Services: Urban Design & Planning
Overview
Mithun’s award-winning urban design practice is comprised of designers who bring robust skills and national leadership in urban design and landscape architecture. We place a special focus on the functions of natural systems within urban spaces that are memorable for people and reflect the community and places they’re located. Our understanding of public space design and issues of safety, long-term durability, maintenance, and public/private synergy meets with insight into how cultural changes can affect the use and adaptation of public space.
As demands for land use planning and urban design grow more complex—incorporating increasing emphasis on environmental protection, climate change, social justice, and human health—the need for innovative and cross-disciplinary teamwork has never been greater.
The addition of these new dimensions to the planning process has expanded the scope of planning activities into new areas. At Mithun, we’ve built a strong team whose deep knowledge of the built environment intersects with a passion for improving the way we build cities. This team includes experts in land use planning, urban design, architecture, landscape design, green infrastructure, low-impact development, healthscape planning, energy & water infrastructure, and urban ecological systems. With a broad range of clients and project types, we bring an intimate understanding of both market and public agency forces and how partnerships can be catalyzed for greater value and innovation.
Mithun brings a legacy of knowledge to support citywide strategic planning, including neighborhoods, river and watersheds, and urban development strategies. Our planning and urban design expertise is grounded in the public and private realm components of mixed-use, mixed-income revitalization projects, encompassing all of the components which form a sustainable community. We are nationally renowned in developing sustainable urban plans and transit-oriented development projects, many through Public Private Partnerships.
This work involves a variety of unique issues: High performance infrastructure and transportation; Enhancing ecosystem services and space; Garnering municipal and community support; Supporting pedestrian networks and diverse communities with a range of housing types; and Providing the right mix of uses to create a sense of vitality. Mithun’s project list includes award winning projects such as Project Green in Austin, Lloyd Crossing in Portland, 10th & Osage in Denver, State Center in Baltimore, and HighPoint and the Blue Ring in Seattle.
An advocate for social, environmental, and economic sustainability since the firm’s inception 60 years ago, Mithun understands the intricate challenges that go hand-in-hand with the development of economically viable, sustainable urban places. As members and advisors in organizations such as the Cascade Land Conservancy, the Urban Land Institute, the US Council of Mayors, the Seattle Climate Partnership, the Chicago Climate Exchange, Sustainable SITES and the LEED®-ND pilot program, we promote vibrant, healthy, sustainable urbanism, using nature as our guide.
Featured Projects
- High Point
- Sustainable mixed incomes: Local redevelopment success story achieves global significance
- Project Green
- Out of an old water treatment plant site comes an international model for sustainability
- State Center
- A 28-acre site located at one of the most active transit nodes in Baltimore
