Spitzer Stars
Jonathan Barnett
Professor (1971-1998), Founding Director Graduate Program in Urban Design
Biography :
Jonathan Barnett, a pioneer of the modern practice of city design and a teacher, critic, and lecturer, has helped educate countless students in the United States and abroad on the theory and practice of urban planning. From 1967 to 1971, Barnett was director of urban design for New York City’s Department of City Planning. He then came to City College to be the first director of the Graduate Program in Urban Design, which he continued to lead until he became a professor emeritus in 1998.
In addition to teaching, he served as an advisor to the cities of Charleston, Cleveland, Kansas City, Miami, Nashville, Norfolk, Omaha, and Pittsburgh in the United States and Xiamen and Tianjin in China, and to several U.S. government agencies, including the National Park Service, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Capital Planning Commission.
“Anyone can make a design for a city, but effective urban design requires persuading the community, the government, and private investors to agree on what the city should be.”
Awards :
- Dale Prize for Excellence in Urban Design and Regional Planning
- Athena Medal from the Congress for the New Urbanism
- William H. Whyte Award from the Partners for Livable Communities
- Fellow, American Institute of Architects
- Fellow, American Institute of Certified Planners
Selected Publications :
- Urban Design as Public Policy: Practical Methods for Improving Cities
- The Fractured Metropolis: Improving the New City, Restoring the Old City, Reshaping the Region
- City Design: Modernist, Traditional, Green and Systems Perspectives
- Designing the Megaregion: Meeting Urban Challenges at a New Scale
- Implementing Urban Design: Green, Civic, and Community Strategies