Architects Design Sense Of Place

When Tampa applies for the World Cup bid to host the international soccer championships, it will use information from a national-funded report that will improve Tampa's progress on urban design, linking its neighborhoods more closely to its urban core and creating more unique public places that give Tampa a flavor all its own.

The Urban Charrette, a group of young architects, planners, and design and urban specialists, in collaboration with the city of Tampa, The Hillsborough County Planning Commission, and the Tampa Bay chapter of the American Institute of Architects, was awarded a Sustainable Design Assessment Team grant from the national Institute in 2008.

The grant led to "Connecting Tampa," a report that focuses on improving the neighborhood planning process to reshape public spaces, reconnecting neighborhoods to downtown and creating a sense of place. The group recently released the results of its report. 

Urban Charrette has been facilitating conversations on how design can be used as a tool to increase the social, economic and environmental well-being of a community. Transit, both commuter and high-speed rail, is also seen as an urban planning tool in the Tampa Bay region and has been gaining momentum among businesses and government officials. Tampa's downtown riverwalk project is another example.

The Sustainable Design report said Tampa was "doing a good job," designing neighborhoods, commercial centers and recreation, but needs to improve its planning process. It is another step in the right direction in improving downtown and the neighborhoods around it, said Kimberly Finn, director of programming for the Tampa Downtown Partnership, an organization that promotes downtown.

Dave Szymanski, a Tampa-based journalist, likes running 5ks, other sports and writing poetry. Comments?
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