The Doug Allen Institute

More land will be developed in the next 100 years than in the previous 10,000 years. Our mission is to provide proven design principles for those new cities and neighborhoods.

Our Stance

For 10,000 years, we fine-tuned the craft of city-building, developing beautiful and inspiring places like Athens, Rome, Paris, and Washington DC.

And then we stopped.

Our cities are now choked by automobile traffic and air pollution. Our communities are increasingly disconnected both physically and economically. Our lives are separated and segregated by growing commutes. How did we get here?

These problems aren’t confined to large cities; they are found in every small town as well. Without innovative solutions and a deeper understanding of how cities evolve, the problems will only get worse. This is where we come in.

At the Doug Allen Institute, we are tackling the toughest, most pressing issues affecting the health and vitality of the built environment. Today, planning policy and design is driven almost exclusively by land-use and zoning. But this is a major problem because it does not produce an adaptable or walkable framework of streets and blocks. Planning by zoning ignores the lessons of history and ultimately excludes the most important thing that makes a city a city: the public realm.

The great cities and towns we know and love did not start with a zoning map. Great places start with great public frameworks: streets, lots, blocks, and parks. This results in a permanent foundation for growth and evolution—one based on principles of adaptability, walkability, sustainability, economy, and access.

We believe it is time to create exemplary cities again. Through directed research, improved planning policies, and evidence-based urban design, the Doug Allen Institute is changing the way we design our cities.

Our Goals

1. Provide students and professionals with educational and financial resources to study cities and their public framework.
2. Advocate for policy that strengthens the public framework.
3. Improve cities by conducting research and consulting on planning projects.
4. Establish a nimble, innovative organization that is financially sustainable.

Your Support

Doug Allen worked for over 30 years on his History of Urban Form course, crafting his presentation and material for maximum clarity and applicability. His work paid off. The course was rated the most popular elective by students on the entire Georgia Tech campus–not just in the School of Architecture.

It is our initial focus to ensure that this material continues to inspire, motivate, and inform students and professionals. We are working to repackage and release the History of Urban Form in various formats and platforms. We are producing videos, online lectures, infographics, short summaries, long-form essays, and transcriptions.

This is where we need your help. Please donate or support us today.