The recent success of Sunday Streets HTX and the launch of Mayor Parker's Complete Streets initiative suggests that many Houstonians now clamor for a more walkable, more pedestrian-friendly city. But how can cities like Houston, developed in step with the rise of this country's dependence on the car, become more walkable?

"Walk Houston" is a two-part civic forum that focuses both on that question and its answers. The panelists come from a diverse group of governmental, commercial, academic and nonprofit organizations:

Aug. 20 - Why Walk

• Clark Martinson, general manager of the Energy Corridor District
• Bakeyah Nelson, assistant professor, exercise and health sciences, Department of Clinical Health and Applied Sciences, UH-Clear Lake
• Susan Rogers, assistant professor and director, Community Design Resource Center, Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture at the University of Houston

Aug. 27 - How to Walk

• Kinder Baumgardner, president, SWA Group
• Raj Mankad, editor of Cite: The Architecture + Design Review of Houston, Rice Design Alliance
• Carra Moroni, program manager, Community Transformation Initiative, Houston Department of Health and Human Services
• Rob Tullis, vice president, director of design, GID Urban Development Group