Jeff Speck

Key speaking topics

• Walkable city planning
• Urban design and street design
• Downtown revitalisation
• New Urbanism
• Smart growth
• Public realm and placemaking
• Transportation and city planning

Ideal for

• City and regional leaders
• Urban planners and transport authorities
• Real estate and development professionals
• Corporate leaders involved in place-based investment

Audience outcomes

• Clear understanding of the principles of walkable city design
• Insight into practical approaches to downtown revitalisation
• Frameworks for improving street design and public space
• Greater clarity on the economic and social value of walkability

Why organisations work with Jeff Speck

• Combines public sector leadership experience with private consultancy practice.
• Brings published frameworks that have influenced urban planning debates.
• Offers practical, policy-relevant insight for cities and organisations shaping the built environment.
• Aligns design thinking with economic vitality and community outcomes.

Biography

Jeff Speck is a city planner and urban designer whose work focuses on helping cities and organisations create walkable, economically resilient communities. As a founding partner of Speck Dempsey, he advises public- and private-sector clients on urban planning, street design, and downtown revitalisation strategies that strengthen long-term value.

His career combines national policy leadership with hands-on planning expertise. As former Director of Design at the US National Endowment for the Arts, he led design-related grantmaking and worked with initiatives including the Mayors’ Institute on City Design and the Governors’ Institute on Community Design, supporting civic leaders in shaping the built environment.

Earlier, he spent roughly a decade at Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co., where he became Director of Town Planning and contributed to the development and application of New Urbanist principles in practice.

Jeff is the author of Walkable City and Walkable City Rules, and co-author of Suburban Nation and The Smart Growth Manual. His books are widely read within planning and design communities, and Walkable City has been translated into multiple languages, shaping debate around transportation, development, and the future of urban centres.

He has delivered widely viewed public talks, including TED appearances, on walkability and urban design, and is a recipient of the Seaside Prize in recognition of his contribution to the field.