady growth through the second half of the 20th century, Greenbelt's original streamlined architecture, ample green space, and innovative design have been preserved and recognized as a National Historic landmark.  Though originally a segregated community, today Greenbelt is proud of its diversity.  After 75 years, the City continues to thrive even as it looks towards sustainability and the future.

For a complete program and to register, please visit www.greenbeltmd.gov/75. For additional information, please contact Isabelle Gournay, conference chair gournay@umd.edu. Students, faculty and staff of the School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation will be admitted free of charge with advance registration.
 
Click to download a detailed agenda and registration form.

Immediately following the 75th Anniversary Symposium, the Clarence Stein Institute will hold a series of free lectures on topics related to the legacy of Stein, a noted planner and consultant for the green town projects. For more information, contact Tom Hardej, thardej@umd.edu, or see www.preservation-shortcourse.org for more information.

The School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at the University of Maryland is home to four academic disciplines: architecture, urban planning, historic preservation and real estate development. Committed to educating its students and community about the importance of sustainability and smart growth, the School practices an interdisciplinary approach to education, research, creative work, and community and professional service. For more information, please e-mail us or call 301.405.8000.

School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation  |  Collaborative Education for a Sustainable Future