Urban Design

Urban Design

Our Urban Design work dates to the 1970’s when medium-sized cities wanted to use Urban Development Action Grants (UDAG) and other public funding sources in hopes of attracting private investment for revitalizing downtowns.

urban design: Projects

Urban Design: Topic

Urban Design for Stimulating Development

Urban Design is essentially three-dimensional planning for urban environments –one step closer to architecture than planning. Most of our urban design work has been for the public sector with the goal of attracting developers. Thus we have joined with organizations like the Rouse Company, a partnership that equips us with market research and financial analysis capabilities.

Urban Design: Topic

Design-A-Thons

We introduced live television Design-A-Thon shows for an Urban Design project in Dayton, Ohio. We followed its success with similar projects in Roanoke, Virginia; Watkins Glen, New York; Springfield, Mass; Salem, Virginia; and Indianapolis, Indiana. Television shows are but one aspect of a multi-faceted participatory design approach that also includes a Storefront Office and a Citizens’ Workshop Committee.

Centerbrook's Design-A-Thons were featured in a video produced with footage from our archives by The Berlage Center for Advanced Studies in Architecture and Urban Design at Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands.

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Urban Design: Topic

Implementation

Our urban design plans identify many public and private investment opportunities, and we typically remain involved throughout the implementation phase to ensure they are carried out correctly. That is what occurred in Roanoke, Virginia, where we implemented the majority of our Downtown Plan’s proposals for stimulating development. (Roanoke Times article) It’s also what occurred in Watkins Glen, New York, where we guided development of the Watkins Glen State Park and the historic Lake Seneca waterfront.

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