Winners of the Charter Awards

About the Charter Awards

Each year, CNU's Charter Awards recognize projects across the world that best embody and advance the principles of the Charter of the New Urbanism. As selected by a jury of leading urbanists, honorees set the gold standard for urban design and development and serve as powerful examples for future development.

The Charter Awards program is unique in its emphasis on the entirety of the built and natural environment -- from the function and sustainability of regions to the fine-grain architectural details that strengthen people's ties to a place over time. The Charter Awards look at how plans and projects integrate with their contexts and, consequently, how they improve both the human experience of place and the relationship between the built and natural environments.

CNU's award books, available for purchase from CNU, feature in-depth profiles and more photos of Charter Award winners. Information on award winners from previous years can be found online. CNU extends its congratulations to this year's award recipients and its gratitude to the entire field of submitters that made the judging so competitive. Watch the video of the 2008 awards ceremony and plan to attend the presentation of the 2009 awards at CNU 17 in Denver, June 13, 2009.

View 2001-2006 awardees

Charter Award 2009 Winners
The Region: Metropolis, City, and Town

Buffalo's Comprehensive Plan

Buffalo, NY

Submitted by The Urban Design Project - The School of Architecture and Planning, University of Buffalo SUNY
Hertfordshire Guide to Growth - 2021

Hertfordshire, UK

Submitted by Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company
Neighborhood, District, and Corridor  Crystal City Vision Plan 2050


Arlington, VA

Submitted by Torti Gallas and Partners

East Riverfront Extension

Savannah, GA

Submitted by Sottille & Sottille

 

 The SmartCode

Any Neighborhood, District, or Corridor

Submitted by Center for Applied Transect Studies and Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company

Baldwin Park

Orlando, FL

Submitted by New Broad Street Investments, LLC

River North

San Antonio, TX

Submitted by Moule & Polyzoides, Architects & Urbanists

House Office Buildings Facilities Plan and Preliminary South Capitol Area Plan

Washington, D.C.

Submitted by Wallace Roberts & Todd, LLC

Block, Street, and Building

 Columbia Heights

Washington D.C.

Submitted by Torti Gallas and Partners

 

 Artscape Wychwood Barns

Toronto, ON

Submitted by du Toit Architects, Limited

Student Awards

 Planning Abaco

Great Abaco Island, The Bahamas

Submitted by Andrews Univeristy, School of Architecture

Guo He Lou Theatre Complex

Beijing, China

Submitted by Kai Hu, University of Notre Dame

The Jury

From left: Ferhat Zerin, Gingko Planning & Design, Orland Park, IL; Jury Chair Victor Dover, Dover Kohl & Partners, Coral Gables, FL; Diane Miller, Envision Central Texas, Austin, TX; Evan Jones, Multuplex, Perth, Australia; Karen Parolek, Opticos Design, Inc., Berkeley, CA; Eduardo Castillo, Castillo Arquitectos, Guatemala City, Guatemala; Doug Farr, Farr & Associates, Chicago, IL. Special thanks to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for providing the jury with the use of studio space in Louis Sullivan's Carson, Pirie, Scott Building.

 

Charter Award 2008 Winners
The Region: Metropolis, City, and Town

Louisiana Speaks Regional Plan

State of Louisiana

Submitted by Calthorpe Associates

A Civic Vision for the Riverfront


Philadelphia, PA

Submitted by Wallace Roberts & Todd LLC
Vedanta University

Orissa, India

Submitted by Ayers/Saint/Gross Inc, Architects+Planners

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Thuwal, Saudi Arabia

Submitted by Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum Inc.

Neighborhood, District, and Corridor

Woodstock Downtown


Woodstock, Georgia

Submitted by Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh & Associates


Oakwood Shores


Chicago, IL

Submitted by FitzGerald Associates Architects


Rockville Town Square


Rockville, MD

Submitted by WDG Architecture


Mixson Avenue

North Charleston, SC

Submitted by I'On Group

Masterplan for Western Harbour

Leith Edinburgh, Scotland

Submitted by Robert Adam Architects

 

Block, Street, and Building


The Vision for Marion Square


Charleston, SC

Submitted by Fairfax & Sammons Architects

Atlantic & Pacific Development

Montgomery, Alabama

Submitted by City Loft Corporation


Almeria Row


Coral Gables, Florida

Submitted by de la Guardia Victoria Architects & Urbanists Inc.


A Pattern Book for Neighborly Houses

United States

Submitted by Urban Design Associates


A Living Tradition: Architecture of the Bahamas


The Bahamas

Submitted by Mouzon Design

Student Award


The North End Plan


Michigan City, IN

Submitted by Andrews University, School of Architecture

The Jury

Back row, from left Peter Park Community Planning & Development Manager, City and County of Denver, Colorado; Ben Bolgar Director of Design Theory & Networks, Princes Foundation for the Built Environment, London, England; Victor Dover Principal, Dover Kohl & Partners, Coral Gables, Florida Geoffrey Dyer Placemakers, Director of Canadian Operations and Principal and Urban Designer, Tsix Urbanists, Calgary, Alberta Front row, from left Katharine Kelley President, Green Street Properties, Atlanta, Georgia; Andrés Duany, Jury Chair Principal, Duany Plater Zyberk & Company, Miami, Florida; Karen Parolek Principal, Opticos Design, Inc, Berkeley, California Stefanos Polyzoides (not pictured) Principal, Moule & Polyzoides Architects and Urbanists, Pasadena, California; with Eleanor and Alicia (dogs)




 

 

 

 
Charter Award 2007 Winners
The Region: Metropolis, City, and Town

Louisiana Speaks:
Pattern Book


State of Louisiana, U.S.A.

Submitted by Urban Design Associates
City Plan
2025


Fayetteville, AR

Submitted by Dover, Kohl & Partners

Long Beach, Mississippi
Concept Plan


Long Beach, Mississippi

Submitted by Ayers/Saint/Gross, Architects and Planners

Neighborhood, District, and Corridor

Salishan Neighborhood
HOPE VI Revitalization


Tacoma, Washington

Submitted by Torti Gallas and Partners


Harbor Town


Memphis, TN

Submitted by Looney Ricks Kiss Architects

Cooper's Crossing


Camden, NJ

Submitted by Torti Gallas and Partners and Urban Design Associates


The Carneros Inn


Napa, CA

Submitted by William Rawn Associates, Architects, Inc.


Innovista Master Plan

Columbia, South Carolina

Submitted by Sasaki Associates, Inc.


Street Smart: Streetcars and Cities in the 21st Century


United States

Submitted by Reconnecting America


La Candelaria


Antigua, Guatemala

Submitted by Castillo Arquitectos

Block, Street, and Building


Takoma Walk

Takoma Park, Maryland

Submitted by Cunningham | Quill Architects PLLC

Kedzie & Rockwell Stations
-
Brown Line Stations

Chicago, IL

Submitted by Muller & Muller, Ltd.


The Ellington

Washington, D.C.

Submitted by Torti Gallas and Partners


Oak Plaza

Miami, Florida

Submitted by Cure & Penabad Studio, Khoury & Vogt Architects


Habitat Trails. Habitat for Humanity: from infill house to green neighborhood
design

Rogers, AR

Submitted by University of Arkansas Community Design Center


Katrina Cottage VIII

Infill Locations, USA

Submitted by Steven A. Mouzon, Architect, PA

     

 

 


Courthouse Square, Theatre Way and Broadway Streetscape

Redwood City, CA

Submitted by Freedman Tung & Bottomley

 

 


Lofts 590

Arlington, VA

Submitted by SK&I Architectural Design Group


Chatham Square

Alexandria, VA

Submitted by Lessard Group, Inc.


Cottage Square

Ocean Springs, MS

Submitted by Tolar LeBatard Denmark Architects PLLC

Student/Faculty Awards


Towards an Urban and Sustainable Puerto Nuevo

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Submitted by University of Puerto Rico


Company Towns Revisited: Historic Typologies as a Model for
Growth

Petit Paradis, Haiti

Submitted by University of Notre Dame


Connecting the City of Water to its History

Castellamare di Stabia, Italy

Submitted by University of Maryland


The Saucier Town Plan

Saucier, Mississippi

Submitted by Andrews University

 

 

Valparaiso's Waterfront

Valparaiso, Chile

Submitted by University of Maryland

The Jury Stefanos Polyzoides, Jury Chair, AIA
Andrés Duany, FAIA, Duany Plater-Zyberk
Susan Van Atta, Van Atta Associates
Vince Graham, I’On Group
Hillary Brown, AIA, New Civic Works
Rick Cole, City of San Buenaventura
Kjell Forshed, Brunnberg & Forshed