At the end of March, the UDC attended the Congress for the New Urbanism in Oklahoma City. After a week of learning from and connecting with fellow urbanists, the final day was upon us. An award ceremony was planned to follow breakfast, but I had planned a bicycle rental with…

…is a place of terrorism transformed into a commemorative landscape that moves your heart and then your soul. One of the things that come to mind about Oklahoma City is the bombing of the Alfred Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. The Urban Design Center was in Oklahoma City…

If I were to ask you what a 90-acre former airport, the old Santa Monica pier Ferris wheel, and an Instagram-friendly sculpture had in common, you might be hard-pressed to find an answer. If I told you that all those items make the framework of one of the coolest new…

The City of Charlotte and the Urban Design Center are so pleased to announce that the Congress for the New Urbanism has chosen Charlotte as the location of their next Congress — CNU31. Monica Holmes, Division Manager of Design and Preservation and Erin Chantry, Manager of the Urban Design Center…

Last month the City of Charlotte cut the ribbon on Five Points Plaza in the Historic West End. This public space is the first that the City has constructed in 30 years — the last was Polk Park at Trade and Tryon streets. Located at the intersection of W. Trade…

The Urban Design Center in the city’s Planning, Design & Development department will open the application processes for both the 2022 placemaking grant program and the placemaking creative pool on Friday, Jan. 14. The placemaking grant program uses urban design and placemaking to transform underutilized public spaces into vibrant places…

In working to put communities and citizens first, the City of Charlotte’s Department of Planning, Design, and Development is committed to creating great places. The Department of Planning, Design, and Development is chiefly responsible for collaborating with community partners, guiding growth, sustaining the natural environment while also designing vibrant and…

This Saturday an icon of the Historic West End will be brought back to life. The Ritz at Washington Heights is the City of Charlotte’s newest open space on the Beatties Ford Road corridor. At this location The Ritz, the last movie theater to be built only for black people…

The City of Charlotte Urban Design Center and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte School of Architecture presented the city’s first Urban Design Awards, or “Urbies,” last week to elevate the importance of excellent urban design. …