Six finalists have been selected for ULI’s Urban Open Space Award, the first year in which the competition was open to projects outside the United States and Canada. An international jury will select one winner, which will be announced at the Fall Meeting.

Five finalists have been announced for this year’s award, which recognizes outstanding examples of successful large- and small-scale public spaces.

Detroit complete with new development, a focus on density and walkability, and a growing, diverse population.

Chicago’s Aqua Tower is an 82-story concrete structure with more than 1.9 million square feet (176,500 sq m); tenth-tallest building in Chicago. Rated LEED-NC (for new construction) under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program of the U.S. Green Building Council. Construction cost is estimated at $300 million per GreenSource magazine.

Ideally, mixed-use projects achieve some kind of symbiosis among their elements, creating a whole that is more than the sum of the parts. All completed in the past five years, the following ten projects represent innovative takes on combining product types.

As cities become denser, the cost of high-density parking begins to pencil out for developers—which is when the development of parking that automatically stores and retrieves cars becomes attractive.

Read about ULI from the 1930s—when a fledgling ULI emerged as an independent organization designed to help U.S. land developers—a place where practical knowledge is gathered, shared, and expanded even today—to the 2010s—when ULI kicked off a yearlong celebration of its 75th anniversary at the Institute’s annual Fall Meeting and Urban Land Expo at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.