Award Winning Projects

When David Takesuye’s Award Winning Projects came out in November 2005, it arrived at a pivotal moment for urban planning and development discourse. Published by the Urban Land Institute, this compact 140-page volume didn’t try to be everything to everyone—instead, it focused sharply on what makes certain urban land use initiatives actually work. That specificity is what made it resonate with practitioners, planners, and anyone interested in how cities actually get built and rebuilt.

The book’s real strength lies in its pragmatic approach to examining projects that had earned recognition for good reason. Rather than getting lost in theory or abstract principles, Takesuye grounds the discussion in concrete examples. Urban Land Institute publications carry weight in development circles, and this one took that credibility seriously, using it to examine what separates award-winning work from the routine. The book asks questions that matter: What decisions led to these projects succeeding? What can other cities and developers learn from them?

What makes this work endure is its refusal to treat urban land use as separate from the human experience of living in cities. The projects examined here—whether adaptive reuse efforts, rehabilitation projects, or contemporary art center integrations—all grapple with the same fundamental challenge: how do you transform urban spaces in ways that actually serve the people who inhabit them? This isn’t dry zoning policy analysis. It’s about real buildings, real neighborhoods, and real decisions.

The book’s contribution was timing the conversation right—capturing a moment when adaptive reuse and sensitive restoration were becoming central to how American cities thought about renewal rather than replacement.

Several themes emerge as you move through the work:

• Adaptive reuse as a philosophy – Taking existing structures and reimagining them rather than demolishing and starting fresh
• Preservation that serves the present – Not treating old buildings as museums, but as living parts of contemporary cities
• Community-centered development – Projects that succeed because they respond to actual neighborhood needs
• Economic viability meets cultural value – Understanding that award-winning projects work both as cultural achievements and financial endeavors

Takesuye’s writing style is direct and accessible—he doesn’t burden readers with jargon or theoretical frameworks that obscure rather than illuminate. Each project discussion unfolds naturally, explaining the challenge, examining the solution, and considering the implications. In just 140 pages, he manages to provide substance without bloat. That’s harder than it sounds. Most urban planning books either go shallow for accessibility or deep into academic territory. This one threads that needle effectively.

The book’s publication by the Urban Land Institute meant it reached the right audience: developers, city planners, architects, and public officials who actually make decisions about urban transformation. But beyond that professional readership, it found an audience among people who simply care about cities and how they evolve. There’s something compelling about studying real projects that worked, understanding the reasoning behind successful decisions.

Looking back from 2026, what’s striking is how many of the projects Takesuye examined have continued to matter. The principles he identified—respecting existing urban fabric, finding economic models that sustain cultural value, engaging communities rather than imposing solutions—remain central to contemporary urban planning conversations. The book didn’t predict the future so much as identify enduring principles that would continue to guide good development work.

The 2005 timing also captures a particular moment in American urban renewal. This was when cities were actively moving away from “tear it down and build new” approaches toward more nuanced strategies. Takesuye’s work was part of that conversation, providing evidence that the new approach worked. Award-winning projects weren’t just aesthetically successful—they were economically viable and socially productive.

If you’re involved in urban planning or development, this book is practical research. If you’re interested in cities and how they change, it’s genuinely engaging. If you care about how to balance preservation with progress, growth with community character, it offers real examples rather than abstract arguments. That combination—accessible writing, substantive content, and examples you can actually learn from—is why this book has remained relevant for two decades. It does what good professional writing should do: it makes expertise accessible without dumbing it down.