In 1999, GVC launched "Housing the Next 10 Million", a joint project of the Great Valley Center and The American Institute of Architects, California Council (AIACC). The project's goal was to encourage dialogue and spark creative solutions to accommodate the region's housing needs without sacrificing important resources or quality of life.

The effort was sponsored by 26 businesses, organizations and agencies from the private, nonprofit and public sectors - including 11 local governments.

The competition attracted 130 submissions, representing 17 countries, 26 states, and the District of Columbia. Entries proposed policy and design solutions to accommodate growth in the Central Valley, including the development of infill sites, redevelopment solutions, housing designs, plans to grow in new areas, and ideas for small rural agricultural communities.

A follow up project, The Value of Place, used the city of Stockton as a case study, continued the idea of fostering community vitality in the Central Valley through land use planning and innovative design solutions. For more information on related design principles visit Green Communities.

Following the competition, GVC produced an idea book with visual depictions of numerous entries:

Housing the Next Ten Million
ISBN: 0971229309
ISBN-13: 9780971229303
Format: Other Format, 68pp.
Publisher: Great Valley Center
Pub. Date: July 2001

In May of 1999, a 14-member professional jury of urban planners, designers, developers and Valley policy makers, under the direction of advisor Bill Liskamm, FAIA, deliberated over 130 completed competition entries.

The jury also selected submissions for Honorable Mention in each category and presented Awards of Excellence to plans that had already been adopted.

Juan Arambula
Chairman, Fresno County
Board of Supervisors, District 3
Fresno, California

H. James Brown Ph.D.
President & CEO
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Harrison S. Fraker, Jr. FAIA
Dean, College of Environmental Design
Professor, Department of Architecture,
The University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California

Daniel P. Gregory, Ph.D.
Senior Editor, Sunset Magazine
Menlo Park, California

Mary McCumber, AICP
Executive Director
Puget Sound Regional Council
Seattle, Washington

Tapan Munroe, Ph.D.
CEO
Munroe Consulting
Moraga, California

Myron Orfield
Representative, State of Minnesota
Author
St. Paul, Minnesota

Bill Pauli
President
California Farm Bureau Federation
Sacramento, California

Carolyn Ratto
Mayor Pro Tem, City of Turlock
President, League of California Cities
Turlock, California

Fred Ruiz
Chairman of the Board
Ruiz Food Products, Inc.
Dinuba, California

Lee Salter
President and CEO
The McConnell Foundation
Redding, California

Carol Tomlinson-Keasey
Chancellor
The University of California, Merced
Oakland, California

Harriet Tregoning
Director of Urban Planning
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, D.C.

Rober H. Twiss, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Environmental Planning
The University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California

Complete List of Winners (PDF - 3MB)

Competition PowerPoint presentation (PDF - 1.25MB)

Harrison Fraker (2000) "Housing the Next Ten Million: Visions for California's Central Valley [Dispatches]", Places: Vol. 13: No. 1

American Farmland Trust
Bank of America Foundation
Melvin B. Lane
The McClatchy Company
Sierra Health Foundation
U.S. EPA

American Planning Association
Baldwin Hardware Corp.
Calif. Building Industry Assoc.
Calif. Business Properties Assoc.
American Planning Association (California Chapter)
Calif. State Assoc. of Counties
League of California Cities
Local Government Commission
World Savings
City of Ceres
City of Citrus Heights
City of Clovis
City of Escalon
City of Lemoore
County of Merced
City of Modesto
City of Riverbank
City of Turlock
City of Tulare
City of Visalia