Why Urban Design Needs More Urban Designers

Who is responsible for the sidewalk? And why do we think that the sidewalk is less of a public responsibility than the roadway itself?

I recently read an article about sidewalk ownership and maintenance in Denver, where the city assumed responsibility for maintaining its sidewalks after decades of relinquishing control to private property owners. The story highlights an issue affecting many U.S. cities, particularly newer communities developed at a time when sidewalks were treated as amenities of adjacent private property rather than components of the public right-of-way. The change was prompted by a coalition of neighborhood organizations, public health professionals, and equity and disability advocates.

The story demonstrates that sidewalks are a critical component of the public realm, deserving of collective stewardship led by local government. I would argue it demonstrates something else as well—that community members and researchers are part of a growing movement of citizen urban designers.

Urban design is undergoing a profound transformation. Once defined primarily by the physical design of cities, the practice now operates across policy, public engagement, community development, ecological systems, and social change.

This shift isn’t happening by accident. It reflects the evolving complexity of the challenges cities face. Our housing crisis cannot be separated from the pressures of climate change. Transportation and access shape economic development opportunities. The design of public space influences public health outcomes. Questions of equity, governance, and belonging affect every decision about the built environment. These are not problems that can be solved within the boundaries of a single discipline.

Urban design is uniquely positioned to respond because it has never belonged entirely to one profession. It sits at the intersection of architecture, landscape architecture, planning, engineering, public policy, and the social sciences. Its strength has always been its ability to synthesize perspectives into a shared vision for place.

Our first step requires us to expand our roles as urban designers. We can no longer measure our success solely by the places we design. Increasingly, we are conveners, translators, facilitators, negotiators, and coalition builders. While co-editing The Routledge Handbook of Urban Design Practice, one idea surfaced again and again. Regardless of discipline or geography, contributors argued that urban designers practice across a spectrum: we help frame policy, build partnerships, communicate across differences, mediate decisions, and empower others to shape urban life.

As our role changes, so does our understanding of who practices urban design. As a more inclusionary practice that invites climate scientists, housing advocates, artists, and educators into the design process, we strengthen our collective work and our ability to address the great challenges facing cities. Each collaborator helps to shape urban outcomes. With the right tools and skills, they become urban designers in practice.

Trained urban designers have a responsibility to equip others. That means making our methods more accessible. For example, walking tours offer a dynamic way to develop observational skills. People can be invited to sketch, count benches or trees, observe where people choose to sit, and ask why one public space succeeds while another lacks life. To lower communication barriers, we can introduce urban design vocabulary through collaborative games that encourage participants to draw, describe, and debate design concepts before applying them to their own community. These aren’t just techniques for gathering input. They build urban design literacy, giving more people the confidence and ability to contribute to decisions about the places they know best.

Equipping others also means sharing the practical methods of urban design across disciplines. Public officials can benefit from understanding the design implications of green infrastructure. Public health professionals can contribute to conversations about playspaces. Educators, neighborhood leaders, and developers can learn how design decisions influence the everyday experience of a place. The goal isn’t to make everyone an expert in everything. It’s to broaden the circle of people who can participate thoughtfully in shaping cities.

Urban design practice needs to expand not only our methods or collaborations but also our identity. This is more than claiming “interdisciplinary practice.” It’s about changing who can legitimately say, “I am involved in designing cities.”

The burden isn’t simply on policymakers and artists to think of themselves as designers. There are two parts.

First, I challenge architects, planners, and landscape architects to become better conveners, communicators, and teachers. Your role is to bring more voices to the table to solve the wicked problems—complex issues that resist a definitive solution because they are tangled up with many interdependent factors. To do that, we must nurture our communication skills, cross-cultural fluencies, and ability to teach others.

The second part asks us to widen the lens we use to consider the others at the table as urban designers.

The future of urban design depends on making more urban designers. This is different from simply making more urban design professionals. The future of urban design won’t be determined solely by how many architects, planners, or landscape architects we educate. It will depend on how many people—inside and outside those professions—learn to think, collaborate, and act as urban designers. This isn’t about lowering the bar either. Calling more people urban designers doesn’t diminish professional expertise. It raises the level of design literacy across everyone shaping cities. We must be effective at welcoming and empowering these actors.

Our cities will be shaped not only by those who design sidewalks, but by those who organize around them, advocate for them, and steward them. Trained urban designers remain essential, but one of our greatest responsibilities is to help others develop the skills and confidence to shape their communities alongside us. The future of urban design depends on both professionals who are willing to share their expertise and citizen urban designers who are ready to put it into practice.