Urban planning and design
Towns and cities face an evolving set of challenges, from increasingly frequent extreme weather events, pollution, and biodiversity loss to public health and well-being, access to services and technology, and social inequality. These all create a need for urban renewal.
Local authorities, infrastructure owners, and developers must navigate this complex and uncertain environment to plan, design, and fund sustainable urban projects that encourage economic dynamism and community cohesion.
We understand that effective placemaking begins with a vision — based on a shared purpose and with an outcome in mind that is ambitious but achievable. That’s why we take a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach to masterplanning, working in partnership with our clients and their communities, delivering meaningful and lasting change to people’s lives.
What can we do for you?
Our placemaking philosophy is built on a complete understanding of an area’s context — comprising location, economy, heritage and culture — and the opportunities, synergies, and constraints this presents.
From project conception and design to program delivery and operation, the solutions developed by teams from across our global network enable people and places to thrive by linking creativity, evidence, engagement, technology and design. This is how we deliver more sustainable futures.
Provide an integrated service
Our Cities Studio brings together our town planning, place economics, urban design and public realm capabilities to offer a masterplanning, place shaping, case making, funding and delivery advisory service to our clients in North America and internationally.
Deliver at every scale
The projects we deliver range from small but impactful neighborhood projects to mega-projects that underpin the urban fabric of our towns and cities. We specialize in complex places such as town and city centers, transport hubs and campus environments. We also offer expertise in planning and designing the streets and spaces that create the canvas for public life in our urban centers.
Cover both public and private sector
We work with national governments, local authorities, health and education providers, transport agencies and authorities, property developers, lenders and investors, as well as the wider business and non-governmental community.
Apply digital solutions
We communicate options and proposals in an engaging and interactive way. Using urban analytics on economic, social, cultural, and environmental data, we identify opportunities for each place based on its specific challenges and requirements.
Temple Quarter, Bristol, UK. We prepared an ambitious development framework setting out a vision and proposals for the mixed use development of 130ha of land in the heart of Bristol.
Shaping cities with sustainable urban planning and design
Our experience
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Almono Riverfront Development, Pennsylvania, USAMott MacDonald provided construction management services for the Almono Partnership's Rough Grading Project for its new riverfront development. About 611,000 cubic meters of fill were used to level the property and protect it from flooding. The Rough Grading Project was the first of many projects planned for this US$1 billion development.
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Arden Cross, West Midlands, UKArden Cross is a key transit oriented development area containing a proposed interchange station, the first HS2 stop north of London. We developed the masterplan for the 140ha site, which will accommodate a sustainable, smart and connected new destination providing up to 3000 homes and 27,000 jobs. Our business case secured £50M of funding for the enabling works. We also helped to secure a development partner for the site and are now working to move the proposals to the delivery stage.
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Deansgate, Manchester, UKWe were appointed by Manchester City Council to develop the vision, concept design and business case for the transformation of Deansgate, one of the UK’s most high profile streets. We worked closely with local stakeholders to develop a multiphase masterplan and delivered a business case that secured £14.7M of first phase funding. Our vision for Deansgate will cement its status as a destination street of national and international profile, reflecting its history, legacy and importance to Manchester.
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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Global Future Cities Programme, South East AsiaAs delivery partner for this FCDO programme spanning 13 projects across nine cities in six countries, we undertook project preparation and provided technical solutions. The programme, which aimed to implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals and gender inclusion principles, encompassed flood management, earthquake resilience, participatory urban design, integrated transport systems, green corridor masterplanning, smart ticketing, data hubs, and the revitalisation of red-light districts and marginalised urban communities.
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Temple Quarter, Bristol, UKWe prepared an ambitious development framework setting out a vision and proposals for the mixed use development of 130ha of land in the heart of Bristol. Providing a range of multidisciplinary consultancy services from masterplanning and urban design to infrastructure planning and place economics, the business case we delivered helped secure a £95M grant from the UK government to unlock development.
People and Planet
People and Planet demonstrates and quantifies social and environmental outcomes. It combines publicly available data with project data to assess social and environmental factors alongside project priorities. Risks and opportunities are displayed on maps and dashboards, empowering decisions that create long-term benefits for people and the planet.
