2026 Smart Growth Summit Agenda
What to Expect: Two Days Built for Action

Featured Speakers

Majora Carter | Joe Minicozzi | Former Governor John Bel Edwards | Mitch Landrieu | Mayor-President Sid Edwards

Local, State, and National Speakers

Ebony Starks | Roslyn White | Ronald Newman | Jessica Dandridge | Boo Thomas | Allison Plyer | Broderick Bagert | Sam Martin

The 2026 Summit sessions are built around the challenges Louisiana communities are currently navigating. The agenda is still being finalized, but you can expect the sessions to cover:

The Economics of Growth — What does fiscally responsible development actually look like? How do communities capture the benefits of industrial investment without repeating the boom-bust cycles of the past? Sessions will dig into the tools that make it possible — from housing policy and infrastructure impact fees to Community Benefit Agreements — grounded in the experience of the Louisiana communities living this boom right now.

Energy & the Grid — Louisiana communities are making energy decisions with 30-year impacts. Sessions will cover the fundamentals of how the grid works, emerging community solar opportunities, and how local leaders can engage in the Louisiana PSC's regulatory landscape — building on CPEX's own mayoral energy cohort work already underway.

Climate Resilience & Insurance — From rising insurance costs to extreme heat and population movement, Louisiana remains on the front lines of climate risk. The Summit will examine new financial tools — parametric insurance, green and resilience bonds — alongside built-environment solutions and land use decisions that determine how much risk communities carry in the first place.

Housing & Affordability — Across Louisiana, housing pressure is intensifying — shaped by economic shifts, climate impacts, and new policy developments as much as by cost alone. The Summit will explore how practical, replicable tools like infill development, zoning reform, and public-private partnerships apply in this changing context to expand housing supply without displacing the people already there.

Transportation & Infrastructure — How can strengthening multi-modal transportation choices and maintaining what we already have help us get out of the transportation traps we've fallen into in the past? Approaches like "fix it first," transit investment, and complete streets can transform how we think about transportation spending. Sessions will connect transportation choices to fiscal sustainability, drawing on lessons from peer states, and grounding the conversation in what's achievable in Louisiana.

Small Towns & Rural Places — Louisiana's small towns and rural communities don't just dot the map — they power the state. The Summit includes dedicated programming on Main Street revitalization, innovative placemaking, and building the entrepreneurial ecosystems that keep young people and dollars in these communities.

Civic Engagement & Social Capital — Healthy communities require more than good policy. Sessions will examine how better civic engagement leads to better representation and better outcomes and how cultural infrastructure builds the social cohesion that keeps people invested in their communities.

CPEX's 20th Anniversary Celebration — The 2026 Summit is also a homecoming. This year marks two decades of visioning, planning, and strengthening communities across Louisiana. The Summit will feature special programming and experiences that reflect on this legacy and look ahead, including a signature evening celebration on day one.