Councilor Cadigan will be speaking on the APA’s Planning New Towns in the Desert panel on April 28th. Designing new towns in a desert climate poses challenges for implementing sustainability principles. Albuquerque’s Volcano Heights Sector Development Plan, which was adopted in 2006, will be used as a case study to demonstrate how desert towns can implement smart growth principles while responding to its natural context.

Councilor Cadigan has been asked to give his perspective as a political decision-maker and as a reformer who steadfastly advocated for smart growth and sustainability in the creation of the Volcano Heights Sector Development Plan.

The five-day conference addresses challenges communities face and issues that concern residents — sustainability, congestion, water supplies, climate change, downtown redevelopment, and others. The conference provides information and resources for planning practitioners, educators, citizens, business leaders and elected officials.

The APA's National Planning Conference attracts more than 5,000 planners and officials and is the world's largest annual planning and public policy conference of its kind.

Visit the conference Web site for more details on the program and speakers: