The Dallas CityDesign Studio was formed in October of 2009 through a grant to the City from the Trinity Trust Foundation, funded by a generous gift from Deedie and Rusty Rose, to focus on neighborhoods and development along the Trinity. The grant represents a partnership between the City and the Trust to share in the CityDesign Studio’s operation cost. Larry Beasley, one of the world's top urban planners and the city planner that helped to establish the City of Vancouver as one of the most livable cities in the world, serves as Urban Design Special Advisor to the CityDesign Studio.

Housed within City Hall, the CityDesign Studio blends together the broader design community and the City of Dallas. The purpose of the Dallas CityDesign Studio is to elevate the design consciousness and culture of Dallas, while working to balance social, economic, environmental, and design sustainability towards enhancing livability for all Dallas residents. The objectives of the CityDesign Studio are:

• Raising awareness about the importance of urban design to city building and the future of Dallas
• Providing advisory services on urban design issues through development of urban design policies for the city, peer review of significant projects, and input into development applications
• Direct urban design services on projects to other departments within the city on significant projects and collaborating on urban design consultancies with the City
• Development of urban design programs for areas along the Trinity Corridor

Learn more about LINC Dallas

URBAN STRUCTURE and GUIDELINES

As its first major initiative, the CityDesign Studio engaged in a community-based planning effort in the West Dallas bounded by the Trinity River levee at the North and East, I-30 at the South and Sylvan at the West. Over the course of 18 months, the CityDesign Studio met with business owners, residents, landowners, investors and community stakeholders to re-imagine this portion of West Dallas. Using design and the ideas from over 40 community meetings, the Urban Structure and Guidelines was crafted. The Urban Structure and Guidelines represents the community’s shared vision for future development and re-development.

On Wednesday, March 9, the Dallas City Council unanimously adopted the Urban Structure and guidelines. Thank you to those that attended the meetings to share your ideas and to those that took the time to write letters of support and attend the briefings and hearings. It takes all of us working together, sharing our time, ideas and resources that continues to make our city great.

Connected City
Design Challenge