The American Institute of Architects has announced the recipients of the 2020 Regional & Urban Design program, which recognizes the best in urban design, regional and city planning, and community development. The best planning accounts for the entire built environment, local culture, and available resources-modeling architecture's promise and true value to communities.

AIA's 2020 Regional & Urban Design Winners:

Campau/Davison/Banglatown Neighborhood Framework Plan
Architect: Interboro Partners
Owner: City of Detroit, Planning and Development Department
Location: Detroit

Campau/Davison/Banglatown represents one of the most diverse areas of Detroit, and large African-American and Polish communities have long called it home. Recent immigrants from Bangladesh and Yemen have further diversified it. The area boasts a bustling economic corridor and desirable neighborhoods where a growing number of artists, urban farmers, and entrepreneurs have taken up residence. Homes and businesses have begun to spread out, annexing vacant lots to serve regular needs-as lawns and driveways, for example-or develop something more strategic, such as a sprawling network of backyard gardens.

 

Cornell Tech Campus Framework Plan
Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill & James Corner Field Operations
Owner: Cornell University
Location: New York, NY

Rigorously principled but highly adaptable in its approach, this master plan outlines the growth of Cornell University's applied science program. Envisioned as free of discrete academic departments, the plan establishes an open and collaborative community of designers, engineers, and scientists on a boundary-free, 12.4-acre site woven into the greenspace of New York's Roosevelt Island.

Hunter's Point South Waterfront Park
Architect: swa/Balsley and WEISS/MANFREDI Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism
Owner: New York City Economic Development Corporation
Location: New York, NY

Hunter's Point South Waterfront Park in Queens, New York, is an 11-acre model of urban ecology and sustainable thinking. As one of the city's most ambitious developments in years, the area includes 5,000 affordable housing units, two schools, and an expanded ferry stop. With water surrounding it on three sides, the park relies on a number of green initiatives to combat long-term disinvestment and create a new urban ecological paradigm.

Kabul Urban Design Framework
Architect: Sasaki
Owner: Afghanistan Ministry of Urban Development and Land
Location: Kabul, Afghanistan

Today, more than 20 years into building a new civil society in Afghanistan, the country's capital is poised to take advantage of emerging opportunities. Influenced by the intersection of cultures, ecological systems, and political currents, Kabul has long developed organically, leaving many without access to infrastructure or services. This plan sets a vision for Kabul that is sustainable and resilient and helps realize the promise of a burgeoning democracy.

For more on the recipients: https://tinyurl.com/sb3wkjt.