Barcelona Meeting Point

Ed McMahon holds the Charles Fraser Chair on Sustainable Development at the Urban Land Institute in Washington, DC where he is nationally known as an inspiring and thought provoking speaker and leading authority on topics related to sustainable development, land conservation, urban design, and historic preservation.

Mr. McMahon is an attorney, community planner, lecturer and author. Before joining the Urban Land Institute in 2004, McMahon spent 14 years as the Vice President and Director of Land Use Planning for The Conservation Fund in Arlington, Virginia. He is also the co-founder and former President of Scenic America, a national non-profit organization devoted to protecting America’s scenic landscapes. Before that he taught law and public policy at Georgetown University Law Center for 9 years and served in the US. He is the author of 15 publications and over 150 articles. His publications include: Ten Principles for Smart Growth on the Suburban Fringe, Green Infrastructure: Connecting: Landscapes and Communities, Land Conservation Finance, Better Models for Commercial Development and Balancing Nature and Commerce in Gateway Communities. He also writes regularly for Urban Land Magazine, Planning Commissioners Journal and other periodicals. Over the past 20 years Mr. McMahon has drafted numerous local land use plans and ordinances. He has organized successful efforts to acquire and protect urban parkland, wilderness areas and other conservation properties. McMahon has an M.A. in Urban Studies from the University of Alabama and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law School where he taught law and public policy from 1976-1985.