Physical design affects human behavior at all scales—buildings, neighborhoods, communities, and regions. The places in which we live, work, and play can affect both our mental and physical well-being.
– Ten Principles for Building Healthy Places, ULI
In 2013, the Urban Land Institute (ULI) launched the Building Healthy Places Initiative, a global effort to understand how the features of place affect the health and well-being of their users. It has since evolved into a broad-ranging discussion within the real estate community, paving the way for health advocacy and health-based thinking. Its effects are clearly evident just in the past two years, as developers, planners, and investors of all stripes have challenged themselves to create projects that integrate research-based health solutions. As a senior staff advisor for the initiative, Ed McMahon has traveled the country to uncover and advocate these principles.
The Baker Program in Real Estate is proud to host Ed McMahon, Senior Resident Fellow & Charles E. Fraser Chair for Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy at the Urban Land Institute (ULI) for Thursday’s Distinguished Speaker Series Talk. McMahon leads the ULI’s global research and educational efforts to examine and discuss environmentally sensitive development policies and practices. His studies and writings are widely-published in both the popular media and real estate industry publications, and he has delivered talks across the country ranging from sustainable development and transportation to conservation practices.
McMahon joined ULI in 2004 having been the Vice President and Director of land use planning for the Conservation Fund in Arlington County, Virginia for 14 years. His efforts there helped to protect over 5 million acres of land of both natural and historic significance, and he is also the co-founder and former president of Scenic America. He taught law and public policy at the Georgetown University Law Center for nine years.
McMahon is the author or coauthor of 15 books, including Conservation Communities: Creating Value with Nature, Open Space, and Agriculture; Better Models for Development in Virginia; Developing Sustainable Planned Communities; Green Infrastructure: Connecting Landscape and Communities; Land Conservation Finance; and Balancing Nature and Commerce in Gateway Communities. He currently serves on the advisory boards of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Preservation Maryland, the Governor’s Institute for Community Design, the Doris Duke Charitable Fund, and the Orton Family Foundation.
