Description:Carlos Palacios is the founder of Estudio Nómada, the architecture and design studio responsible for the concept and execution of thePuente de Colores project. Palacios and his team led the effort to transform the underpass beneath the M-40 ring road in Madrid into a vibrant public space with colorful murals, gardens, and interactive elements. The project resulted from the collaboration between Estudio Nómada, the Madrid City Council, and local residents, with Palacios playing a significant role in the project's design and realization.

Description:Christopher Alexander (1936–2022) was an architect, urban theorist, and mathematician known for his work on pattern-based design and human-centered architecture. His book A Pattern Language (1977) introduced timeless design principles that create functional, livable spaces based on human needs. Alexander emphasized organic, adaptable urban planning over rigid structures, influencing placemaking, sustainable architecture, and software design. His ideas continue to shape community-driven urban development worldwide.

Description:Daniel Egusquiza is the founder and Executive Director of Barrio Alegría, a community arts organization based in Reading, Pennsylvania. As the driving force behind the Alleyway Concerts series, Egusquiza has used arts-based placemaking to activate underutilized urban spaces and uplift neighborhood voices. Through his leadership, Barrio Alegría has transformed alleys, bodega fronts, and laundromats into stages for local talent, making the arts accessible while promoting community safety, engagement, and pride. Egusquiza emphasizes the power of resident-led storytelling and participation, encouraging neighbors to become co-creators of their environments. Under his guidance, the organization has also led workshops, artist trainings, and civic engagement initiatives that extend beyond the arts. His work represents a powerful model for how creativity can foster trust, visibility, and transformation in historically underrepresented neighborhoods.

Description:David Harvey (b. 1935) is an influential urban theorist, and the world’s most widely cited geographer. He is a distinguished professor of anthropology at the City University of New York, and was formerly a professor of geography at Johns Hopkins, as well as Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography at Oxford. Since earning a BA (1957), MA, and PhD (1962) at Cambridge, Harvey has been a central figure in every major transformation of geography’s philosophy, methodology, and politics. As the “spatial turn” became more influential across the social sciences and humanities, Harvey became a leading interdisciplinary theorist of how urbanization brings together a multitude of diverse economic, sociocultural, and natural processes. Capitalist production is urbanizing.

Description:Doris Kearns Goodwin is a well-known American biographer, historian, and political commentator. She has written extensively on U.S. presidents and their administrations, including Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson. Goodwin has also contributed to public understanding of history through her books and appearances in the media.

Description:Eric Foner is a prominent American historian focusing on the history of the United States, particularly the Civil War, Reconstruction, and slavery. His works explore themes of social justice, equality, and civil rights. Foner's contributions to public understanding of history have been significant through his numerous publications and lectures.

Description:Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez spearheads a new mural on San Fernando Road with artist Erica Friend. The project was produced by 11:11 Projects and features local landmarks and wildlife.

Description:Fred Kent is a pioneer in placemaking and the founder of Project for Public Spaces (PPS), a global nonprofit dedicated to creating vibrant, people-centered public spaces. He advocates for community engagement, walkability, and multi-use urban design, emphasizing that successful public spaces are shaped by the people who use them. Kent popularized "The Power of 10+"—the idea that great places should offer at least 10 engaging activities to attract and sustain community life. His work has influenced urban revitalization, park design, and public space planning worldwide.

Description:An urban planner and founder of 8 80 Cities, Penalosa believes that cities should be designed for both an 8-year-old and an 80-year-old to ensure accessibility for all ages. He promotes public spaces, pedestrian-friendly streets, and green infrastructure.

Description:Henri Lefebvre was a French Marxist philosopher and sociologist, best known for pioneering the critique of everyday life, for introducing the concepts of the right to the city and the production of social space, and for his work on dialectical materialism, alienation.

Description:German sculptor, artist, landscape architect, and interdisciplinary urban planner. He founded the firm Atelier Dresiseitl in 1980 with a vision to develop liveable cities inspired by a deep understanding of water.

Description:Homi Jehangir Bhabha, FRS was an Indian nuclear physicist who is widely credited as the "father of the Indian nuclear programme"

Description:Jan Gehl (born 1936) is a Danish architect and urban planner known for his human-centered approach to city design. He has dedicated his career to transforming urban environments to prioritize people over cars, making cities more walkable, bike-friendly, and socially engaging. Gehl’s philosophy is based on studying how people interact with their surroundings and ensuring public spaces support daily life, social interaction, and well-being. His influential book, Cities for People (2010), outlines strategies to create lively, safe, and sustainable cities by improving public spaces, reducing car dependency, and fostering community interaction.

Description:Jane Jacobs was a US-Canadian journalist, author, theorist, and activist who influenced urban studies, sociology, and economics.

Description:Jon Adams Jerde, was an American architect based in Venice, Los Angeles, California, founder and chairman of The Jerde Partnership, a design architecture and urban planning firm specializing in the design of shopping malls that has created a number of commercial developments around the globe. Jerde became well known as an innovator in the design of malls and related spaces. His firm has grown into a multi-disciplinary firm with offices in Los Angeles, Orange County, California, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

Description:Judith Pamela Butler is an American philosopher and gender studies writer whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory.

Description:Kevin Lynch (1918–1984) was an urban planner and theorist best known for his work on how people perceive and navigate cities. His influential book, The Image of the City (1960), introduced the concept of mental mapping, identifying five key elements that shape urban environments: paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks.

Description:The first person in the Anglophone world to write an extended analysis of Henri Lefebvre, including comparing his work to traditional urban geography and sociology as well as the Marxist Manuel Castells.

Description:Organized the Mural Mile

Description:Pierre Nora is a French historian elected to the Académie française on 7 June 2001. He is known for his work on French identity and memory.

Description:Known for the the rise of the creative class. Argued that cities thrive when they attract creative professionals, leading to cultural and economic revitalization.

Description:A sociologist and urbanist, Whyte conducted detailed studies on how people use public spaces. His work, The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces (1980), analyzed seating, walkability, and social interaction, influencing the design of parks, plazas, and streets to encourage engagement.