Conference will focus on urban problems

WASHINGTON, July 13 (UPI) -- Officials from all levels of government gather at the White House Monday to discuss urban policy, the director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs said.

Adolfo Carrion Jr. said Sunday a daylong urban policy discussion with mayors, county executives, governors, urban policy experts and heads of various agencies is planned, with a possible address by President Obama. Senior administration officials will be dispatched on a tour of U.S. cities to discuss urban issues, Carrion said.

Monday's agenda will examine local initiatives that could become best practices to emulate.

Participants will include the heads of the Departments of Labor, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Small Business Administration. Also attending will be a number of policy experts.

Carrion calls the conference an example of bottom up planning rather than top down planning, which is the way things had been done in the past.