Architect and Urban Planner Diego Velasco Discusses Design, Land Planning, and Density in San Diego’s Urban Core

The Finest City

In this episode of the Knowledge to Action series, host Jen Whitelaw welcomes Diego Velasco, Principal and Founder of Citythinkers, an integrated and multi-disciplinary planning, urban design, and research firm based in San Diego, California. Diego shares how he got into design and planning, and how his love and pride for San Diego translates into all the projects he takes on. Diego discusses the big issues in San Diego’s urban core, how our needs differ from the needs of other cities, and why we need to rethink how we design our streets to include more outdoor activities and dining.

Timestamps:

[2:06] Diego is trained as both an architect and urban planner and likes to keep his feet in both fields. He talks about loving the opportunity to redesign a large underutilized or auto-centric part of San Diego, such as the Sports Arena or Tijuana River Valley.

[5:00] What are the unique challenges and opportunities for San Diego’s urban core in creating livable cities?

[6:34] Homelessness is a huge issue that we need to continue to work on.

[8:08] What do we need to ensure that our cities are fit to live in?

[12:06] We come from a culture that embraces the outdoors, it is very much about our canyons and the open space in our beaches and our Bay.

[13:54] How does our story of revitalization of our urban core differ from other comparable cities?

[19:53] We can accomplish a lot if we make a concerted effort through policies, funding, and encouraging mixed-income projects.

[21:56] Diego often tells his students that they need to rethink the way they define streets or the way that they think of a street. The pandemic showed us the opportunity to take a lot of our restaurant seating outdoors, for example.

[25:38] How do we make sure that good design isn’t value engineered out?

About C-3

In its 60 years of existence, Citizens Coordinate for Century 3 (C-3) has brought together local thought leaders from planning, design, policy, academia, community development, and more to address our region’s distinctive and pressing land use challenges. In founding C-3 almost 60 years ago, architect Lloyd Ruocco’s vision was to bring together our region’s most creative minds from the arts, sciences, academia, and government to share ideas, learn new perspectives, and build fellowship around the idea of creating livable communities.

Opportunities for Advocacy and Engagement:

C3sandiego.org

City of San Diego

City Thinkers

Diego Velasco