Team of MUD Alums/Professor Win Planning and Design Award

The International Downtown Association recently awarded an International Award of Excellence for Planning, Design and Infrastructure to a team from Stantec Urban Places that included Professor Emeritus David Walters and three former Master of Urban Design students: Dylan McKnight (MUD ’12), Ashley Bonawitz Thompson (B.Arch ’13, MUD ’15), and Ginny Young (MUD ’17).

The team created the BuildDowntown Master Plan for the regeneration of the downtown areas of Memphis, Tennessee. The plan “seeks to transform downtown into a robust regional engine of economic opportunity, equity, and culture,” the team wrote.

Organized around three primary themes – Build Up, Celebrate Walkability, and Welcome Everyone – the plan makes 11 key recommendations that include leveraging the Memphis blues heritage to encourage redevelopment along Beale Street, enhancing the Mississippi riverfront area, investing in upgrades for pedestrians along core streets, and adding mixed income housing and mixed-use development.

Based in Washington, D.C., the International Downtown Association is a membership organization for professional place management leaders worldwide.