Policies, governments, communities, and individual people play significant roles in shaping urban development. The 1989 RBA cycle considers their contributions to urban excellence.

The winners offers stories about places and policy, tales about government and communities.

 

Themes:

  • The critical shortcomings of traditional government
  • The power of decentralization
  • A new role for government
  • The unsung role and power of the invisible bureaucrats
  • The beauty of citizen participation and inclusion
  • Human empowerment is both a vehicle and a goal
  • Individual people with ideas and visions are indispensable—but not always enough
  • Design is not the only thing, but can be everything (or how, for lack of a screw the war was lost)