History
Our Origin Story
It all started in 1995 with a 20-minute long voicemail from Ann Roberts, then Executive Director of the Metro Historical Commission, to Christine Kreyling, Design Critic for the Nashville Scene. Metro Nashville was planning to build a highway-like corridor right through Downtown and they had to do something about it. A group of local advocates and designers started hosting Urban Design Forums as a platform for productive debate that would not only lead to a more well-designed street we now know as Korean Veterans Boulevard, but it would influence the formation of the Civic Design Center as we know it today.
Watch the 12-minute documentary about that critical moment and how it led to a grassroots community engagement effort that would change the way we view planning in Nashville forever.
“It’s easy to lose sight of the longer term, so having an organization that is anchored in a way—in the big picture—is a massive value for the city.”
Foundational Work
The Civic Design Center began its journey advocating for good civic design through a multi-year research endeavor that culminated into a book called The Plan of Nashville: Avenues to a Great City. The process began with research of Nashville’s history explaining how the city’s current landscape came to be, from the area’s natural resources and what attracted people to it followed by how the Civil War and systemic racism drove people to their own corners of the city. Several convenings of residents and stakeholders established focus issues, goals, and principles that would inspire a balance of preservation, sustainability, access, and placemaking.
This vision was formulated into a Plan by a group of architects, designers, planners, preservationists and activists. The Plan is organized into three distinct parts 1) Regional Connections 2) Downtown and 3) Neighborhoods. Together, the sections work through this funnel to display a holistic plan for the whole region, which had never been done before.
The Plan in Action
The Plan of Nashville was only meant to open people’s minds to what comprehensive planning, development, and redevelopment could do to transform Nashville into the place its residents envisioned. Since its publication in 2004, the Civic Design Center has been working to educate the community through this vision while also participating in further community engagement processes to adapt the vision over time.
Educating Youth on Civic Design
Prompted by the City of Chicago’s move in the early 20th century to teach the Plan of Chicago to all 8th grade civics classes, the Design Center formulated Design Your Neighborhood to teach 7th and 8th graders design thinking and the process of civic engagement with a simplified curriculum inspired by The Plan of Nashville.
Ten Principles of The Plan Of Nashville
During the community engagement process of The Plan of Nashville, consensus emerged upon Ten Principles to guide public policy, development practice, urban planning, and design. While these principles were originally focused on the Nashville area, they are universal in intent.
Learn more about how we adapted the Ten Principles to our current priorities and how they evolved into the Guiding Principles for Civic Design.
