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The third annual Urban Design Awards, or “Urbies,” presented by the Charlotte Urban Design Center and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s School of Architecture will take place on Oct. 19, and we need YOU!
A jury of 10 urban design experts want to know your favorite walkable neighborhoods, streets, urban buildings and other public spaces.
Please nominate your favorite places – and don’t forget to scroll to the bottom to nominate your best-loved place in Charlotte for the People’s Choice Award for Great Urban Design category!
RULES FOR NOMINATIONS
Please read the category descriptions and choose the single category you believe best fits your nomination. You are not required to make nominations in each category.
You must follow these guidelines for the jury to consider your nomination:
QUALIFICATIONS FOR NOMINATION
AWARD CATEGORIES
A new cluster of buildings and outdoor spaces that mixes homes with easy access to shops, services and entertainment within a quarter mile of a transit stop.
Access to transit is access to opportunity. When you live, work or play near a transit stop, you expand your opportunities to experience new places, see new sights, find great restaurants and entertainment, and rub elbows with new people.
2021 Winner: The Metropolitan
2022 Winner: Atherton
A neighborhood where places to live, work and play are all within an attractive, tree-shaded 10-minute walk. This can be a new or established neighborhood, but it should have a unique and identifiable character. You can find your favorite coffee shop around the corner and say hello to neighbors on your walk to work. And when you run out of dish soap, it’s just a quick walk to the grocery store or bodega a couple blocks away.
2021 Winner: Plaza Midwood
2022 Winner: Wesley Heights
A substantial renovation of an outdated or underutilized building or place that now makes a significant contribution to the vitality of the city. Revitalizing buildings and places that have made an impact on the culture, economy and history of a city over the years makes Charlotte stronger - by weaving the stories of who we were, who we are, and who we hope to be into our urban spaces, people feel more rooted in the places they live, work and play.
2021 Winner: Optimist Hall
2022 Winner: The Brooklyn Collective
An inclusive and distinctive place where people from all walks of life feel welcome to gather. Great public spaces can include parks, plazas, greenways or trails. These places can range from “must-see” destinations (the National Mall in Washington D.C.) to treasured community places that we return to again and again (Charlotte’s Freedom Park). The best of these spaces embody community values and foster a deep sense of place.
2021 Winner: Little Sugar Creek Greenway
2022 Winner: Romare Bearden Park
Placemaking is as much process as project: It involves the reimagination of everyday, underutilized spaces as engaging places through community participation. The result is a people-centered, shared space within or along streets, sidewalks and other public places. From a sidewalk mural to a pop-up park, these places remind us that our shared spaces can be much more than utilitarian and provide moments of beauty, vibrancy, whimsy (and beyond) to enrich our daily lives.
2021 Winner: Camp North End
2022 Winner: Nebel’s Alley Night Market
Rather than just a vehicular traffic route, a great street has a lively, distinctive character that adds vitality to the community by enhancing the social and economic life of the city. Great streets become stages for what Jane Jacobs called the “Sidewalk Ballet.” By promoting interaction, from a chat with a neighbor or hello to the local street cart vendor, great streets are places for people to interact, experience the rituals of daily life, and discover new sights and sounds. The award can celebrate streets that have evolved over time into great places or newly designed streets that offer the same characteristics.
2021 Winner: Tryon Street
2022 Winner: North Davidson Street
A building that shapes public space through vibrant ground-floor uses, where the activity inside spills out into the street and enhances the pedestrian experience. A great city building embraces the street and provides opportunities to participate in life on the street, from both inside and out.
2021 Winner: The Railyard
2022 Winner: Elizabeth on Seventh
A local individual or organization who has made significant and sustained contributions in improving the urban design of Charlotte, whether via policy, education, programming, design or planning. These are people or groups that promote the connection between people and place, and work to make Charlotte a place that visitors want to return to, and that all residents take pride in calling home.
2021 Champions: Harvey Gantt and Hugh McColl
2022 Winner: David Furman
A local leader who organizes and collaborates on initiatives that improve and protect the quality of public spaces in their neighborhoods. Neighborhood champions embody community spirit through their dedication to the places that have shaped them.
2021 Champion: Darryl Gaston (In Memoriam)
2022 Winner: Neighboring Concepts
A project or series of urban design projects completed by one or more students while enrolled at a local university that illustrate an advanced understanding of urban design in Charlotte.
2021 Winner: Queens Park Proposal/NS Railyard Design
2022 Winner: Charlotte Urbanists
A building, place, shopping center or neighborhood outside of the city center that exhibits great urban design. Great suburban design includes different places for people to interact outside the private space of the home – typically ranging from semi-private (front porch), to semi-public (front yard), to public (sidewalk and street). Great suburban commercial design has a “Main Street” feel, where visitors stroll between shops and restaurants on foot and where a quick trip to get shoes can just as quickly turn into a leisurely afternoon.
2022 Winner: Piedmont Town Center
A building or public place in the city selected by Charlotteans as their choice for great urban design. Urban design encompasses how places look, function and feel. You know great urban design when you see it – those places in Charlotte that are memorable, comfortable and inviting. Charlotte residents – please nominate a building (or buildings) or place within city boundaries that you love! The award winner will be the one with the greatest number of nominations.
2022 Winner: Five Points Plaza
