LBJ School Record New forces shaping cities New forces shaping cities A two-part symposium held in April at various locations across the UT Austin campus focused on important issues and ideas that will shape cities in the 21st century. The event was sponsored by the LBJ School, the LBJ Library, and various university units that include the Center for American Architecture and Design, the School of Architecture, and the Urban Issues Program . It examined how fine architecture helps to make a good city and discussed ways that ordinary people value buildings differently from architects. He noted that new information technology will change the way cities will sustain their economy. We need to figure out how we, as cities, sustain that economy.
Cities can no longer focus on just one element of the economy.
One of the symposium's keynote speakers was William Mitchell, an architect and professor who is a pioneer in computer-aided design. According to him, there is an uneasy accommodation between the physical world and the electronic world right now, but as the virtual world becomes more important in our lives, society will need to make the two worlds fit together.