Implementing Urban Design

"We know the ‘ways’ of urban design but the ‘means’ still often defeat us. Cities continue to despoil and alienate more than fulfill. Through vivid, lived examples Barnett demystifies how to get progressive results and make change last. His proven methods, fostering livable, harmonious, delightful places, are practical yet so inspirational."

Larry Beasley, CM, Distinguished Practice Professor of Planning, University of British Columbia, School of Community and Regional Planning; former co-planning director, city of Vancouver, Canada

"In this important book, Jonathan Barnett’s timely in-depth case studies enrich our understanding of how to devise creative implementation strategies and how to be involved in successfully using them."

Jon Lang, Professor Emeritus, University of New South Wales, Sydney; former director of the Urban Design Program at the University of Pennsylvania, USA

"Jonathan Barnett has an exceptional ability to cut through the labyrinth of bureaucratic, political, and legal webs that too often entangle even the best urban design plans. In his new book, Implementing Urban Design, Barnett, in his rational, cogent first-person style, leads the reader through a masterclass in how to get things done. This book should appeal to and inspire not only urban design practitioners but all readers who care deeply about shaping their communities."

Robert Freedman, FRAIC AICP, Sessional Lecturer at the University of Toronto Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape & Design, Canada

"Jonathan Barnett, eminent practitioner and scholar, takes the reader beyond the ‘visionary’ images (many disconnected from local contexts) into the complex formulation and evolution of public policy as the implementing mechanism for "master plans". He articulates the real dynamics of ‘design-evolution’ through key case studies that explore the politics of urban design as a foundation for implementation strategies and tools. And, his case studies help the reader transfer lessons-learned to a new and different post-covid world."

Ron Kasprisin, Professor Emeritus, College of Built Environments, University of Washington, USA

"This is a short, readable book that addresses real world challenges mixed with insight into the people that worked to meet those challenges.... Barnett makes it clear that planning needs design and design needs planning."

C. Gregory Dale, University of Cincinnati, for the Journal of Urban Affairs

"Barnett has been a groundbreaking urban design consultant, author and advisor since the mid 1960s, working in New York City. This book fills out the story of urban designers working to repair the mid-century deliberative destruction of the city. [It] covers a wide range of scales and issues in urban design, discussing urban design not only as a design concept, but as a problem of implementation within the different contexts that occur in the city."

Brenda Case Scheer, Dean of the College of Architecture + Planning at the University of Utah, for the Journal of Urban Design

"One of the country’s foremost urban designers, Barnett walks readers through the steps of the design process, reflects on each of its components, indicates what regulations had to be changed or added, and provides before-and-after photographs and maps. He describes each of the projects in substantive detail and offers thoughtful advice. this book is an excellent resource for introducing students and non-design professionals to the complexities and benefits of urban design."

R. A. Beauregard, Professor Emeritus, Columbia University

"This past year has clearly demonstrated that the climate crisis is no longer a thing of the future. It has arrived. Floods, wildfires, drought, famines, heat waves, and migration will lead, Barnett writes in the Afterword, to 'encouraging redevelopment of all urbanized areas into compact walkable communities' as well as deep green transit and energy infrastructure. That will involve significant change, and therefore meet substantial resistance. All the more reason to pay attention to the implementation strategies recommended by a wise and seasoned practitioner."

Lee Hardy, Calvin University, for the Journal of Urbanism