City Launches Miami21 Blueprint for Future Development

Locally based Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co. is the designer of Miami21, a title geared to the 21st Century. The firm's principals founded the New Urbanist movement, which it has put into practice in cities as diverse as Baton Rouge, LA, Mekkah, Saudi Arabia, Los Angeles, Coconut Grove, and Berlin. Under Miami21, the city is divided into four quadrants, with the new zoning for each to be developed and enacted in a succession of four six-month timeframes.

Public workshops initiate the planning process for each quadrant. The first workshop is scheduled for right after the July 4th weekend, Jorge Planas, Duany Plater-Zyberk's project director, tells GlobeSt.com. "We don't expect it to be a smooth process," he says. "There will be neighborhood resistance and resistance among developers and others, but we have found that a lot of good ideas come through workshops and we hope to come up with solutions that work for all sides of the issues. As a Miami resident, I'm very hopeful."

Chief among the planners' goals is creation of pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods, Planas says. "New zoning ordinances can really create more quality in Miami, and that should have a positive effect on real estate development. Miami Beach and South Beach have always been pedestrian friendly, and that's why people love them so much."

He acknowledges that some developers, but not all, have been making efforts toward smart growth, but, faced with layers of often-arbitrary code amendments, they haven't been required to. "Old codes allowed garages on a street-side façade," Planas offers as an example, "which does not make for a good pedestrian environment."

Additional goals, according to a city presentation, are codes "that make development decisions predictable, fair and cost effective, thwarting speculative development and reducing fear and opposition to development." Miami21 also calls for a mix of land uses so they complement each other and a broad range of integrated housing opportunities and choices to suit different lifestyles and economic situations. In all literature leading up to its launch, Diaz emphasizes that Miami21 is not anti-development and will not regulate design. "What is important is not the style but the urban harmony."