On July 7 2010, The Forum for Urban Design hosted a discussion about the future of America with Joel Kotkin and Christopher B. Leinberger, moderated by Kenneth T. Jackson.

What will America look like in 2050 when its population is expected to increase by over 100 million people? Will the next 100 million Americans live in sprawling, auto-dependent, and geographically vast suburbs or will we see a shift to denser walkable urban areas? This Forum for Urban Design conversation between Joel Kotkin, urban historian and author of THE NEXT HUNDRED MILLION: America in 2050 and Christopher B. Leinberger, visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of The Option of Urbanism covered what the future of the American urban/suburban landscape will hold. These two gentlemen hold differing views of the future of America and debated them in a special conversation moderated by Kenneth T. Jackson, Professor in History and the Social Sciences at Columbia University and author of Cities in American History.

Click below for videos and proceedings of this discussion.

[private]PART 1: Introduction

PART 2: Joel Kotkin

PART 3: Christopher Leinberger

PART 4: Armando Carbonell

PART 5: Panel Discussion

PART 6: Question & Answer

Kotkin Leinberger Summary[/private]