 City Design Group
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The San
Francisco Planning Department’s City Design Group works to
improve San Francisco’s
livability through concern for the physical qualities of the
city. Its goal is to recognize the positive qualities of San
Francisco’s built environment and its relationship with
the natural setting, and to create and foster initiatives that
build upon these qualities in ways that strengthen the city’s
sense of place.
All great cities are
for people, and the City Design Group’s purpose is to
enhance San Francisco's status as a truly great city. It will
do this by
advocating the
human dimension as central to city design and design
of the public
realm.
Built Environment
Perhaps the single
most important component of the City’s strong sense of place is the relationship
of San Francisco's built environment to its spectacular setting.
Sense of
place is strengthened when changes to the built environment balance
this relationship. Three-dimensional form of the city and its
skyline, the relationship of city scale to human scale, and good
building design are the subjects of good city design. Recognizing
and fostering a balance among these assets is a foremost focus
of the City Design Group’s work.
Public
Realm
The public realm is
much more than a utilitarian system of connections to get from
here to there. It is where
people walk, meet, and socialize. It is where they take in the
views, where they see what merchants have to offer, and where
they come to know their neighborhood and their fellow citizens.
The public realm connects us socially and economically. It can
even be a place where people play. The public realm is the setting
for civic life, and whether it is safe or dangerous, a
place to spend time in or to avoid, determines the kind of civic
life San Franciscans enjoy. In its public realm design, the City
Design Group seeks to balance all the functions of a street,
to make San Francisco’s public realm a truly gracious civic
space, and to put people and the quality of place foremost.
Contact
 David
Alumbaugh, Manager
Joshua
Switzky, Built Environment Lead
Adam
Varat, Public Realm Design Lead
Neil
Hrushowy, Urban Designer
Andres
Power, Urban Designer
Nick Perry, Urban Designer
Ilaria Salvadori, Urban Designer
Amnon Ben-Pazi, Urban Designer
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