Speakers
Michael Woo teaches Urban Planning at University of Southern California. His primary interests are land use and transportation issues. At UCLA he is teaching a new course on "China's Urban Sustainability Challenges."
Mr. Woo is a planning expert who has worked in the for-profit, nonprofit, and government sectors. He is committed to improving communities both at home and abroad. He has been a key figure in major planning efforts in Southern California, authoring the Hollywood Redevelopment Plan and helping plan the route of the MetroRail Red Line. He chairs the national board of Smart Growth America, the nonprofit group that runs the Hollywood Farmers Market (which he started 15 years ago as a city councilman) and serves as governing board chairman of Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center. He helped create the Hollywood Community Housing Corporation and has helped raise money from banks and foundations to create affordable housing. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appointed him to the L.A. City Planning Commission where he is helping to draft new land use and transportation policies to promote more sustainable future development.
Michael Woo was the first trained urban planner elected to the Los Angeles City Council where he served from 1985 to 1993 where he chaired the Transportation and Traffic Committee. In 1993, he ran for mayor of Los Angeles, but lost to Richard Riordan where he ultimately received 46 percent of the citywide vote. He was later appointed by President Clinton to the post of Western States Director of the Corporation for National Service.
Michael Woo
