Edward Norton and Jonathan Rose, “Social Entrepreneurship and the Built Environment”

A discussion with Rouse’s grandson, actor and activist Edward Norton and with “green” real estate developer, planner, and investor, Jonathan Rose. Norton and Rose are both Trustees of Enterprise Community Partners, a unique for-profit/non-profit hybrid, founded by Rouse, that has raised and invested more than $10 billion to finance more than 270,000 affordable homes across the United States.

By 2050, the world’s population will exceed over nine billion people, and two thirds of the population will live in cities. Jonathan Rose and Edward Norton will discuss some of the larger trends that affect cities today and in the future, and in particular, long-term strategies for accommodating this significant population growth in the most environmentally, socially, and economically responsible way possible. They will address the significant role that social entrepreneurs can play, following in Rouse’s footsteps, as well as the role of design and placemaking in addressing the challenges of affordable housing and community development.

Jonathan Rose, is the founder and president of Jonathan Rose Companies, which provides integrated urban planning, development and investment solutions to cities and not for profits. Founded in 1989 as a mission-based practice, the firm is recognized for its ability to achieve visionary goals through practical strategies and affordable green urban solutions.

Edward Norton, well-known as an actor and filmmaker, is also a committed activist and social entrepreneur. He has worked on affordable housing issues with Enterprise Community Partners (ECP) since 1991 and has been a Trustee of ECP since 1997. Along with Jonathan Rose, he was an early proponent of ECP’s national role is promoting sustainability standards in affordable housing development through the Green Communities Initiative. He actively supports numerous organizations including the Conservation Lands Foundation, the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, the Signature Theater Company and the Friends of the High Line. He recently co-founded Crowdrise, which is a social networking site that supports grassroots fundraising efforts. Crowdrise was recently included on Barron’s list of the 25 Most Influential Philanthropists. In July of this year, Edward was designated as the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

About James Rouse

Few individuals have played such an important role in shaping urban America, as James Rouse. In the 1950’s, Rouse was a pioneering developer of indoor shopping malls. In the 1960’s, he created the planned community of Columbia, Maryland as a collection of socially progressive, self-contained villages. Today Columbia is home to more than 100,000 people. Frank Gehry did some of his early work in Columbia, having been commissioned by Rouse to design Columbia’s exhibit center and firehouse, as well as the Rouse Company headquarters. In the 1970’s, Rouse became an early advocate of urban renewal, introducing “festival marketplaces” like Fanueil Hall in Boston, Harbor Place in Baltimore, and the South Street Sea Port in Manhattan. In the 1980’s, Rouse created Enterprise Community Partners that today is the leading provider of financial- and intellectual-capital for affordable housing and community development. In 1995 President Bill Clinton presented Rouse with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Co-sponsored by the Graduate School of Design and Interbrand.

12/1/11

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