Event: Rebuilding and Renewing America: Toward a 21st Century Infrastructure Investment Plan
Washington, D.C. - On May 9 America 2050 will host a national forum on infrastructure investment, titled Rebuilding and Renewing America: Toward a 21st Century Infrastructure Investment Plan. Supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, the Surdna Foundation and the Division of United States Studies at the Woodrow Wilson Center, the forum will launch a civic-led effort to develop a national infrastructure investment plan for the U.S.: a framework for federal investment and complementary actions by states, local government, and the private sector.
The forum coincides with the Bicentennial and Centennial of plans during the Thomas Jefferson (1808) and Theodore Roosevelt (1908) administrations that later influenced the development of national railways and federal-led environmental restoration and power generation projects, respectively. For more information on these historic plans, download a paper by historian Robert Fishman here.
The day-long forum will convene members of Congress with business industry representatives and leaders in labor, philanthropy and the environmental community to discuss the components of a national infrastructure plan, with sessions on national transportation, water and energy policies. Confirmed speakers include members of congress Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), James Oberstar (D-MN), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Tom Petri (R-WI), Christopher Shays (R-CT), Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Governor Edward Rendell (D-PA). Keynote speeches will be given by Judith Rodin, President, The Rockefeller Foundation, who will speak about the impact the philanthropic community can make in creating a 21st century infrastructure agenda, and Thomas Donohue, President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce will speak on meeting the transportation and energy challenge of the 21st century.
To view the press advisory, click here.
To view the agenda, click here.
To view the briefing book, click here.
The forum is invitation only.


urge coordination of state and local land-use plans with transportation policy. She underscored the importance of federal transportation policy to meet the challenges of climate change, competitiveness and social equity. To the last point, she added that after all, the Civil Rights movement began with "one very brave woman on a city bus; Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, who dubbed herself the "Sewer Mayor," shared her experience of rebuilding the deteriorating water infrastructure in the City of Atlanta and highlighted the importance of partnering with the federal government to address Atlanta's water infrastructure crisis.



On March 19, SPUR, the Bay Area Council and Regional Plan Association of New York will host a public panel discussion at SPUR in San Francisco on the Northern California megaregion. Building on the work of these three organizations, there has been increasing awareness about the economic, cultural, and ecological connections across Northern California. What does this awareness mean practically? What are the pressing challenges at the megaregion scale and what are the opportunities to form political alliances and cooperate on key issues such as land use, air quality, and housing policies? Panelists will discuss policy implications and responses to this emerging geography, with time for audience questions and discussion. 
