Jeff Speck

Jeff Speck is a city planner and author who advocates internationally for more walkable cities. As Director of Design at the National Endowment for the Arts from 2003 through 2007, he presided over the Mayors' Institute on City Design and created the Governors' Institute on Community Design. Prior to his federal appointment, Mr. Speck spent ten years as Director of Town Planning at DPZ & Co., the principal firm behind the New Urbanism movement. Since 2007, he has led Speck & Associates — now Speck Dempsey —an award-winning urban planning firm serving public and private clients around the world.

With Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Mr. Speck is the co-author of "Suburban Nation," which the Wall Street Journal calls "the urbanist's bible.” His 2012 book "Walkable City" was the best selling city planning title of the past decade and has been translated into eight languages. He is also the principal author of "The Smart Growth Manual" and "Walkable City Rules."

Speck has been named a fellow of both the American Institute of Certified Planners and the Congress for New Urbanism. In a recent Planetizen poll, he was voted one of the ten “most influential urbanists of all time.” Mr. Speck was the 2022 recipient of the Seaside Prize, whose former awardees include Jane Jacobs and Christopher Alexander. His TED talks and YouTube videos have been viewed more than six million times.