Alexander Garvin

Alexander Garvin has combined a career in urban planning and real estate with teaching, architecture, and public service. He is currently president & CEO of AGA Public Realm Strategists. From 1996-2005, he was Managing Director of Planning for NYC2012, New York City’s committee for the 2012 Olympic bid. During 2002-2003, he was the Vice President for Planning, Design and Development at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the agency charged with the redevelopment of the World Trade Center following 9/11. Over the last 38 years he has held prominent positions in five New York City administrations, including Deputy Commissioner of Housing (1974-1978) and City Planning Commissioner (1995-2004).

Garvin is adjunct professor of Urban Planning and Management at Yale University, where he has taught a wide range of courses for more than 45 years, including “Introduction to the Study of the City”. In addition, he teaches two graduate courses in the School of Architecture, including a seminar on “Intermediate Planning & Development.”

He has been a member of the National Advisory Council of the Trust for Public Land and of the Board of Directors of the Society of American City and Regional Planning History and the Ed Bacon Foundation. Between 1996 and 2004, he was a fellow of the Urban Land Institute for whom he has organized and taught workshops. Garvin is president of the Forum for Urban Design and continues to be a member of the board of the Citizens Housing & Planning Council.

He is the author of several books, including The American City: What Works, What Doesn’t, published by McGraw-Hill; Parks, Recreation, and Open Space: A 21st Century Agenda, published by the American Planning Association; and The Beltline Emerald Necklace: Atlanta’s New Public Realm, which was commissioned by the Georgia office of The Trust for Public Land. His most recent book is The Planning Game: Lessons from Great Cities, W. W. Norton, 2013.

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