Communities of Tomorrow Summit

The value of the big picture is not to be discounted. Details are always essential, but sometimes it helps to take a few giant steps back and ask some very basic, wide-angle questions. With this in mind, the Foundation for Community Association Research and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Center for Liveable Communities conceived of the Communities of Tomorrow Summit not as a microscopic examination of neighborhood-building but as a national dialogue on excellence in community design, governance, and management. Held September 8-9, 1999, in Arlington, Virginia, and sponsored by the Fannie Mae Foundation, the Summit convened more than 125 leaders from a variety of fields to discuss the big picture—in this case, how demographic lifestyle and design trends would affect not only the creation of future communities but also the evolution of existing communities as they transition into the communities of tomorrow.

The day-and-a-half program had an open-ended, overarching goal: to initiate constructive dialogue about every critical area of community planning, development, and operation. Individuals and organizations that participated had opportunities to identify best practices, foster research, and develop new project and partnership methods.

From where did the desire to study this particular big picture spring? From the simple and unavoidable realization that American communities are changing. The number of community associations has grown exponentially since 1970, and these numbers are continuing to rise. The general population is changing as well; our nation is already seeing a growing number of older persons, an increasingly diverse citizenry, and an ongoing shift in how and where we live. Against this demographic backdrop, the Summit focused on residential and mixed-use developments, on planned and unplanned communities, and continually challenged participants to create the only logical starting point in this dialogue: a working definition of "community excellence."

During the Summit's closing session, Norman Koonce, Executive Vice President and CEO of the AIA, reminded participants that "these inspirations can leave this place with us.... In doing so, we will design and build a platform on which communities can thrive." He urged participants to return to their organizations, agencies, companies, and communities and share the ideas they had heard—and put them into action.

Barbara Byrd Keenan, CAE, President of CAI at the time of the Summit, identified several logical next steps:

• Preparation and dissemination of this outcomes document to Summit participants and partnering organizations.
• Review of the "outcomes" document by Summit participants and participating organizations.
• Dissemination of four mailings to all participants over the next year, that reiterate key topics, note new theories and best practices, and update colleagues on related publications and conferences.
• Creation of an electronic community of Summit participants, via website updates and a listserv.
• Identification of lead individuals in all organizations to keep lines of communication open and the spirit of partnership and collaboration alive.
• Identification of additional organizations to invite as partners in future conversations.
• Consideration of the feasibility, support, and timing of a "Communities of Tomorrow Summit II."

Conclusion

Americans are becoming increasingly concerned about quality-of-life issues. Most of us anticipate major societal changes that will affect our lives in future decades, and we want to know how we can gain more influence over our work, social, and home environments. This rising interest in community-based organizations, environmental sensitivity, work/life planning, regional planning, New Urbanist thinking, and livability issues prompted the initial discussions of the design and development of this Summit. We want to thank all of the participants and their sponsoring organizations for their contributions and insights during the meeting. It was the collective wisdom of the group coupled with a sense of positive urgency about moving forward on the vexing issues facing future communities that made the Communities of Tomorrow a success.

For more information on the Summit or its outcomes, contact the Foundation at foundation(at)caionline.org or (888) 224-4321.