I am honored and excited to serve as your 2026 Chair of the AIA Regional & Urban Design Committee (RUDC). Our knowledge community represents a dynamic national network of architects, urban designers, planners, and allied professionals committed to advancing the dialogue around cities, regions, and the future of urban life.
First, I want to thank Scott Archer for his leadership in 2025 and acknowledge the many past leaders who have shaped RUDC within AIA over the years. RUDC has established a strong platform for collaboration, education, and advocacy around urban design—one we will continue to build upon in 2026, with the help of the current RUDC leadership represented across the country.
RUDC exists to support architects and urbanists through education, networking, and shared exploration of the forces shaping cities today. Through the AIA Community Hub, our national programming at AIA26, our annual RUDC Symposium, AIAU, and our RUDC Network Collaboration, we connect practitioners across regions who believe that urban design is essential to the future of architecture and our cities.
A Personal Reflection
My journey into urbanism began long before my professional career. Growing up in Chicago sparked a fascination with architecture, urban design, transportation, infrastructure, and civic life that eventually shaped my professional career across Washington, DC, New York, Boston, and now in Dallas. You can learn more about me through the AIA Dallas Columns and the Greater Dallas Planning Council Spotlight, where I serve in various leadership roles for both organizations. Experiences in aviation, transit, and urban master planning reinforced a simple truth: cities evolve through dialogue, design, collaboration, and leadership. Urban design is not a separate discipline—it is a core expression of architecture’s responsibility to cities and the public realm.
The 2026 Theme
This year, I have framed the dialogue of the role of Architecture and Urban Design around a central set of questions:
What can the future of our cities and regions learn from our past—and how do we apply that knowledge with future-minded creative urban thinking to today’s challenges, focused on the future of cities and the evolving and important role of urban design.
Cities have evolved over thousands of years, from historic settlements to contemporary global centers. Understanding the successful outcomes (and mistakes) from that continuum allows us to approach present issues—mobility, housing, resilience, and civic identity—with greater clarity. As we mark 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, it is an appropriate moment to reflect on the role urban design has played in shaping our nation—and to ask where we want to be when America reaches its 500th year, in 2276.
As cities across the U.S. confront rapid change, many challenges arise, including changing downtowns, social dynamics, housing pressures, climate adaptation, shifts in mobility, and questions of equity and identity. Urban design is uniquely suited to address these challenges as it sits at the intersection of architecture, landscape, planning, and public policy. The RUDC Community creates space for shared learning, connection, and dialogue, reinforcing why architects must remain active leaders in shaping the public realm and the broader urban environment.
2026 Focus Areas
- Downtown Reinvention and Adaptive Reuse
Across the country, cities are ever-changing and redefining the success (or failure) of downtown districts. We will highlight lessons learned and design strategies that support evolving economies and new patterns of urban life.
- The Mobility and Transportation Framework
How do cities and regions prepare for the growing and shifting population across the country and support a strong network of mobility options to prepare for the next generation of transportation, including high-speed rail and V/STOL, and its impact on cities?
- Resilience and Climate Adaptation
We will explore how urban design responds to heat, stormwater, infrastructure stress, and long-term environmental change—treating resilience as a core design responsibility aligned with AIA’s national priorities for Climate Action and Regenerative Design and Resiliency.
- Housing and Livability
Housing is one of the defining urban questions of our time, particularly in urban centers and in polycentric regions, and how urban form, mobility, and policy intersect to support quality, attainable, complete communities.
- Healthy Public Realms
Great cities succeed in everyday moments. Buildings, infrastructure, parks, and civic spaces must promote health, safety, and well-being through thoughtful design that addresses spatial inequities and ensures accessibility in the public realm.
RUDC Network Collaboration Across AIA
RUDC currently connects more than twenty state and local components across AIA. In 2026, we will expand our conversations with them through virtual roundtables, leadership exchanges, and cross-knowledge-community dialogue to strengthen collaboration nationwide.
We will also gather at the AIA Leadership Summit, AIA26 in San Diego, and our annual RUDC symposium to continue advancing thoughtful conversations about cities and regions. More to come on all of these events and programs coming soon!
Our RUDC leaders are also showcasing topics they consider important to the urban design community, and we plan to share featured articles in upcoming monthly RUDC Newsletters, which will include links to other articles we find relevant to the conversation. So join the conversation and stay tuned!
Looking Forward to the Future; Rome wasn't built in a day.
As the saying goes, and paraphrasing, cities were never built in a day. And change for a better future takes time. But through collaboration, education, and advocacy, we can influence the decisions that shape the next 250 years. We want to hear from you! Join the RUDC community and leadership, and be part of the dialogue shaping the future of cities through the AIA Community Hub. Also, find us on social media, connect with one of our leaders, or email me directly at peterdarbyaia@outlook.com.
Welcome to RUDC 2026!
Warm regards,
Peter Darby, AIA
Chair, AIA Regional & Urban Design Committee