City Hires New Firm To Revise Downtown Plan By Duany

West Palm Beach City Commission selected a new firm to revise the City's Downtown Master Plan, authored by Duany-Plater Zyberk in 1996. The selected firm, Zyscovich, Inc. "challenged commissioners to embrace new building forms and to write more specific guidelines, in some cases specifying on a block-by-block basis how buildings should look.", in contrast to the former plan by New Urbanism pioneers Duany-Plater Zyberk relied on creating "a simple code with a few simple building forms aimed at creating pedestrian-friendly streets".

By hiring a new firm with a different philosphy, the City acknowledged that their plan was no longer adequate to the growing needs of their downtown.