Our Work

Urban Design

The Charlotte Urban Design Center collaborates with City of Charlotte staff and community partners to design projects, provide design reviews, connect policy to building and neighborhood design, and contribute expertise to area plans, master plans, vision plans, and community investment plans. It also develops design standards and guidelines for rezoning plans and new development.

With its focus on advancing the city's built environment and the diversity of expertise among its staff, the Charlotte Urban Design Center brings unique value and perspectives to the City of Charlotte's infrastructure, transit, and economic development projects.

Transit and Capital Improvement Projects

Vision Plans

Corridors of Opportunity

Placemaking

The City of Charlotte launched the Placemaking Program in 2018 with the mission of using urban design and placemaking to transform underutilized public spaces into vibrant places for people. Led by the Charlotte Urban Design Center, the program builds public space projects and creates opportunities for neighborhoods through the Charlotte Placemaking Hub to use placemaking to promote community collaboration and accomplish public space goals.

In 2019, the Urban Design Center created the Placemaking Grant to help community members activate and beautify underutilized public spaces. The grant includes funding and assistance for materials, design, permitting, city development approval, and community engagement. To date, the Urban Design Center has awarded 20 projects $190,000 over three cycles.

The Urban Design Center also manages Placemaking Creative Pool. The Creatives Pool matches local creatives with opportunities in Charlotte on a rolling basis. The Creatives Pool includes creatives who work in mixed media, performance, written and spoken word, video/photography, and fabrication. It also includes professionals who manage the process of implementing public art and performance. Learn more and apply here.

In addition to the Placemaking Grant And Creative Pool, the Charlotte Urban Design Center is focusing on key projects like The Ritz at Washington Heights, programing at Five Points Plaza, and the Urban Arboretum Trail.

Urban Arboretum Trail

The Urban Arboretum Trail (UAT) is a partnership between the city's Tree Canopy Preservation Program and the city's Placemaking Program. The UAT creates and preserves canopy in more rapidly developing areas of Charlotte that are seeing significant tree loss. A pilot project developed for the UAT identifies and repurposes underused city parcels or excess right-of-way and acquires properties in areas of Charlotte with canopy loss to create educational stops along a forest-focused walkable or bikeable trail. View the trail route(PDF, 7MB).

Arboretum Public Space and Trail Goals

• Tree canopy preservation
• Open space
• Community placemaking
• Connecting our places
• Reclaiming our wood waste
• Educating our community

Put Yourself on the Trail!

Visit the city's interactive map. Explore where the UAT lies, find placemaking projects, learn about rezonings and more.