Master Planning
Far too often, minority communities have seen their neighborhoods destroyed by bad public policies and urban design, causing harm to the urban fabric and cultural heritage and the physical and mental health of residents. Poor urban design done by the new age urban designers with minimal knowledge of communities and landscape of the space has caused major highways to sever communities of color, or power plants have been constructed within them. These communities are also often food deserts. They have no recreational and quality educational facilities and landscaped outdoor spaces like parks. Access to public transportation is limited, thus cutting them off from employment and cultural venues centers.
Over the years, these actions and policies have negatively affected the health of residents, including documented increases in asthma, cancers, and other health issues, reduced their chances of getting a good education, and the value of their properties has declined. This has led to an economic, social, and health crisis in poor communities, particularly poor communities of color in urban centers in major cities across the county and worldwide.
The purpose of a master plan is to ensure that these communities finally benefit from an urban design that can correct and reverse these trends. Every effort made by our urban designers should ensure that the built environments and neighborhoods are kept intact and previous harm repaired. That sustainability and development go hand in hand and those people of certain cultural heritage are well served with public amenities, including recreation centers, schools and libraries, and commercial opportunities such as neighborhood retail, sit-down restaurants and grocery stores are essential. They have good pedestrian and vehicular access paths to keep neighbors connected and have easy access to transport and employment, and the amenities of the city are critical.
Our work as master planners and urban designers has involved us with several great communities from Northeast Washington DC to Bradenton, Florida, to Pudong, China. Each master planning process is different and is specifically designed to respect and suit the community and its particular needs. Through planning permissions and public engagement processes, our role is to be trusted listeners, to facilitate decision making, and to take great care to protect and strengthen communities through the development of a well-planned built environment and landscape that prioritizes sustainability, community health and wellbeing, social and economic revitalization and knits neighborhoods together instead of tearing them apart.
