Embedding Design in City Making

One of the primary accomplishments of Amanda Burden's tenure as commissioner of New York's Department of City Planning has been a renewed focus on design detail and the public sphere in the work that is born out of, and reviewed by, her department. Since re-establishing the department's urban design division in 2007, the lieutenant responsible for enhancing design throughout New York City has been Alex Washburn.   

"The primary responsibility of Mr. Washburn's group - a cadre of
specialists who supply the Department of City Planning with pictorial
renderings of the way proposed developments will enhance, or diminish,
pre-existing neighborhoods - is making the civic cityscape, streets
included, a more palatable place, with space for pedestrians to
ambulate, explore and, when the site is right, linger," writes Finn. 

"Alex and his team have integrated design into city-making," says Burden.
"On the streets, design detail means everything. The team studies what
makes great places: the width of the sidewalk, the spacing of street
trees, the diversity of retail - and they integrate these details into
our plans, turning projects into places that people want to be."