• A new cultural epicenter for Savannah

    The Plant Riverside District in Savannah, Georgia, transformed an abandoned industrial site into the most significant modern expansion of the city’s urban core. Sottile & Sottile and The Kessler Collection won the 2021 CNU Grand Prize Charter Award.
    Note: Charter Awards will be presented in a ceremony Friday evening, May 21, at CNU 29. Design for Change . Plant Riverside District revamped a former industrial site into a dynamic mixed-use waterfront district, woven into the city, extending Savannah’s renowned Oglethorpe plan. The development...Read more

  • Counting the impact of incremental development

    In cities across the country, small buildings are demonstrating a big effect on economic development and municipal finance.
    Note: This article is based on research presented at CNU 29: Design for Change , held May 19-21. In many cities and towns, most development activity is located in concentrated pockets with other areas overlooked. Generally, the approach outside of these favored areas is to make infrastructure...Read more

  • The Cayalá effect in Guatemala City

    The Paseo Cayalá Neighborhood in Guatemala City is a model of open and economically resilient development in a city of gated development. Estudio Urbano and Leon Krier won a 2021 CNU Charter Award in the Neighborhood, District, and Corridor category.
    Many developments in Guatemala City, Guatemala, are gated, and the New Town of Cayalá sets a different example: One of welcome and openness to all citizens. This growing town, with 350 shops, 650 residences, and major civic buildings and institutions, revives the architectural identity of the...Read more

  • Factory-built affordability: Are we there yet?

    After more than a decade of sporadic advancements, the factory-built cottage idea may finally have arrived. This development could make a difference in quality affordable housing across the US.
    On March 22, 2021, more than a decade after many assumed such an event would become routine, a small, factory-built home designed to the standards of custom, site-built homes and targeted for infill affordability was lowered onto an infill site in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. “It was a long time...Read more