ROBIN CHASE n 2017 NICHOLS LAUREATE

RECIPIENT OF THE 18TH ANNUAL URBAN LAND INSTITUTE

J.C. NICHOLS PRIZE FOR VISIONARIES IN URBAN DEVELOPMENT

THE URBAN LAND INSTITUTE

2017J.C. Nichols Prize

FOR VISIONARIES IN URBAN DEVELOPMENT

ABOUT THE URBAN LAND INSTITUTE

The Urban Land Institute is a global, member-driven organization comprising more than 40,000 real estate and urban development professionals dedicated to advancing the Institute’s mission of providing leadership in the responsible use of land and creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide.

ULI’s interdisciplinary membership represents all aspects of the industry, including developers, property owners, investors, architects, urban planners, public officials, real estate brokers, appraisers, attorneys, engineers, financiers, and academics. Established in 1936, the Institute has a presence in the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific regions, with members in 76 countries.

The extraordinary impact that ULI makes on land use decision making is based on its members sharing expertise on a variety of factors affecting the built environment, including urbanization, demographic and population changes, new economic drivers, technology advancements, and environmental concerns.

Peer-to-peer learning is achieved through the knowledge shared by members at thousands of convenings each year that reinforce ULI’s position as a global authority on land use and real estate. In 2016 alone, more than 1,700 events were held in 250 cities around the world.

Drawing on the work of its members, the Institute recognizes and shares best practices in urban design and development for the benefit of communities around the globe.

More information is available at uli.org. Follow ULI on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

ULI J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development 1

The Urban Land Institute J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development was established in 2000 to recognize a commitment to the highest standards of community building, and to serve as a symbol of land use leadership that reflects both ULI’s mission and the values of the prize’s namesake, ULI founding member Jesse Clyde Nichols.

THE ULI J.C. NICHOLS PRIZE FOR VISIONARIES IN URBAN DEVELOPMENT: A SYMBOL OF LAND USE LEADERSHIP

THE URBAN LAND INSTITUTE J.C. NICHOLS PRIZEF O R V I S I O N A R I E S I N

U R B A N D E V E L O P M E N T

Nichols, one of the most highly regarded real estate developers of the pre–World War II era, understood that while a development must make economic sense, it must also enrich the surrounding community; his guiding principles were “building for permanence” and “beauty is value added.” Among his most well-known developments is the Country Club District, an iconic neighborhood in Nichols’s hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, that reflects his commitment to outstanding design. Built during the 1920s, the neighborhood is anchored by Country Club Plaza, which Nichols envisioned not just as a place to shop, but also as a focal point for the community—a role it continues to play in the 21st century. 

Robin Chase, Zipcar cofounder and transportation entrepreneur, is the 2017 Nichols laureate. Previous prize laureates are as follows: 

2000—Joseph P. Riley Jr., former mayor, Charleston, South Carolina.2001—The late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, U.S. senator (D-New York).2002—Gerald D. Hines, founder and chairman, Hines.2003—Vincent Scully, former architecture professor, Yale University.2004—Richard D. Baron, chairman and chief executive officer, McCormack Baron Salazar.2005—Albert B. Ratner, cochairman emeritus, Forest City Enterprises.2006—Peter Calthorpe, founder and principal, Calthorpe Associates.2007—Sir Stuart Lipton, partner, Lipton Rogers LLP.2008—F. Barton Harvey III, former chairman and chief executive officer, Enterprise Community Partners.2009—Amanda M. Burden, former commissioner, New York City Planning Commission.2010—Richard M. Daley, former mayor, Chicago.2011—His Highness the Aga Khan.2012—Peter Walker, partner, PWP Landscape Architecture.2013—J. Ronald Terwilliger, chairman emeritus, Trammell Crow Residential.2014—Dr. Judith Rodin, president, Rockefeller Foundation.2015—Lord Richard Rogers, founder, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. 2016—Dr. Cheong Koon Hean, chief executive officer of Singapore’s Housing & Development Board.These highly talented, dedicated individuals have applied their skills in urban planning, design,

development, teaching, and governing to create the best outcomes for cities around the globe. But, even more important, these visionaries have inspired others with their passion to make a positive, long-lasting impact. In this regard, each Nichols laureate is carrying on the legacy of J.C. Nichols, whose commitment to excellence in ULI’s early years continues to influence the Institute’s work in the 21st century. 

Internationally acclaimed transportation entrepreneur Robin Chase, who rose to prominence in the early 2000s as cofounder and chief executive officer of Zipcar, the

largest car-sharing company in the world, has been named the 2017 recipient of the ULI J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development. Chase is the 18th recipient of the prize, which recognizes a person, or a person representing an institution, whose work demonstrates a commitment to the creation of communities that reflect the highest standards of design and development.

The Nichols Prize honors the legacy of Kansas City, Missouri, developer J.C. Nichols, a founding ULI member considered to be one of America’s most creative entrepreneurs in land use during the first half of the 20th century. Nichols built his signature development, the Country Club District, to accommodate what he correctly anticipated would be the future proliferation of automobile owners in urban areas.

Chase—the first Nichols Prize laureate whose career has not directly involved real estate practices or policy making—conceived Zipcar in 2000 as a car ownership alternative that would provide easy, convenient, and inexpensive access to vehicles on an as-needed basis.

With its debut, Zipcar disrupted car ownership dependence and the car rental process by allowing urban residents to reserve online, and securely pick up and drop off cars on an hourly basis from unattended parking locations distributed across the city. Years later, the process would be further simplified with a smartphone app.

The effects and implications of Zipcar rippled quickly through city planning departments, the development industry, and academia, raising questions such as how much and what kind of parking is necessary to satisfy city residents. Also, relieved of the expense of owning and maintaining an auto, some city dwellers could better afford their city’s housing prices.

Starting with one Volkswagen Beetle in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company now offers more than 12,000 vehicles to over 1 million users in 500-plus cities around the globe.

The lasting impacts of Chase’s car-sharing idea on urban design and development are what earned her the Nichols Prize, which is the Institute’s highest honor. She demonstrated how sharing vehicles reduces the number of cars used by urban residents

2017Zipcar cofounder calls for real property that can be shared and repurposed.By Trisha Riggs

ROBIN CHASE, RECIPIENT OF THE

18TH ANNUAL URBAN LAND INSTITUTE

J.C. NICHOLS PRIZE FOR VISIONARIES

IN URBAN DEVELOPMENT

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as well as the number of parking spaces they need. She also demonstrated that sharing is welcomed by the mainstream of people and that it has a viable business model. Zipcar set the stage for the rise of the sharing economy, including Airbnb, Uber, and Lyft.

“It’s important to acknowledge that the issues driving urbanization in America are about more than real estate,” says Nichols Prize jury chairman Mark Johnson, president of Civitas. “Technology is having a big impact on the formation of communities. Today, we have different communities than we could imagine ten years ago because we have technology that allows us to connect with others who share common interests. We are seeing new forms of community emerge from the sharing economy.

“With Zipcar, Robin produced something we all use, but it’s not something we knew we needed until it was introduced to us,” Johnson says. “Her passion is about innovation, staying ahead of the game, and thinking about things that others are not. In today’s world, we all need that.”

In her 2015 book, Peers Inc, Chase explains the three premises on which Zipcar was based, and which have guided her pursuits since leaving the company in 2003:

1. Leveraging/sharing excess capacity (such as unused cars) makes economic sense;

2. Online technology platforms make sharing simple; and3. Peer collaboration (such as Zipcar’s system of having users refuel the cars

without assistance) ensures the system’s success.“Enabled by new technology, a revolution is taking place inside capitalism as we

reimagine the role of consumers, producers, and even ownership. I call this new paradigm Peers Inc: a transformation of the relationship between companies and people,” she writes. “Peers Inc finds abundance where there was once scarcity . . . Peers Inc is leading the transition from industrial capitalism to the collaborative economy.”

After leaving Zipcar, Chase served as the founder of and chief executive officer for Buzzcar, a peer-to-peer car-sharing company, and GoLoco, which enabled ride sharing. She was a cofounder and board member of Veniam, a vehicle communications company that moves massive amounts of data between vehicles and the cloud, allowing buses to act as mini–cell towers and enabling the safe and reliable operation of self-driving cars. Her

“Consider building lobbies, which are empty most of the time: that’s a prime example of excess capacity. Another example is apartments: we need to be building more apartments that can be expanded or shrunk to accommodate households of different sizes. Or parking: everyone who is including parking in their developments should be building it so it can be reused for something else. There is real monetary value in multipurpose spaces.”— RO B I N C H AS E

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current work includes a focus on maximizing the potential of autonomous cars to improve the quality of life in urban areas. Recently, Chase shared some insights on the connection between urban mobility and the built environment with Urban Land.

Q: How would you describe the connection between mobility and the built environment? Most people don’t think about transportation until they can’t get where they want to go from where they are. Mobility is the center of our lives. Our entire well-being—our access to opportunity and to what we can achieve in life—is based on whether we can get to places easily, affordably, and safely. Mobility and development should go hand in hand. Livable cities are those that plan for and think through the details of the relationship between the two.

Q: Has a tipping point been reached in terms of building cities for people rather than for cars?Some terrible stuff is still being built, but I do think we are seeing momentum in the right direction with cities being designed to put people first. Zipcar’s primary markets are places where people don’t need a car to get to work—such as cities—as well as university towns. When I founded Zipcar, I had to spend a lot of time explaining that a lot of people want a car only sometimes, not all the time. People were doing the math and didn’t like paying $200 a month for parking a car they used only once a month. Today, people get it immediately. They understand you can live carless in a city by choice. The focus has shifted from movement of cars to movement of people—and that is a significant economic attractor. That is what makes cities competitive.

Q: Is the Zipcar model—facilitating sharing to leverage excess capacity—the future of how people will experience cities? If we think about parts of cities we really enjoy, such as benches outside coffee shops and streets that are converted into farmers markets or festivals, we are enjoying spaces that are being multipurposed. It’s interesting to think about this in terms of private as well as public space, such as how the design of a building can allow for more than one use. Consider building lobbies, which are empty most of the time: that’s a prime example of excess capacity. Another example is apartments: we need to be building more apartments that can be expanded or shrunk to accommodate house-holds of different sizes. Or parking: everyone who is including parking in their develop-ments should be building it so it can be reused for something else. There is real monetary value in multipurpose spaces.

Zipcar made it possible to “buy” a car just for an hour. In the future, I can imagine rethinking the “minimum purchase size” for retail space and curb space. Instead of paying for parking by the hour, we should be charging by the minute (or five-minute increments) for pickup and drop-off and delivery. Instead of renting a storefront by the year, imagine what it would be like to do so by the day or week. We are seeing this in the hotel and office space markets. Retail and parking are ripe for such changes as well.

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Q: The amount of space devoted to parking and its location are being reconsidered given the advancements in autonomous vehicle technology. What are your thoughts on this? The first autonomous cars are going to be very expensive, and they will not be cars that you can drive anytime, anyplace, anywhere. They will be “geo-fenced” to travel within certain areas of cities, as well as to and from the airport. The time lag between the availability of these geography-restricted cars to “anywhere, anytime” cars is likely to be ten to 15 years. Those first cars are going to be shared and active 60 percent of the time, not sitting idle 95 percent of the time like personal cars. And when they do need to be parked or recharged, you’re not going to choose expensive downtown real estate; you’ll send them to cheaper locations. There is absolutely no need for more parking to be built in cities, because we are moving toward a place in time where, because of sharing, we will need only a fraction of the cars we have now and we won’t need nearly as much space for parking as we have now. I see this as a boon for both city dwellers and developers.

Q: How is technology changing how we use personal space other than cars?Technology has allowed us to get over the fear of sharing our things with strangers. It enables us to find what we want, to access it, pay for it, evaluate it, and rate it—and be rated and evaluated ourselves—all discreetly and simply. Technology is how the people who reserve Zipcars can unlock them without having to deal with a key exchange. There is a parallel to this [access] that is applicable to housing. I’m intrigued by the potential of a cheap, easy way to access, for example, certain rooms for certain times—a way to use more of the unused space in people’s homes and public buildings. When someone says, “I can’t let my downstairs space be used by strangers, or a community dance class to use our gym because they might trash it,” I say, “You can let people use it because you will know who last unlocked the door.”

Q: In Peers Inc, you maintain that the sharing economy helps make cities more sustainable and equitable. How does it do this?There are three benefits of leveraging excess capacity and sharing it. First, it is cost-efficient, which is good from a business perspective. Second, it is resource-efficient, which is important from an environmental perspective. And lastly, it creates more opportunities for more people to participate [in society]. Take solar roofs: when I install solar panels on my roof and I have excess capacity flowing into the grid, I am helping pay for a bit of the energy grid infrastructure. This can also be applied to wireless technology. We are moving toward more mesh networks that will equip more of the devices we use to transmit wireless signals so that we are contributing to wireless infrastructure, not just using it. Applying this to physical spaces opens up possibilities for more people to benefit from sharing as both consumers and producers of these new hyperlocal experiences. On a small scale, think about community storage spaces where athletic equipment, tools, and other items could be stored and checked out using a bar code so that everyone does not need to have their own drill or their own skates. We could be heading in the direction with spaces that allow more stuff to be shared inexpensively and simply.

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All of this comes down to flexibility—being flexible in our thinking about what we use and how we use it, whether it’s stuff or space. Being flexible with space—building in multipurposing—allows uniquenesses to emerge that distinguish places from each other. That should be a goal for developers, to ensure that they are leaving evolvable space for the people in a community, now and in the future, to localize and make it their own.

Q: What other advice would you offer ULI members to stay at the forefront of city building? How you build is shaping the quality of life for hundreds of thousands—even millions—of people. Be thoughtful about the relationship to the street and the multipurposing of space, because those are the things that profoundly affect people’s lives. When developments are poorly designed, they make people miserable every day. It is a moral and humanitarian imperative that real estate professionals think long and hard about that as they design and build our cities. I’d like to see every new building be climate friendly and repurposable. If each new building or each renovated building could contribute to a sustainable, livable future, I think we as a society do have a chance to change our future prospect of climate hell. Or, more positively: we are in a position to reshape today’s cities so that they work much better than they did in the past. ULI’s members are part of what it takes to improve people’s lives. UL

TRISHA RIGGS is senior vice president of communications at ULI.

“Today, we have different communities than we could imagine ten years ago because we have technology that allows us to connect with others who share common interests. We are seeing new forms of community emerge from the sharing economy. With Zipcar, Robin produced something we all use, but it’s not something we knew we needed until it was introduced to us. Her passion is about innovation, staying ahead of the game, and thinking about things that others are not. In today’s world, we all need that.”— M A R K J O H N SO N

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THE URBAN LAND INSTITUTE J .C. NICHOLS PRIZE FOR VISIONARIES IN URBAN DEVELOPMENT JURY MEMBERS

2017 JURY ME MBERSMark JohnsonJury ChairPresident, Civitas Inc.Denver, Colorado

Mark Johnson is a leading landscape architect, designer of public space, and strategist for the regeneration of core cities. He is leading the regeneration planning for the decayed north side of downtown St. Louis, the design of the North Embarcadero in San Diego, and a master plan for the waterfront on the Harlem River in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan.

Johnson has led many complex projects that have had a transformative impact on cities: three riverfront parks in Denver; a master plan for Balboa Park in San Diego; a waterfront plan for Memphis; and a corridor plan to connect historic neighborhoods along Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue. He recently completed the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan, a project that immedi-ately gained national recognition for its economic, social, and en-vironmental impact to revive economic, environmental, and social health over the 32-mile length of this forgotten resource.

Johnson has been deeply involved in the redevelopment of the Stapleton International Airport in Denver continuously since 1988 and is a primary author of the highly acclaimed Stapleton Redevelopment Plan. His 22 years of experience on the project includes participation in negotiating the airport planning, deal structure, governance, development process, development stan-dards, and zoning.

Ellen Dunham-JonesProfessor, School of ArchitectureGeorgia Institute of TechnologyAtlanta, Georgia

Ellen Dunham-Jones is an award-winning architect, professor, and coordinator of the MS in urban design at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She serves on the policy subcommittee of the American Institute of Architects Design and Health Leadership Group, is on the board of Commons Planning, and is a fellow and past board chair of the Congress for the New Urbanism.

A leading authority on suburban redevelopment, she lec-tures widely, conducts workshops with municipalities, and con-sults on individual projects. She and coauthor June Williamson

wrote Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesign-ing Suburbs (Wiley, 2009, 2011, 2013). The book’s documenta-tion of successful retrofits of vacant big-box stores, dead and thriving malls, and aging office parks into more sustainable places has received significant media attention in the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, and Urban Land, and on PBS, NPR, TED, and other venues.

She continues to research short- and long-term tactics for scaling up suburban retrofitting in the United States and abroad. She received undergraduate and graduate degrees in architec-ture from Princeton University and taught at the University of Vir-ginia and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before join-ing Georgia Tech’s faculty to serve as director of the architecture program from 2001 to 2009.

Marilyn Jordan TaylorProfessor of Architecture and Urban DesignUniversity of Pennsylvania School of DesignPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania

Marilyn Jordan Taylor became dean of the School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania in 2008 after spending more than 30 years as partner, architect, and urban designer at Skidmore Owings & Merrill, where she led the firm’s practices in airports, transportation, and urban design and served as its first woman chairman. She is internationally known for her distinguished and passionate involvement in the design of large-scale urban projects and civic initiatives.

Taylor is distinguished as well for her civic and professional leadership, having served as a member and Rockefeller Fellow of the Partnership for New York City, president of the American In-stitute of Architects (NYC chapter), visiting professor at the Har-vard Graduate School of Design, chairman of the New York Build-ing Congress, founding (2001) member of the New York New Visions, and as chairman of ULI Worldwide (2005–2007). Taylor attended Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-nology Graduate School of Architecture, and the University of California, Berkeley, where she received her master of architec-ture degree.

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Eric LarsonPresident/Chief Executive OfficerLarson Realty GroupBloomfield Hills, Michigan

Eric Larson is the founder, president, and chief executive officer of Larson Realty Group (established in 1999), a privately owned, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan–based company engaged in real es-tate investment, development, asset management, and leasing. Larson has more than 30 years of experience in real estate, and before establishing Larson Realty Group, was vice president of global real estate company Hines and a partner and senior vice president with Bruce S. Brickman and Associates in New York. During his career, he has developed, financed, owned, and man-aged over $3 billion of real estate, including General Motors’ purchase and redevelopment of the Renaissance Center and Millender Center, the development of One Detroit Center, and the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education in down-town Detroit.

In mid-2014, Eric Larson took the role of chief executive of-ficer of the Downtown Detroit Partnership (DDP), on whose board he has served since 1995. DDP is a private/public partner-ship of corporate and civic leaders that supports, advocates, and develops programs and initiatives that create a clean, safe, and inviting downtown Detroit community. DDP is involved with a large number of enterprises within downtown Detroit.

In addition to owning Larson Realty Group, Larson was man-aging partner at Bedrock Real Estate Services LLC between February 2013 and February 2014, and he continues to provide consulting services on significant new developments.

Larson is chairman of the Robert C. Larson Leadership Ini-tiative and the ULI Detroit Governance Committee, and chairman of the board for the Parade Company. In the past, he was chair-man of Detroit Downtown Inc., ULI Detroit, DDP, and the Detroit Business Improvement District. He is currently a trustee, gover-nor, and/or member of Beaumont Hospital, Beaumont Hospital Oncology Campaign Committee, ULI, the ULI Leadership Coun-cil, LOCUS, the Parade Company board of directors and execu-tive committee, the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, M-1 Rail, the

Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Develop Michi-gan Inc., Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce, Building Opera-tors Management Association (BOMA), and Real Estate Round-table, as well as grand jester of the Distinguished Clown Corp.

Larson is a past trustee and/or member of the Detroit Institute of Arts Junior Council, Detroit Economic Growth Cor-poration, Pewabic Pottery board of directors, Detroit Historical Society board of directors, Detroit Eastern Market ULI Advisory Services panel, Harvard School of Design Advisory Panel, Marian High School Dad’s Club, University of Michigan–ULI Real Estate Forum Committee, U.S. Green Building Council, and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, and a mentor at the University of Michigan School of Architecture.

Michael SpiesSenior Managing DirectorInnovation, and India and New Markets/Chair of the

Investment CommitteeTishman SpeyerNew York City, New York

Michael Spies joined Tishman Speyer in 1989 and for over 25 years led the establishment of the company’s European business from bases in Berlin and London, before recently returning to New York. He is leading several new global innovation initiatives while supervising the Indian operations and early-stage efforts in new markets. He chairs the Investment Committee and serves on the firm’s Management and Compensation committees. Before joining Tishman Speyer, he was executive vice president of the Public Development Corporation, which was New York City’s lead economic development agency.

He is a trustee of the Urban Land Institute, former chair of the ULI European Charitable Trust, and former vice chair of the board of trustees of the American School in London. He is also a member of the Dean’s Council at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and the Cambridge University Land Econ-omy Advisory Board. Spies graduated cum laude from Princeton University and from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government with an MA in city and regional planning.

THE URBAN LAND INSTITUTE J.C. NICHOLS PRIZEF O R V I S I O N A R I E S I N

U R B A N D E V E L O P M E N T

2017 N ICHOL S MANAGE MENT COMMIT TEE

Smedes York, Committee Chair ChairmanYork Properties Inc.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Kay N. Callison Miller Nichols Charitable Foundation

Kathleen B. CareyPresident and Chief Executive OfficerULI Foundation

James M. DeFranciaPrincipalLowe Enterprises Real Estate Group

Harrison FrakerProfessor of Architecture and Urban

Design, Department of ArchitectureDean Emeritus, College of

Environmental DesignUniversity of California, Berkeley

Paul GoldbergerContributing EditorVanity Fair

Douglas S. KelbaughProfessor of Architecture and Urban

PlanningA. Alfred Taubman College of

Architecture and Urban PlanningUniversity of Michigan

Edward Mazria Founder/Chief Executive OfficerArchitecture 2030

Jodie W. McLeanChief Executive OfficerEDENS

Jeannette Nichols (Honorary Member)

Miller Nichols Charitable Foundation

Wayne NicholsNichols Agency

Patrick L. PhillipsGlobal Chief Executive OfficerUrban Land Institute

Marilyn Jordan Taylor Professor of Architecture and Urban

DesignUniversity of Pennsylvania School of

Design

ULI STAFF LIAISON TO MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Daniel LoboSenior Director, Awards

The Urban Land Institute J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development was established to recognize an individual, or a person representing an institution, whose career demonstrates a commitment to the highest standards of responsible development. The $100,000 prize honors the legacy of legendary Kansas City, Missouri, developer J.C. Nichols (1880–1950), a founding ULI member who is widely regarded as one of America’s most influential entrepreneurs in land use during the first half of the 20th century.