JTP founder chair John Thompson receives American Institute of Architects (AIA) Presidential Citation
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JTP founder chair John Thompson receives American Institute of Architects (AIA) Presidential Citation

Published on 27 March 2019

JTP is delighted to announce that founder chair John Thompson has been presented an AIA Presidential Citation for services to the architectural profession and the lasting legacy of participatory urban design. The award was made by 2019 AIA President Bill Bates during his recent visit to London.

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It is a huge honour to have been presented the AIA Presidential Citation by Bill Bates for services to participatory design and urbanism. We have found time and again that you get better solutions and better places if you can empower the community. I am proud to think that my efforts over the years, along with those of many talented colleagues, to develop best practice in urbanism and bring communities into the heart of planning and placemaking has been recognised and appreciated by the AIA.
John Thompson, founder chair of JTP

The full citation reads:

“
It has been three decades since the historic Remaking Cities Conference in Pittsburgh and the Monongahela Valley R/UDAT (Regional Urban Design Assistance Team) that was an instrumental part of the event. It is extraordinary to recall how your participation in the bi-national team which led the R/UDAT process sparked a pioneering effort to introduce community-based planning processes to the UK and elsewhere as a tool for bringing about sustainable development and urban regeneration.
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We salute your decades of commitment to participatory design and urbanism. Your work to introduce the democratic ideals of community planning to cities across Europe, China and Russia has left a lasting impact that will help us meet the collective urban challenges of the 21st-century. Under your leadership, JTP has become a global leader in participatory practices. Your work to found the Academy of Urbanism in 2006 as a learning hub created a worldwide network of professionals that has had a singular impact on this field of work.
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With deep appreciation for your years of dedicated service to the architectural profession and the lasting legacy of participatory urban design you have helped spread across the world, I am pleased to confer upon you this Presidential Citation.
William J Bates FAIA, 2019 President AIA