As principal of Urban3, a consulting company created by Asheville, NC real estate developer Public Interest Projects, Joe Minicozzi has a natural interest in geographic locations. In his general session presentation, he will share some of his pioneering work in geo-spatial representation of economic productivity that helps communities understand the economic potency of urbanism and the value of well-designed cities. Urban3’s analyses of the relationship between building design and tax production have been conducted across the U.S. and Canada. This work has enabled them to devise a method that simplifies complex information to include everyone in real conversations about community growth.

Minicozzi is a sought-after lecturer on city planning issues, and his work has been featured in numerous journals and at international conferences. He is also a founding member of the Western North Carolina-based nonprofit Asheville Design Center.