The Physical Fitness of Cities: Vision and Ethics in City Building
A Cultural Program of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games
and the Paralympic Winter Games of 2002

The Physical Fitness of Cities: Vision and Ethics in City Building is a cultural program presented by the Salt Lake City Corporation and the United Nations Environment Programme in cooperation with the 2002 Cultural Olympiad, the Olympic Arts Festival surrounding the Olympic Winter Games and the Paralympic Winter Games of 2002, February 1-March 30 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Physical Fitness of Cities is a two-part cultural program being held in conjunction with the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, February 8-24, and the 2002 Paralympic Winter Games, March 7-16, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Exhibition and Symposium will highlight state-of-the-art architecture, urban design and transportation projects from cities throughout the world.

The purpose of this program is to highlight design excellence of such significance that it merits celebration side-by-side with Olympic athletic achievements. As the Olympic Games is a record of superior athletic performance, the Physical Fitness of Cities program will establish an exclusive record of the world's city-building achievements. It will expose new standards of discipline, ethical practices, knowledge and vision that are creating and repairing the world's human settlements. A corresponding catalogue will be published, including a complete record of the exhibition and essays on selected symposium topics. A video program documenting the event will be available soon after the Olympic games conclude.

The Exhibition
On Friday, February 1, 2002, through Saturday, March 30, 2002, the Physical Fitness of Cities exhibition will be open to the public, chronicling examples of best settlement building including:

• Architecture and landscape architecture
• Transportation systems and accessibility
• Air, land and water management programs
• Housing and cultural infrastructure projects
• Social and environmental justice interventions

The Symposium
On Friday evening, February 1, 2002, through February 3, 2002, international leaders will convene a symposium around the themes of Vision and Ethics in City Building. Participants will discuss ideas, explore questions and view exemplary interventions upon the world's landscapes. The three-day symposium will invite world leaders whose professional lives are devoted to shaping cities. Participants from the fields of architecture, urban design, landscape architecture, government, engineering, transportation, ecology, ethics and the arts are expected to attend. A list of invited participants is being developed in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme.

The Symposium will be structured along the concurrent topics of Vision and Ethics. The Vision track will explore exemplary interventions represented in the exhibition. Presenters will participate in a panel format and will describe the conditions and processes leading to their project's realization. This "before and after" format will translate visual material easily and help bridge language barriers. Discussions will follow each presentation.

The Ethics track will reconvene the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) Interfaith Partnership for the Environment, for discussions on interfaith efforts to inspire "greater commitment to taking responsible actions for the protection of the environment".

Location
The Exhibition will be assembled on two floors of the Salt Lake City and County Building on Washington Square. This venue will be a major staging area and gathering place during the Olympic Games. The historic building, which houses Salt Lake City government offices, is a backdrop for Salt Lake's games and will host daytime and evening events on Washington Square. The exhibition will occupy two floors of the building and will be available for viewing seven days a week through Saturday, March 30, 2002.

The Symposium will be held across the street from the City and County Building at the Salt Lake City Public Library. Salt Lake's new public library, designed by Moshe Safdie, will be under construction a few yards away and will give participants a chance to see the infrastructure of a state-of-the-art public facility in its early form. This adjacent example of specific green building practices will provide an opportunity for discussions around highly technical issues, including engineering, material development and energy efficiency. The current library's 200 seat theater and exhibition spaces will provide venues for ancillary activities and lectures. Additional meeting rooms for the Symposium will be provided in the City and County Building.

Accommodations
A block of 400 hotel rooms has been reserved for visiting participants from February 1-3, 2002.

For more information contact
Stephen Goldsmith
Planning Director, Salt Lake City Corporation
801-535-7757
stephen.goldsmith@ci.slc.ut.us