As of Wednesday, Mayor Allan Fung had left the building. He’ll be in Boston until Friday, but his hiatus from Cranston is far from a vacation.

Fung has been selected as one of eight mayors from similar sized communities around the country to attend the Northeast Session of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design.

“It was an honor to be selected,” he said. “Getting some expert advice for the bubble, that’s invaluable for me and for the city.”

Hosted at Northeastern University from Oct. 7 to 9, the institute is sponsored through the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Architectural Foundation and the United States Conference of Mayors. Design professionals will be on hand as the mayor attends sessions focusing on urban design challenges at no cost.

“I think it’s going to be a wonderful opportunity to potentially improve on our city. It’ll be good to hear what has worked and not worked in other similar situations across the country,” Fung said.

He sat down with a representative of the conference last week along with the city’s planning director, Peter Lapolla, to narrow down what design issue he would focus on. Each mayor is asked to select a community case study to make a presentation on, with the opportunity to hear feedback from urban planners. They were given just over a month to come up with some solid ideas.

Although Rolfe Square was one option, the group determined it was too small of a project, opting instead for the Wellington Avenue area.

“The Wellington project has been something I’ve wanted to put on the forefront of my term,” the mayor said. “On the eastern side of the city, that area in particular presents a great opportunity because it’s over 200 acres of prime land that can be developed.”

Fung will touch upon the history, geography, demographics and infrastructure of Wellington, but will also present the panel with his plan for a potential rail connection in that area.

“I’d love to be able to have a stop within the city of Cranston and I think that would help develop the area,” he said.

The concept of a train platform has been batted around in the past, and Fung said it would be a long, challenging process to make it happen.

“It’s been a slow start because I don’t think any administration has taken the lead on developing that area,” he said. “I want, at the very least, to kick start it now. My administration has really tried to do more than just provide lip service.”

A study on potential ridership is necessary to enter into serious conversations with rail providers like the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority. Fung hopes the advice he gets from the conference will better prepare him for that discussion.

“I’m there to try and make our best case. It’s decision-making time,” he said.

Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian was in a similar situation when he was invited to the Mayors’ Institute five years ago. He was on the verge of embarking on an intermodal project to connect T.F. Green Airport to a proposed parking garage and, eventually, a rail platform of his own. The chance to pick the brains of designers who had worked on similar projects was priceless.

“It’s fantastic for a couple days to be in a room with some of the brightest architects and visionary urban planners in the country,” Avedisian said, recalling that the man responsible for redesigning New York’s Penn Station was among the experts he discussed the intermodal project with.

“We got a lot out of it,” he said.

Today, the people mover Avedisian envisioned above Post Road between the airport and the garage and rental car facility is starting to take shape. When it’s done, he said, he’ll be sure to send a big thank you to the conference organizers.

Offering a word of advice on Fung’s proposal, Mayor Avedisian said Cranston will succeed if they are able to find “linkages” in order to bring more and different audiences to the Wellington area.

“You need to have utilitarian use for the project. You need to have as many different reasons as possible that would cause people to come to the area,” he said.

That is exactly what Fung hopes to achieve. By combining commercial development with appropriate residential properties, he thinks Wellington offers a huge opportunity to make his mark on Cranston.

“Hopefully if we do it right, it could be a significant part of the city, like Garden City or like Edgewood,” he said.

After he makes his presentation this week, he will get to present the panel with questions and have a dialogue about his design challenges. His priority is getting the Wellington project started on the right foot.

“I’ve got a lot I hope to learn and also put forward,” he said. “I am very excited about this opportunity and the knowledge that it will offer that I can use for the betterment of Cranston.”