Garvin, Alexander D.

Mr. Garvin is currently president of AGA Public Realm Strategists, Inc., a planning and design firm in New York City, and president of the Forum for Urban Design. From 1996 to 2005 he was managing director for NYC2012, New York City’s committee for the 2012 Olympic bid. During 2002–2003 Mr. Garvin was the vice president for planning, design, and development of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the agency charged with the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site following 9/11. He has also held prominent positions in New York City government, including deputy commissioner of housing and city planning commissioner. Mr. Garvin is the author of numerous articles and books, including Public Parks: The Key to Livable Communities, published by W.W. Norton in 2010; The American City: What Works, What Doesn’t, winner of the 1996 American Institute of Architects book award in urbanism; Parks, Recreation, and Open Space: A 21st Century Agenda; and one of the principal authors of Urban Parks and Open Space, published jointly, in 1997, by the Trust for Public Land and the Urban Land Institute. Mr. Garvin’s other publications include The Beltline Emerald Necklace: Atlanta’s New Public Realm, commissioned by the Georgia office of The Trust for Public Land; A New Public Realm for De Kalb County, published by the Livable Communities Coalition of Atlanta, Georgia; and Hinton Park: From Farmland to Parkland, commissioned by the town of Collierville, Tennessee. He has recently been engaged in planning and design projects in Texas, Utah, Georgia, Tennessee, Connecticut, and New York.