Urban Planning – Creating a Culturally Diverse Experience

Urban planning trends are constantly changing. Cities and suburbs grow, adjust, and update based on the needs and wants of the population. Syracuse is no different; it continues to see a growing interest in living downtown with an occupancy rate hovering well over 95%.

Our fully integrated design-build team is currently working on the Salt City Market. This amazing project began with community-driven focus groups and market studies to help understand what the diverse population of Syracuse needed and how to share the City’s greatest asset, cultural diversity, with everyone.

The concept of a food hall is nothing new. But for Syracuse it is groundbreaking and will tap into what is happening across the country – creating a consumer experience while incorporating a number of urban design trends.

 

Creating the Experience

Urban designers are more focused on the consumer experience. It is not just about creating a place, building, park, shopping center, or apartments. It is about creating a consumer-centric experience that targets a diverse population while focusing on environmental stewardship.

This means buildings are not developed with cookie-cutter designs that focus on dollar value. Instead, developers are focused on authenticity and developing spaces that fit within the context of the wants and needs of the end consumer. This includes everything from creating open space for green areas to using the space between buildings for a more human-centric design, sometimes known as pocket parks.

Creating an experience for the consumer oftentimes takes into account the following urban design trends:

  • Flexible Spaces: There has been a lifestyle trend over the last few years where consumers look for flexibility. City dwellers are increasingly living like nomads, looking for small flats with optimized available space, adaptable design, and convertible ingenuity.
  • Healthy Spaces: The health trend is continuing. Consumers want spaces that make where they live, work, learn, and relax good for their overall well-being. This requires designers and architects to create innovative designs to promote health, satisfaction, attentiveness, and productivity. It is reflected in everything from indoor greenhouses to wellness centers in office complexes.
  • Urban Oasis: Green spaces are continuing to grow in popularity. Urban centers become an oasis in the middle of the hustle and bustle. Designers are creating areas where consumers can escape to nature. This includes rooftop gardens, relaxing central courtyards, and more.

image: VIP Structures / reddit

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Our company specializes in architecture, engineering, construction, and development disciplines to help organizations with building needs all across Upstate New York.

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