Design and Planning

From stadium-anchored destinations to experience districts, successful mixed-use sports and entertainment developments are evolving into adaptable, community-centered places that deliver cultural relevance, financial performance, and economic activity every day.

Despite a perfect storm of housing shortages, climate risks, and stalled downtowns, urban design is emerging as a positive, coordinating force to meet these challenges, bridging policy, capital, and community to achieve a common goal. Gensler’s latest research highlights where cities are already adopting this new ethos—and what civic leaders need to do now.

Otemachi One, the largest mixed-use development in Tokyo’s Otemachi District, combines offices, shops, event venues, a luxury hotel, and expansive public green space at the threshold of Tokyo’s Imperial Palace. The development occupies a prime site that was previously home to three office buildings, including Mitsui & Co.’s former headquarters.

In Part 2 of a multipart interview, architect Ben Wood explains how risk-taking around outdoor public space, adaptive reuse, and developer support helped make Shanghai’s Xintiandi a financially and culturally successful urban redevelopment.

In Part 1 of a three-part interview, the architect behind Shanghai’s Xintiandi reflects on his unconventional path and how preserving historic shikumen reshaped urban redevelopment in China.

In Part 3 of a three-part interview, the veteran architect reflects on construction, creativity, and why experiencing great cities matters more than relying on technology.

A veteran planning leader reflects on partnership, mentorship, and the practical work of shaping resilient cities across the country.

Shenzhen’s Nantou Ancient City project represents a groundbreaking approach to revitalizing China’s historic urban villages in a way that preserves their cultural heritage and community fabric. After China’s government designated Shenzhen as a Special Economic Zone in 1980, the city’s more than 400 urban villages grew rapidly to provide informal housing for an influx of migrant workers. The result: high-density residential areas that maximized rental income but often compromised on fire safety and hygiene standards.

Engaging artists in real estate development can be tricky, however. Artists and developers often speak different “languages,” but both must be understood and respected, and any gap between them must be bridged. With support from former ULI Global Governing Trustee Michael Spies, ULI’s Art in Place project identified the following best practices for effective artist/developer collaboration by drawing on focus groups, interviews, and other sources.

Whereas new construction offers a blank canvas for future-proof design, the vast majority of our parking inventory consists of existing facilities. Retrofitting these structures for the future presents unique challenges, yet they are far from insurmountable. The key lies in a strategic, phased approach that shrewdly prioritizes the most impactful upgrades, thus ensuring relevance without reinvention.

In the Belgian municipality of Edegem, a 20-minute bike ride from Antwerp’s city center, a camera film roll packing plant has become Minerve, a biodiverse, sustainable mixed-use residential and commercial neighborhood.

For almost 200 years, the Warsaw Citadel in the heart of Poland’s capital was a restricted military and administrative area, cut off from public access. With the recent opening of the Polish History Museum, as well as the new Polish Army Museum, the 19th-century fortress’s 74-acre (30 ha) grounds now serve as a multifunctional facility and park that both preserves and showcases the country’s rich cultural heritage.