Alexander Garvin has combined a career in urban planning and real estate with teaching, architecture, and public service. He is currently President and CEO of Alex Garvin & Associates, Inc., a planning and design firm in New York City. From 1996 to 2005, he was Managing Director of Planning for NYC2012, New York City's committee for the 2012 Olympic bid. During 2002-2003, he was the Vice President for Planning, Design and Development at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the agency charged with the redevelopment of the World Trade Center following 9/11. Over the last 39 years he has held prominent positions in five New York City administrations, including Deputy Commissioner of Housing (1974-1978) and City Planning Commissioner (1995-2004).
Alex is the Adjunct Professor of Urban Planning and Management at Yale University, where he has taught a wide range of courses for 42 years, including "Introduction to the Study of the City," which has remained one of the most popular courses in Yale College. In addition, he teaches two courses in the School of Architecture, including a seminar on "Intermediate Planning & Development."
Between 1996 and 2004, he was a fellow of the Urban Land Institute for whom he has organized and taught workshops on basic real estate development, the residential development process, and the role of design in real estate. Alex is a member of the National Advisory Council of the Trust for Public Land and the Mayor's Institute on City Design. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Forum for Urban Design and the Citizens Housing & Planning Council, and has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Skyscraper Museum, the Ed Bacon Foundation, and the Society of American City and Regional Planning History.
Alex is the author of numerous articles and books, including The American City: What Works, What Doesn't, published by McGraw-Hill and winner of the 1996 American Institute of Architects book award in urbanism. (The substantially revised, updated, and expanded 2nd edition was released in 2002). He has also authored Parks, Recreation, and Open Space: A 21st Century Agenda, published in 2001 by the American Planning Association, and was one of the principal authors of Urban Parks and Open Space, published in 1997 jointly by the Trust for Public Land and the Urban Land Institute. His most recent works include The Beltline Emerald Necklace: Atlanta's New Public Realm, commissioned by the Georgia office of The Trust for Public Land in 2004, A New Public Realm for DeKalb County, commissioned by the Livable Communities Coalition, of Atlanta, Georgia in 2007, and Hinton Park: From Farmland to Parkland, commissioned by the town of Collierville, Tennessee. He is currently engaged in planning and design projects for private developers in Ausitn, TX, Park City, UT, and New York.
Alex earned his B.A., M. Arch, and M.U.S from Yale University.