The Norman Krumholz Speaker Series on the Future of Urban Planning
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Roberta Steinbacher Atrium, Glickman Miller Hall, 1717 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115
Program: 3:00 - 5:00 pm
Networking Social: 5:00 - 6:30 pm
Free. Suggested $35 donation to the Norman and Virginia Endowed Scholarship
About This Event
2026 is the 100th anniversary of the VILLAGE OF EUCLID V. AMBLER REALTY CO. landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that established the principle and practice of land-use zones in the U.S. To recognize the importance of this occasion, the 2026 Keynote Speaker is Dr. Sonia Hirt, Ph.D., Dean and Hughes Professor in Landscape Architecture and Planning at the College of Environment and Design at the University of Georgia (U.S.A.). Dr. Hirt is author of Zoned in the USA: The Origins and Implications of American Land Use Regulation and co-editor of Contemporary Urban Planning, a widely known urban planning textbook, amongst several other publications.
Following the keynote address, we will host a panel discussion about equitable housing with local urban planning and development professionals from Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, Cuyahoga Land Bank, a Community Development Corporation, and the City of Cleveland Planning Department.
Stay for the networking social! Grab a bite and a table to catch up with old friends or make new ones.
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Sonia Hirt, Ph.D., Urban and Regional Planning
Dean and Hughes Professor in Landscape Architecture and Planning
College of Environment and Design, University of Georgia
Initially trained as an architect in her hometown of Sofia (the capital of Bulgaria), Sonia Hirt holds a master’s and a doctoral degree in urban and environmental planning from the University of Michigan. Prior to joining the University of Georgia, she served as Dean of the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at the University of Maryland in College Park; Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, Virginia Tech; and Visiting Associate Professor at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. Sonia is the recent winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Considered one of the most prestigious awards for academics, the Guggenheim attracts 2500-3000 applications per year for about 170 awards. According to UGA records, only twelve UGA faculty in the history of the university and the history of the fellowship, have received this honor. This year, UGA has two winners: Hirt and Professor Andrew Herod from Geography. Sonia will use the fellowship tenure to continue—slowly—working on her sixth book, entitled “America’s Hurry: Making Sense of Time and Space in My Adopted Country.” The book is under contract with MIT Press.
About the Series
The Norman Krumholz Future of Urban Planning Lecture Series honors the legacy of Norman Krumholz, recognizing his pivotal role in advancing equity planning and addressing the ongoing challenges in this field. Krumholz’s influence is renowned globally, as evidenced by his inclusion in Planetizen’s 100 Most Influential Urbanists. However, his impact is most profoundly felt in Cleveland, where he and his team of planners created an equity planning framework for the City of Cleveland’s City Planning Department aimed at providing more choices to Clevelanders who had few. The Speaker Series honors Norm Krumholz’ equity planning lens to examine urban planning and community development issues still important to Clevelanders today.