Parsons Brinckerhoff Presents at APA Conference

April 17, 2015

Parsons Brinckerhoff  will collaborate with Autodesk to present a first of its kind Tech Zone at the American Planning Association’s (APA) National Planning Conference, scheduled to take place April 17-22 in Seattle. This technology exhibit will create a hands-on environment for conference attendees to explore innovative digital planning technologies and see how they are working on actual projects.

“Tech Zone will present a variety of emerging technologies, showcasing innovative digital planning tools that can be used across a wide variety of planning disciplines to communicate the overall scope, scale and vision of a project,” said Thomas Coleman, manager of mobile solution development at Parsons Brinckerhoff.

The technologies to be demonstrated in the Tech Zone pertain to digital city modeling, forecasting and analytics, augmented and virtual reality, mobile and social outreach, and geospatial and BIM planning. The exhibit will feature learning stations offering hands-on demonstrations, including a driving simulator as well as a SimSandbox—a virtual landscape to simulate erosion, flooding and sea level rise from climate change. A $1,000 prize will be offered for the best entry to a Planning App Challenge competition. A Hack-a-Thon for Sustainable Cities will offer software developers and designers an opportunity to explore ideas with a large group of city and regional planners from across the country.

Parsons Brinckerhoff planning professionals will lead four technical sessions on emerging planning approaches and technologies as part of the larger conference.

  • Coleman and Ryan Cook, with Alicia Roualt of LocalData and David Emory, Co-Founder and Principal of Conveyal, will present “Civic Engagement in a Mobile World” on April 19 at 4 p.m.
  • Coleman, Kevin Gilson, and Autodesk’s Doug Eberhard, Senior Director, Infrastructure Project Development, will discuss “Digital Cities, Smart Cities – The Future of Planning,” on April 20 at 10 a.m.
  • Andrea Barbour will give a session on “Generational Insights for Local Planning” on April 21 at 9:30 a.m.
  • David Shelton will coordinate a session on “Collaborative Transit Evaluation in Seattle,” on April 21 at 11 a.m.