By HEIDI FOWLER

Grafton Public Library

Hundreds of novels, films and TV shows have speculated about what it would be like for us earthlings to build cities on Mars. To make it a reality, however, these dreamers are in sore need of additional conceptual tools in their belt—particularly, a rich knowledge of city planning and design.

Award-winning author and Tufts University professor Justin Hollander will draw on his experience as an urban planner and researcher of human settlements to offer a presentation on what a city on Mars might actually look like. Exploring the residential, commercial, industrial, and infrastructure elements of such an outpost, Professor Hollander is able to paint a vivid picture of how a Martian community would function: the layout of its public spaces, the arrangement of its buildings, its transportation network, and many more crucial aspects of daily life on another planet. Professor Hollander will then bring all these lessons to life through his own rendered plan for “Aleph,” one of many possible designs for the first city on Mars.

The event will be held on Monday, May 1st at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room of the Grafton Public Library.

Justin B. Hollander, Ph.D., is a professor of Urban and Environmental Policy at Tufts University. He is an internationally renowned expert on the planning and design of human settlements, having written nine books and over fifty referred journal articles on these topics. He is a frequent speaker, having appeared on both TV and radio—C-SPAN’s Washington Journal and the Diane Ream Show on NPR. He is also regularly called upon as an expert for a variety of media courses on urban planning and design issues, including by the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, TIME Magazine, USA Today, Crain’s New York Business and the Las Vegas Sun. He was recently inducted as a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners and hosts the Apple podcast “Cognitive Urbanism.”

Movie Night

Join us on Tuesday, May 2nd at 7:00 p.m. in Room 219 for a Community Read-themed Movie Night.

Due to the agreement with our movie licensing company, we cannot share the name of the film, but maybe you can tell from the description!

“A New York script reader writes to a London book seller about a mail-order shipment, and so begins a twenty-year friendship orchestrated through letters.” Running time: 100 minutes. Rated PG.

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