The Common Connection

Let’s (re)connect our cities—creating new perspectives, opportunities for shared understanding, and stronger communities. I believe that both physical and social spaces shape us as humans.

The Social Connection Let’s strengthen our communities by creating spaces that bring people together. Through thoughtful design, we can link and reconnect individuals, fostering interaction, collaboration, and social engagement among people that builds more resilient and interconnected communities.

The Physical Connection Let’s reimagine the physical space by (re)connecting the city. From streets to public spaces, pathways to infrastructure, we can design a built environment that links the city in new ways—uniting people through thoughtful spatial connections.

A Collective Method Let’s strive for a more empathetic and inclusive approach to urban development by working collectively with landowners, neighbors, and municipalities. Collaboration brings together diverse knowledge and needs shaping a sustainable and shared future. By engaging local stakeholders early in the process, we foster a strong sense of place and belonging. Local knowledge—about movement patterns, what drives activity, and the unique character of the area—offers invaluable perspectives that we as planners and architects often overlook. Involving people early and collaboratively, rather than merely informing them, elevates the development process and results. The collective approach ensures that places are designed for people who use them, and I believe these places will be more loved and taken care of and thereby will last longer.

Social Sustainability is Green Sustainability For too long, there has been a tendency to occupy more and more land with sprawling, scattered cities. As the climate changes and our resources are depleted, we are forced to rethink our footprint as humans on this earth. Let us create cities that are interconnected—both physically and socially—cities that give space back to nature. Let us establish a new paradigm that fosters a greater balance between humans and nature, between urban life and biodiversity. Let us develop a more empathetic approach to transforming and evolving our cities.

Sustainability is also about creating places people want to use. A top-tier sustainable building with Platinum or Gold certifications is not truly sustainable if its users and the public do not care for it—it will not have a long lifespan. Other parameters must also be considered. True sustainability is not about the “green label” on a building or public space but about transforming places, so they are cherished by society. When people care for and maintain these spaces, those places endure—and that is real sustainability.