Design and Planning
Discover how experts drive innovation in urban design, infrastructure, adaptive reuse, and community‑centered planning
Located in the heart of Oakland’s Fruitvale District, the St. Joseph’s Campus comprises the historic St. Joseph’s Senior Apartments and Terraza Palmera at St. Joseph’s, which together form a multigenerational, mixed-use campus.
By connecting the Denver metropolitan area with the rest of Colorado—and the world—through multiple modes of transportation, Denver Union Station has transformed a vacant neighborhood and created a global touchstone for large-scale mixed-use projects.
In writing this book, author Alexander Garvin went on a quest to discover what makes cities great. He found that the secret to urban greatness stems from management of the streets, squares, parks, and special places that make up the “public realm.” To maintain greatness, cities must not only maintain but also “continually alter their public realm to meet the changing needs of their occupants.”
Over the past several years, we have seen a new, decided focus in many American cities of all sizes on redeveloping and renewing their cores. One key way this transformation is happening is through the building of new urban parks and public spaces in the city center. Yet, one of the great challenges is how to develop these vital parks and public spaces without straining government budgets. An effective solution? Private funding and management.
By using 3-D printers to build lightweight but strong plastic frameworks for conventional building materials such as concrete, builders may soon be able to create complex structures with unorthodox shapes and contours that would be difficult or even impossible with today’s construction methods, said a speaker at the ULI Fall Meeting in Dallas. And better yet, they will be able to fashion intricate, customized interiors and exteriors at no additional cost.
The NLC and ULI announced that mayors from four U.S. cities—Anchorage, Alaska; Grand Rapids, Michigan; San Jose, California; and Washington, D.C.—have been selected as the 2017 class of Daniel Rose fellows by the Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use.
Aging shopping malls—many burdened with high vacancy rates or even abandoned—are being transformed into vibrant, mixed-use destinations that are connected to their surrounding communities. At the 2016 ULI Fall Meeting, “the mall of the future” was explored by a panel of design, development, and placemaking experts.
Why are food and agriculture becoming more important parts of real estate development projects? Attendees at a session at the 2016 ULI Fall Meeting in Dallas learned that growing, processing, and selling food in development projects can pay big dividends for savvy developers as well as for consumers, communities, and the environment.
For midsized U.S. cities to compete successfully in the 21st-century global marketplace, it is crucial for governments to think beyond the tired strategy of luring away employers from other locales. Instead, city officials need to focus on land use and placemaking as ways to attract talent, generate new business opportunities, and consolidate economic and community development to enhance their brands, according to speakers at ULI’s 2016 Fall Meeting in Dallas.
Dr. Cheong Koon Hean, a widely acclaimed architect and urban planner credited with shaping much of Singapore’s urban landscape, has been named the 2016 recipient of the ULI J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development. Dr. Cheong, the 17th Nichols laureate and the first from Asia, was honored during the 2016 ULI Fall Meeting in Dallas.
Peter Kageyama, author of For the Love of Cities, brought his unconventional philosophy to the 2016 ULI Fall Meeting in Dallas as part of the Institute’s Changing World Speaker Series. “Emotions are contagious; when more people say they love their cities, more people will feel it and believe it,” said Kageyama.
Eleven real estate development projects from around the globe have been selected as winners in the ULI 2016 Global Awards for Excellence program, widely recognized as one of the land use industry’s most prestigious awards programs.