MITCHELL BOBMAN

Planning and designing good urbanism tactics in a low-density post-WWII metropolis provides its fair share of difficulties. This project served as a way to provide sustainable urban infill in downtown Phoenix without promoting an often-preferred practice of demolishing and rebuilding. Bringing development investment inwards provides a stronger urban core to build around for a sustainable future. While Phoenix is relatively young, it still holds character in the buildings that currently stand. Retrofitting within existing building stock saves energy and maintains historical context.

Cities don’t change instantly: policy and development reflect this truth. But by improving the livability and potential of city streets, block by block, planners and designers can also improve resiliency and sustainability. This project revealed how communities can achieve smart growth through smart design. This undertaking served as a reminder of how developing urban design plans only accomplishes half of the process for achieving livable communities. Properly planned blocks can provide the framework in which neighborhoods can prosper, but this success still rests upon the people within these streets. All the new urbanism tactics in the world cannot match the ability of a participatory city to thrive through its own initiative.