Urban Design Guidelines Update

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What are the Urban Design Guidelines (UDGs)?

Used by the Design Commission to review projects, the Urban Design Guidelines are a series of design principles for buildings, streetscape, and public open space, for the purpose of cultivating design excellence in both private and public development. They were created to guide developments so that they exemplify our communal ideals and contribute to the betterment of the public realm throughout the city. The Urban Design Guidelines are distinct from the building, and land development codes, in that they are voluntary. Currently, only projects that opt into the Downtown Density Bonus Program are required to substantially comply with the guidelines.

Why do we have them / Why are they important?

The Urban Design Guidelines are important because they are a tool to direct private development so that in exchange for increased land entitlements, applicants create projects that better reflect the city’s shared values and collective identity, thereby creating a benefit to the community. This is significant because community ideals are not addressed in codes. The Guidelines incentivize high quality design and betterments to the public realm. In this way, they serve as a valuable resource for design teams to improve their projects.

What are we trying to achieve?

The proposed update to the Guidelines includes four main priorities. The first will focus on having broader applicability throughout Austin’s urban core, and therefore, the ability to serve a wider range of users and project types.

Secondly, the update will better align the Guidelines with current community goals; including, but not limited to, adopted city policies related to affordability, connectivity, equity, environment, access to open space, mobility, sustainability, and resilience.

This update will also seek to bring more clarity to the guidelines by creating a more inviting and user-friendly document that all Austinites can seek insight from, while resulting in a more predictable review process. In order to effectively reach a broader audience and have more clarity, the guidelines must evolve to become a predictable resource for everyone. In order to achieve this, an easy-to-use document is needed with a simple graphic format (including illustrations and photos) to visually communicate the desired (and undesired) outcomes. Having Guidelines that are accessible to all users includes presenting them in a web-based format.

Lastly, this update will address the differences between public and private development by including specific design guidelines for city projects, including infrastructure projects.


Get involved

This call is for community members to participate in the Urban Design Guidelines Revision process by signing up to be an Advisory Group Member and/or a Community Ambassador.

Candidates will be chosen based on several criteria including: professional expertise, lived experience, and diversity (gender, ethnicity, age, council district). Meetings will be in-person. The Design Commission Working Group commits to ensuring that technology access is not a barrier to participation. 


To apply to serve as an Advisory Group Member and/or a Community Ambassador please use the online forms below. Call (512) 974-3146 to request a paper application. You can sign up to be both an Advisory Group Member and a Community Ambassador.

What are the Urban Design Guidelines (UDGs)?

Used by the Design Commission to review projects, the Urban Design Guidelines are a series of design principles for buildings, streetscape, and public open space, for the purpose of cultivating design excellence in both private and public development. They were created to guide developments so that they exemplify our communal ideals and contribute to the betterment of the public realm throughout the city. The Urban Design Guidelines are distinct from the building, and land development codes, in that they are voluntary. Currently, only projects that opt into the Downtown Density Bonus Program are required to substantially comply with the guidelines.

Why do we have them / Why are they important?

The Urban Design Guidelines are important because they are a tool to direct private development so that in exchange for increased land entitlements, applicants create projects that better reflect the city’s shared values and collective identity, thereby creating a benefit to the community. This is significant because community ideals are not addressed in codes. The Guidelines incentivize high quality design and betterments to the public realm. In this way, they serve as a valuable resource for design teams to improve their projects.

What are we trying to achieve?

The proposed update to the Guidelines includes four main priorities. The first will focus on having broader applicability throughout Austin’s urban core, and therefore, the ability to serve a wider range of users and project types.

Secondly, the update will better align the Guidelines with current community goals; including, but not limited to, adopted city policies related to affordability, connectivity, equity, environment, access to open space, mobility, sustainability, and resilience.

This update will also seek to bring more clarity to the guidelines by creating a more inviting and user-friendly document that all Austinites can seek insight from, while resulting in a more predictable review process. In order to effectively reach a broader audience and have more clarity, the guidelines must evolve to become a predictable resource for everyone. In order to achieve this, an easy-to-use document is needed with a simple graphic format (including illustrations and photos) to visually communicate the desired (and undesired) outcomes. Having Guidelines that are accessible to all users includes presenting them in a web-based format.

Lastly, this update will address the differences between public and private development by including specific design guidelines for city projects, including infrastructure projects.


Get involved

This call is for community members to participate in the Urban Design Guidelines Revision process by signing up to be an Advisory Group Member and/or a Community Ambassador.

Candidates will be chosen based on several criteria including: professional expertise, lived experience, and diversity (gender, ethnicity, age, council district). Meetings will be in-person. The Design Commission Working Group commits to ensuring that technology access is not a barrier to participation. 


To apply to serve as an Advisory Group Member and/or a Community Ambassador please use the online forms below. Call (512) 974-3146 to request a paper application. You can sign up to be both an Advisory Group Member and a Community Ambassador.

  • CLOSED: This survey has concluded.

    Call for Advisory Group Members

    This call is for community members to participate in the Urban Design Guidelines Revision process by signing up to be an Advisory Group Member. 

    Advisory Groups will be made up of Design Commissioners, city staff, community members, and urban design professionals. The members’ primary role will be to discuss issues related to their topic and to draft the design guidelines for it. Each Advisory Group will be led by 1 staff person and 1 Design Commissioner. The time commitment for Advisory Group Members will be to meet for 2 hours every 2 weeks throughout the duration of the process, which is estimated to be around 10 months. There will be five Advisory Groups, each with a different focus related to Urban Design. Each group will be tasked with creating guidelines in their subject matter that address Climate & Environment, Mobility & Connectivity, Equity & Affordability, Adaptability & Resilience, Preservation of Austin Culture, Project Types, Adopted Plans & Policies, and Design Excellence.  

    The five Advisory Groups are:  

    1. Buildings: Focus is on all occupiable structures, both public and private.  
    2. Public Spaces: Focus is on public gathering spaces, including plazas, open spaces, parks, trails, etc. 
    3. Streetscape: Focus is on design elements in the public realm, including furniture, trees, art, lighting, signage, barriers, fencing, etc. 
    4. Urban Structure: Focus is on site design that weaves new development into the existing context to reinforce the surrounding urban fabric, including protecting views, respecting surrounding neighborhoods, connecting pathways, etc. 
    5. Infrastructure: Focus is on non-occupiable structures that are experienced by the public, including bridges, water towers, substations, public transportation stations, etc.


    Note: There is a limited number of positions available, so not everyone will be selected to participate. You can sign up to be both an Advisory Group Member and a Community Ambassador. The survey will close on September 13. 

    Data Disclosure: I understand that any information I provide to the City of Austin is subject to release pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act unless otherwise excepted for disclosure and the information will be retained as required by record retention requirements. 

    Consultation has concluded
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  • CLOSED: This survey has concluded.

    Call for Community Ambassadors

    This call is for community members to participate in the Urban Design Guidelines Revision process by signing up to be a Community Ambassador.  

    This group will be made up of diverse individuals whose primary role will be to engage their community in conversations about urban design issues and share their findings with us. This will help identify issues and priorities from community members that should be addressed in the update and create an opportunity for continued dialogue. Ambassadors will be asked to go out into your community and have conversations with neighbors about urban design, find out what people care about, what they like and don’t like. Ambassadors will receive training before starting and will be provided a survey with questions, talking points, prompts, and goals. The time commitment for Ambassadors will be to attend one 90-minute training session, attend a 2-hour Steering Committee once a month for 5 months, and to spend a few hours each month engaging with their community. 


    Note: There are limited number of positions available, so not everyone will be selected to participate. You can sign up to be both an Advisory Group Member and a Community Ambassador. The survey will close on September 13.  

    Data Disclosure: I understand that any information I provide to the City of Austin is subject to release pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act unless otherwise excepted for disclosure and the information will be retained as required by record retention requirements. 

    Consultation has concluded
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