Boston – As developers and planners continue to respond to suburban sprawl by revisiting the model of urban village development, a new set of challenges and rewards are unfolding for the next development cycle. For many, the urban village represents a prime opportunity to rejuvenate the concept of self-contained mixed-use communities well within Boston’s suburban frontier, in keeping with smart growth and transit-oriented goals for the region. However, the next generation of urban village development brings with it a host of architectural, planning and economic challenges as well..
The Urban Land Institute (ULI) recently held a networking reception where a panel of real estate experts explored the vision/potential and practical realities of the Urban Village model in and around Boston.
Panelists included Don Briggs senior vice president of Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRIT); Paul Lukez, MIT architect professor; Timothy Mount, planning & design partner, at Streetworks, Inc. and Carter Wilkie, president of Roslindale Village Main Street.
Don Briggs leads the planning and execution of FRIT’s development and redevelopment projects, including Assembly Square in Somerville. Prior to joining Federal Realty in 2000,he was a development manager for Cousins Properties, Incorporated, a diversified REIT in Atlanta, Georgia. He also worked as a senior project manager for The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company in Florida.
Paul Lukez is an architect with over 25 years experience in a range of urban and building design types. He is the author of Suburban Transformations, which proposes strategies and processes for transforming suburbs and edge cities into more sustainable and habitable environments, with a unique identity strongly linked to the landscape. The ideas embedded in the book are the result of extensive academic research. His active practice is engaged in architectural and urban design in the US and Asia.
Timothy Mount has been with Street-Works from its beginning focusing on the development strategy, planning, and design of placed-based, urban, mixed-use districts. While he participates in the design and strategy of all of the Street-Works projects, many of his noteworthy developments were completed for consulting clients, including Bethesda Row in Maryland, Santana Row in San Jose, California and Rockville Town Square in Rockville Maryland, each for Federal Realty Investment Trust.
Carter Wilkie is president of the board of directors of Roslindale Village Main Street, a frequently cited model for urban neighborhood commercial district revitalization. He is the co-author of Changing Places: Rebuilding Community in the Age of Sprawl.
