8 - 80 Cities - About Us - International Advisory Board

8-80 Cities is proud to be advised by some of the world`s leading experts in urban planning, public health, conservation and sustainable development. Scroll down to read more about the experience and expertise of our Advisory Board Members, or click on a name to read about a particular member of our group.

	Paul J. Bedford Toronto, Canada Paul Bedford is an Urban Mentor and retired Chief Planner for the City of Toronto. He is a Member and Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Planners, with more than 38 years of experience in urban planning and city building. Since retirement from city hall in 2004, Mr. Bedford has been appointed Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto and Ryerson University, and therefore contributes great efforts to the planning of both schools. He is the only citizen serving on the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority Board of Directors and is also a member of the National Capital Commission, Planning Advisory Committee, the Waterfront Toronto Urban Design Review Panel and the Property Committee for redevelopment of the Toronto Centre for Addiction and Mental Health campus (CAMH). In addition, He is a Senior Associate of the Canadian Urban Institute, a frequent public speaker at numerous forums on planning issues and is active in shaping the new public policy agenda at all levels of government.
	Eric Britton Paris, France Eric Britton was born in Mississippi. He later travelled to New England and Europe to receive an education. He studied science and economics at Amherst and Columbia College, and later proceeded to study the PhD program of the Graduate Faculty of Economics at Columbia (PhD Cand.). He then continued with work on a dissertation on technology, development and job creation as Fulbright Fellow in Italy. In 1967, Eric co-founded EcoPlan, a consultancy/network providing decision counsel to government, industry as well as the volunteer sector on issues involving the management of technological change as it affects people in their daily lives. Eric has served as an advisor in numerous offices of the UN, OECD, European Union, and government agencies. Evidently, he founded The Commons in 1974 and the New Mobility Agenda in 1988. In 2000, he and Enrique Peñalosa, mayor of Bogotá Colombia, were co-awarded the Stockholm Environment Challenge Prize for 'outstanding socio-technical innovation'. In 2002, Eric received the World Technology Environment Prize.
	Lars Gemzoe Copenhagen, Denmark Lars Gemzoe is an Architect M.A.A, as well as a senior consultant and associate partner in Gehl Architects – Urban Quality Consultants, Copenhagen. Outside of Scandinavia, Lars takes part in international projects in places such as Great Britain, The Middle East, Canada, Guatemala and Australia. He is currently the senior lecturer of Urban Design at The Centre for Public Space Research, School of Architecture, The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (1979-2006) and at DIS (Denmark’s International Study Program). His international teaching includes universities in New York, Montréal, Rouen, Hanover, Bogotá and Montevideo. To this day, Lars has lectured at conferences and schools of architecture in the USA, Canada, Colombia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Dubai, UK, Greenland, Spain, and many more countries. He has published "Public Spaces - Public Life -Copenhagen 1996", which was awarded the Edra/PLACES Research Award in 1998, as well as other great works.
	Enrique Jacoby Washington D.C., USA Enrique Jacoby is a Peruvian M.D. trained at San Marcos University in Lima with a Masters Degree in Public Health (Public Nutrition) from the University Johns Hopkins, Maryland, U.S.A. Since the year 2000, he has worked as a Regional Advisor in Healthy Diet and Active Living, Unit of Chronic Diseases of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) in Washington, D.C. Dr Jacoby is co-founder of the Network of Ciclovias (Car-Free Sundays) of the Americas and promoter of the Active Cities, Healthy Cities Contest that awards cities that are taking steps towards becoming more liveable, sustainable and healthy. He was co-Principal Investigator of an international project sponsored by CDC, PAHO, U de los Andes and T Lozano that studied the relationship between the urban physical environment and transportation on the levels of physical activity and health of the residents of Bogotá City (2004-2006). In the last five years, he has worked with public health programs in countries such as Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina, Colombia, and Costa Rica.
	Ethan Kent New York City, USA Ethan Kent, graduate of sociology, environmental studies and economics, is a senior Vice-President of Projects for Public Spaces, currently leading a broad spectrum of Placemaking efforts by providing technical assistance to revamp and re-envision places in diverse settings. He has contributed to the development of multi-billion dollar projects in Hong Kong, Dubai, and Los Angeles. He continues evaluating and photographing public spaces in over 50 countries worldwide, in order to broaden his horizons and contribute to his planning and works. In order to apply Placemaking citywide, Ethan defined and launched the Great Cities Initiative, thoroughly lead PPS efforts in New York, and co-founded as well as managed PPS’ role in the NYC Streets Renaissance Campaign. He continues engaging in public speaking, delivering numerous keynote presentations worldwide.
	Adriana de Almeida Lobo México City, México Adriana, Executive Director of the Center of Sustainable Transportation of Mexico, is a strategic thinker with more than 13 years of experience in urban and regional transport planning and modeling. She began her career in Brazil, where she had the opportunity to work with world-class professionals in the field of transportation systems at the young age of 20. Since then, Adriana has spent more than 6 years working as a director for prominent Latin American consulting firms. In 2002, Adriana assumed leadership at the Center for Sustainable Transportation of Mexico. Under Adriana’s close supervision, Mexico City’s last government implemented its first Bus Rapid Transit System, Metrobus Insurgentes, which has since removed 35,000 tons of CO2 from the air annually. Adriana holds a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering from the Escola Politecnica at the University of Sao Paulo and completed part of her Masters in Business Administration at the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico. A Brazilian by birth, Adriana married in Mexico, is a nationalized Mexican and has three small children between the ages of 5-8.
	Anne Lusk Boston, USA Anne Lusk is a Research Fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health (Ph.D.), currently funded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Lusk has earned her Ph.D. in Architecture, alongside a major in Environment and Behaviour, and a minor in Urban Planning. She has a twenty-five year history working on greenways, helped found the Vermont Trails and Greenways Council and the Vermont Bicycle and Pedestrian Coalition, and was Vice Chair of American Trails and Chair of the National Recreation and Park Association Citizen Board Member Branch. Currently, she is working on a project comparing the environmental characteristics of ten highly frequented greenways with ten not highly frequented greenways in order to test the hypothesis that highly frequented greenways have destinations that meet human needs. Anne wrote a magnificent document titled “Pushing the Design Boundaries”, which is now available on the web, as well as a chapter in The Humane Metropolis, edited by Rutherford Platt, titled “Promoting Health and Fitness through Urban Design.”
	Tracy Nordstrom Minneapolis, USA Tracy Nordstrom is an elected member of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She represents 55,000 constituents, and her duties include overseeing 55 miles of paved, off-street urban biking trails, over 50 miles of walking trails, and completing the "Grand Rounds" bike and pedestrian loop first envisioned for Minneapolis in the late 1800's. She is a mom with three kids who bike, the wife of a bicycle commuter, and a daily pedestrian and bike rider herself. She enjoys traveling to walkable cities worldwide and advocates for public policy and design that keeps pedestrians and cyclists in mind.
	Catherine O’Brien Sydney, N.S., Canada Catherine O'Brien, Ph.D. is a leading Canadian expert in planning child and youth friendly communities. She is the co-author of Child and Youth Friendly Land Use and Transport Planning Guidelines. In her capacity as a Research Associate with the Centre for Sustainable Transportation, she is contributing to the development of guidelines for every Canadian province. Catherine is an Assistant Professor at Cape Breton University's School of Education, Health and Wellness. Her writing and research also focus on opportunities to pursue sustainable happiness. This is a concept that Dr. O'Brien defines as "the pursuit of happiness that does not exploit other people, the environment, or future generations".
	Enrique Peñalosa Bagotá, Colombia Enrique Peñalosa is an innovative and influential urban thinker who proposes imaginative projects and solutions to improve public spaces, quality of life and well being, mobility, sustainability and equity. He holds a BA in Economics and History from Duke University, a Master’s Degree in Government from the IIAP in Paris and a DESS in Public Administration from the University of Paris II. Previously, as mayor of Bogota, Penalosa profoundly transformed the city, turning it from one with neither bearings, nor self esteem or hope into an international example for improvements in quality of life, mobility and equity in developing world cities. He led the creation of TransMilenio, often considered the world’s most successful bus rapid transit system, Car Free Day, formidable libraries and parks, radical improvements to the city center, and many more extraordinary upgrades. He has continuously lectured internationally and has advised governments in Asia, Africa, Australia, Latin America and the United States. He is currently Senior International Advisor to the ITDP (Institute for Transportation and Development Policy) of New York and the Hewlett Foundation and a member of the experts’ team of the Urban Age Project of the London School of Economics.
	Gordon Price Vancouver, Canada Gordon Price is the Director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University. (www.sfu.ca/city). He is also an Adjunct Professor in the School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia. In 2002, he finished his sixth term as a City Councillor in Vancouver, BC. He also served on the Board of the Greater Vancouver Regional District and was appointed to the first board of the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority (TransLink) in 1999 Mr. Price has written several extensive essays on Vancouver and transportation issues (The Deceptive City, Local Politician's Guide to Urban Transportation - www.vtpi.org/localpol.htm ) and has been published in numerous journals, including those of the American and Canadian Planning Associations. In 2003, he received the Plan Canada Award for Article of the Year - "Land Use and Transportation: The View from '56" - from the Canadian Institute of Planners. He also publishes an electronic magazine on urban issues, with a focus on Vancouver, called “Price Tags.” He sits on the Boards of the Sightline Institute and the International Centre for Sustainable Cities.
	John Pucher New Brunswick, NJ, USA John Pucher is a professor in the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University (New Brunswick, New Jersey). Since earning a Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1978, Pucher has conducted research on a wide range of topics in transport economics and finance. Over the past twelve years, his research has focused on walking and bicycling. His international comparative analysis has included Australia, Canada, the USA, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and several other European countries. His main objective is to determine what American, Canadian, and Australian cities could learn from each other and from European cities. Pucher continues to be increasingly interested in the public health implications of urban transport.
	Robert Searns Denver, Colorado, USA Robert Searns plans, designs and develops greenway trail and open space conservation projects. His works, including Denver Platte River Greenway, have won national awards and international acclaim. Over the years, he has authored numerous inspiring books and articles on greenway, ultimately promoting a better and healthier lifestyle. Robert currently holds the position of National Chairman of American Trails, as well as a Principal with the planning and design group The Greenway Team, Inc.
	Helle Søholt Copenhagen, Denmark Helle Søholt is a founding partner at Gehl Architects. Besides being a Project Manager and Director of Gehl Architects, she teaches architecture and urban design at DIS - Denmarks International Study Program in Copenhagen. Helle has earned an MA in Architecture and Urban Design from the School of Architecture, the Royal Danish Academy of Fine arts in Copenhagen, Denmark as well as an MA in Architecture from the University of Washington, Seattle, USA. Helle has wide national and international experience with urban design, including public life surveys, urban quality analyses, development of strategy plans, public space plans, public space programs and design.