New Report Released: Community Visioning & Landscape Conservation Planning

Dover, Kohl & Partners is proud to share news about our recent partnership with 1000 Friends of Florida and The University of Florida’s Center for Landscape Conservation Planning to create the new report Community Visioning & Landscape Conservation Planning, a resource for planning smarter growth and protecting Florida’s natural landscapes. The report emphasizes the crucial role Florida’s communities play in shaping their future by aligning statewide data with public engagement. As Florida faces mounting population pressures, the guide offers a roadmap for how communities can better understand statewide landscape priorities, proactively plan for conservation lands, and support informed local policymaking. Written for a broad audience, the report is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in growing responsibly while safeguarding the state’s most vital ecological resources.

From datasets and conservation-based tools to real-world examples, the report is filled with strategies that help communities respond to the challenges of rapid growth and disappearing natural lands. It features initiatives both large and small, with detailed case studies including Lake Wales Envisioned, the Nassau County Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Master Plan, the North Okaloosa County Planning Study, and the Wimauma Community Plan and Downtown Revitalization Action Plan. Each demonstrates how a community-led vision, backed by robust public engagement and science-based planning, can support and encourage meaningful policy change and environmental protection.

Highlights of the report include:

• The importance of science-based planning in identifying priority conservation areas

• Tools and resources like the Florida Ecological Greenways Network (FEGN) and Critical Lands and Waters Identification Project (CLIP)

• Strategies for inclusive and effective community engagement

• Guidance on how to integrate vision plans into local comprehensive planning efforts

• A summary of leading nonprofit and advocacy groups supporting conservation throughout Florida

This report and the upcoming webinar hosted by 1000 Friends of Florida on September 11th are part of a broader effort to elevate the role of community engagement and long-term planning in protecting Florida’s open lands, natural habitats, and community character. Whether you're a planner, elected official, advocate, or engaged citizen, this is a resource you won’t want to miss.

 Upcoming Webinar: September 11, 2025 | 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET

Join members from 1000 Friends of Florida, the University of Florida’s Center for Landscape Conservation Planning, Dover, Kohl & Partners, Nassau County, and Perez Planning + Design for a special webinar introducing the report and discussing its findings, tools, cases, and ways local governments and advocates can put it to use.

The CNU Art Room Resumes at CNU 33 in Providence

Founded by Dover, Kohl & Partners principal and Director of Design James Dougherty in 2012, the CNU Art Room is a special tradition at Congress for the New Urbanism gatherings. This year in Providence, Rhode Island, the tradition continues! Interested in designing? sketching? composing illustrations? In the Art Room, we host hands-on, close-up workshops featuring leading practitioners of the New Urbanism. All skill levels are welcome; no previous experience in drawing or illustration is required. This year, we are focusing on town planning skills at a wide range of scales, in addition to sketching & illustration techniques. Scroll down for the schedule.

Ashleigh Walton of UDA leads a session in last year’s CNU Art Room

This year’s edition of the Art Room will be extra special because it coincides with the launch of The Art of the New Urbanism, Vol. 1, 1980-2010, a new book published by Wiley, showcasing the work of over 100 artists and designers. All royalties from the book go to the Congress for the New Urbanism, a nonprofit organization.

“A lovely, inspirational book.”

Beth Dunlop, former Miami Herald architecture critic

“New Urbanists have long understood the power of art – it’s their secret weapon.” Emily Talen, University of Chicago

“There is finally a compilation of the full range of visualization approaches at a level of excellence that can only be described as art.” Nathan Norris, Principal, CityBuilding Partnership

“This book is a treasure trove!” Ellen Dunham-Jones, author of Retrofitting Suburbia

“This beautiful book is a testament to the remarkable progress of New Urbanism as a critical reform movement.” Michael Mehaffey, Executive Director, Lennard Institute/IMCL

“Bottom line: The lessons in this book will make you a better designer, planner, and place maker.” Mitchell Silver, former president of the American Planning Association

“This will make anyone who has an interest in the built environment say 'wow, wow, wow'." Rob Steuteville, Director of Publications, CNU.

CNU ART ROOM SCHEDULE

The Biltmore Ballroom at the Graduate Hilton Providence

THURSDAY June 12, 2025:

 10:15am-11:30am

1. Observing and Analyzing the City: Plein Air Techniques

 Hand drawing is a powerful tool to assist seeing and understanding the built environment. Grab your sketch pad, brushes, digital tablets and other graphic tools of choice as we learn techniques for observational sketching and painting in the field. This session will focus on urban structure, architectural elements, streetscapes and individual buildings. Leading practitioners will provide helpful tips and demonstrations of techniques.

1:15pm-2:15pm

2. Physical Design at the Scale of the Region

For New Urbanists, physical design is a critical component of the regional planning process (not just written policy). In this interactive hands-on session, learn techniques for utilizing drawing and cartography to analyze and organize the physical world at the scale of the region.

2:30pm-3:45pm

3. Neighborhood Design 

The New Urbanism is all about crafting great neighborhoods for people.  In this exciting session you’ll get to take a site, roll up your sleeves, grab drawing supplies and then learn step-by-step how to design your first neighborhood. 

4:00pm-5:00pm

4. Block Design

Blocks are fundamental to neighborhood design, and their details matter. In this session we will use sketching to analyze key block types and their elements, from simple to complex. Our discussion will include opportunities and principles for the design of mid-block urbanism.

5:15pm-6:00pm

The Art of New Urbanism Book Launch / Signing / Reception

Hear how and why the book was created, and meet many of the artists!

FRIDAY June 13, 2025:

9:00am-10:00am

5.  Classic American Urban Building Design

Have you wondered how in historic American cities, building after building was designed to such a consistently high degree of excellence and harmony – from the large urban forms, down to the small details? Building facades with highly individual personalities sit side-by-side and cooperate visually to create wonderfully harmonious urban spaces. Would you like to know how to employ these design techniques today? Together, let’s examine great architectural examples from Providence. Prepare to roll up your sleeves!

10:15am-11:45am

6. Urban Design Illustration: Principles and Workflows 

The New Urbanism has dramatically transformed the way illustrations are used to advance the dialogue of community planning and place making. In this session, learn key principles and workflows to produce compelling urban design illustrations from some of the movement’s leading practitioners.

Painting by perennial Art Room contributor Arti Harchekar

Clematis Street Wins Urban Guild Award for Design Excellence

On Friday, November 8th, the Dover, Kohl & Partners design for Clematis Street in downtown West Palm Beach was recognized by the Urban Guild with its Award for Design Excellence. Clematis Street was reimagined in collaboration with The City of West Palm Beach, the administrations of Mayors Muoio and James, landscape architects and engineers from Kimley-Horn, and the Downtown Development Authority.

Victor Dover and Andrew Georgiadis to give talks in Cortona, Italy

DK&P founding principal Victor Dover behind the handlebars

DK&P leaders Victor Dover and Andrew Georgiadis will give presentations at the upcoming 61st International Making Cities Livable conference in historic Cortona, Italy, October 31st and November 1st. Victor will speak about “New Understandings about Street Design” and preview the forthcoming Second Edition of Street Design: The Secret to Great Cities and Towns. Andrew will talk about “Agrihoods and Agroforestry” and “Hilltowns of the Americas.”

Andrew Georgiadis

IMCL is a unique peer-to-peer international conference of built environment researchers, professionals, municipal leaders, NGO heads, and other thought leaders, founded in 1985. Speakers at IMCL’s most recent conference, in April 2024, included over 50 city leaders from the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.

The theme of the Cortona conference is “The Ecology of Place: Learning from Nature, Culture, and History" and has been organized by Michael Mehaffy.

I'On recognized with ASLA Landmark Award

The village of I’On, in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, was the product of a collaboration between Dover, Kohl & Partners, DPZ, our clients from the Graham family, and Seamon Whiteside Associates. Seamon Whiteside learned this year that I’On had been selected for the American Society of Landscape Architects’ prestigious Landmark Award, “in recognition of lasting achievement and significant contribution to the public realm.”

Victor Dover said, “As both civil engineers and landscape architects, Seamon Whiteside contributed to the successful design at I’On in some very memorable ways. At one point in the design charrette, it came to light that the engineers needed to even out the water levels between two lakes a few hundred feet apart in the heart of the neighborhood. The conventional engineering solution would be to place an underground pipe or culvert between the two. I suggested sheepishly, How about a canal, with houses facing it? I fully expected such a grandiose idea to get shot down, but that’s not what happened. The engineers readily embraced the concept and began working out affordable ways to construct it. The client said, Why not have two canals? And that’s exactly what got built, artfully. Now the canal houses are among the most valuable addresses in the neighborhood, and the canal trails are the most beloved places for neighborhood walks.”

One of the canal walks at I’On. Learn more about I’On and canal streets in the Second Edition of Street Design: The Secret to Great Cities and Towns (Wiley, February 2025)

Smart City: Dover among international sustainability awardees

September 23, 2024 — Victor Dover, president of Dover, Kohl & Partners Town Planning, was recognized for innovation in sustainable, “smart” urban planning by Smart Cities Americas, organizers of the recurring Smart City Expo events. He was among an international group of six awardees who received “Who’s Who in Sustainability” plaques in a ceremony at Miami-Dade College in downtown Miami. In addition to the in-person audience, the fifth annual event was streamed to more than 7000 registrants from 89 countries worldwide.

In his address to the Smart City Expo attendees, Dover spoke about the importance of human factors and making places that reach people emotionally, amid all the enthusiasm for technology in forward-thinking cities. He showed examples of integrating timeless, low-tech design traditions with street redesigns, advising the group that “We don’t to invent some magical technological wonder to achieve smart cities. We already know how to do it. That’s because we have a superpower. That superpower is the power of precedent. Humans have thousands of years of combined experience with making streets, for instance. It’s our inheritance. Streets are sometimes said to be the most lasting of human institutions, slowest to change, so many of the results of thousands of years of experimentation and refinement are still with us. That’s our textbook.”

Dover said, “Electrification, autonomous animation, car-sharing apps, and more gadgets will all be great, but they will not save us from the fundamental problems, that cars take too much space—whether we are driving them or parking them—and in America, we rely on driving alone too much.” He previewed images from the revised, expanded edition of Street Design: The Secret to Great Cities and Towns, due out in February, and now available for pre-order. (The pre-sale discount code ARC20 is valid for 20% off the list price.)

In their recap of the day, Smart City Expo organizers added: “The discussions throughout the day emphasized the shifting meaning of a “smart city.” Dr. Bruno Lanvin from the Smart City Observatory in Lausanne highlighted the importance of flexibility in defining success. “There’s more than one way to be smart,” he said. “The most successful cities integrate technology without making it too visible. It’s about using tech to solve real problems, not just showcasing it.” Lanvin also emphasized that human-centricity is key: “Our future is largely tied to cities, and the smartest cities will be those that focus on attracting and retaining talent while being inclusive and sustainable.”

Awardees with Smart City Expo organizer Bernardo Schenkman

In addition to Victor Dover, the international group of awardees included:

• Dr. Patricia McCarney, president and CEO of the World Council on City Data, for her work on sustainable smart standards (Toronto)

• Dr. Jonathan Reichental, CEO of Human Future, for his outstanding performance in sustainable smart education (Silicon Valley)

• Mashcal, the organization that provides logistical and project management services to all local authorities in Israel, for their work as a sustainable smart hub (Tel Aviv)

• Dr. Bruno Lanvin, president of the Smart City Observatory, for his development of the sustainable Smart City Index (Lausanne)

• Dr. Thomas Spiegelhalter – architect, engineer, urban planner, and Florida International University professor – for his research into sustainable smart environments (Miami, Berlin)

 #SCEM24

APA Award for Lake Wales Envisioned

We are excited to announce that the American Planning Association Florida Chapter has recognized our project, Lake Wales Envisioned, with the 2024 Award of Excellence! From the press release: “The APA Florida Project Awards program provides the chapter the opportunity to recognize outstanding planning projects throughout the state at its annual Florida Planning Conference. The program provides APA Florida members with the chance to see and learn about development, conservation, government, or environmental projects, where exceptional planning has had a positive impact on the outcome.” The award was presented at a special ceremony during this month’s conference, along with the video above.

The critical mission for Lake Wales Envisioned was to bring people together as a community to protect and shape the future of their remarkable, historic place. Read more here.

Thank you to the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA Florida) for honoring us with this award and to all who took part in this colossal undertaking, including our colleagues at Kittelson Associates, Exum Associates, Inspire Placemaking, the City of Lake Wales, and our many sponsors and partners.

Congratulations to our Director of Design, James Dougherty!

Congratulations to our Director of Design, James Dougherty! He has been honored by the American Society of Architectural Illustrators (ASAI) with a prestigious “Rendering Award of Excellence” in their 38th Annual International Architecture in Perspective Competition!

His award-winning rendering depicts new pedestrian-friendly neighborhood infill development, which would be made possible by the reconfiguration of Interstate 81 in Syracuse, New York as envisioned by the DK&P team.

View fullsize

This year’s ASAI conference and exhibition will be held in Texas on October 31st–November 1st. Additionally, an online Architecture in Perspective 38 exhibition will open on October 31st.