Written in a clear and engaging style, Designing the City is a practical manual for improving the way communities are planned, designed, and built. It presents a wealth of information on design and decision-making, including advice on how citizens and activists can make their voices heard, and numerous examples of effective strategies for working with all parties involved in neighborhood and community development. It highlights proven models and strategies to help communities:

• establish unique and productive partnerships with public works and transportation departments


• develop resources through grant programs


• broaden expertise, perspective, and constituency


• create new and enduring models for effective action


• educate participants and consumers of the design and development process

Adele Fleet Bacow is a distinguished urban planner specializing in community economic development, design, and the arts. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in urban design from Wellesley College and a master's degree in city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

For more than twenty years previous to the publishing of Designing the City, Ms Bacow has brought together the public and private sectors in unlikely collaborations to revitalize communities. Former director of design and development at the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities, she won a Presidential Design Achievement Award for her work described in this book. Ms. Bacow also served as deputy director of the Massachusetts Government Land Bank and coordinator of the Mayors Institute on City Design. She consults nationally on projects relating to community development, urban design, and the arts.