R/UDAT Austin

The Urban Planning and Design Committee of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has been sending Regional/Urban Design Assistance Teams (R/UDAT) to various American cities since 1967. The Austin, Texas Team was the 112th such team to be invited into a specific area to deal with environmental and urban problems which range in scale from a region to a small town and in type from recreational areas to public policy issues.

The design teams respond to the problems described by the local AIA chapters and other sponsors from the community.

Each Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team is specially selected to include professionals experienced in the particular problems of the area under study. Members are not compensated for their service and agree not to accept commissions for work resulting from their recommendations.

The team acquaints itself with the community and its people, presents its analysis from a fresh perspective, offers its recommendations and may propose a new approach for planning or for action.

Objectives

The objectives of the R/UDAT program are:

• to improve physical design throughout the nation;
• to demonstrate the importance of urban and regional planning;
• to stimulate local public action;
• to give national support to local AIA chapters in their efforts;
• to improve their communities; and
• to become actively involved in urban design and planning issues.

While an assistance team cannot provide detailed analysis or plans nor final solutions to complex problems in a four day visit, it can objectively approach long-standing problems with:

• a new look by experienced outsiders;
• a new impetus and, perhaps, new directions for community action; and
• clear and comprehensive recommendations which are professionally responsible;
• politically and economically feasible; and
• publicly understandable.

The Austin R/UDAT

In May 1989, the Downtown Commission presented the R/UDAT concept to the City Council as the next step after the adoption of Austinplan, the City's draft comprehensive plan. Previously, the R/UDAT concept had been presented to the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce's Downtown Revitalization Steering Committee which endorsed it wholeheartedly.

With both the City Council's and the Chamber of Commerce's support, an ad hoc committee consisting of representatives of the Downtown Commission, staff of the City's Planning & Development Department and the Chamber of Commerce presented the proposal to the Austin Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The AIA's endorsement increased the potential for a successful R/UDAT application.

The ad hoc committee, including local AIA representatives, solicited the advice of Jim Christopher, FAIA, of the national AIA R/UDAT Task Group. Mr. Christopher agreed to visit Austin for a pre-R/UDAT publicity and support kick-off meeting.

That kick-off meeting held on November 6, 1989, was attended by almost 200 Austinites interested in Downtown Austin's future. On the agenda were Mayor Lee Cooke and then Mayor Pro-tempore Sally Shipman, as well as Pike Powers, then Chairman of the Board of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce.

Almost 100 attendees signed up as official supporters of the proposed R/UDAT process and indicated the type of assistance they could lend. From those attendees, the R/UDAT Local Steering Committee was created with John Nyfeler, AIA, and Nan McRaven of Motorola serving as Co-Chairs.

At their first meeting in December 1989, the Local Steering Committee was presented with a draft of the application prepared by the staff of the City's Department of Planning & Development. At their second meeting in January 1990, the application was approved for submittal to the AIA.

The AIA sent Ron Straka, FAIA, to Austin in May of 1990 as evaluator of the Austin R/UDAT application. In a three-day intensive review with over 150 Austin citizens, Mr. Straka completed the AIA evaluation. In June of 1990, based on the recommendations of Ron Straka and with the concurrence of the R/UDAT Task Group, the American Institute of Architects committed to an Austin R/UDAT.

The reconnaissance visit by Mr. Straka and Charles M. Davis, FAIA, Chairman of the Austin R/UDAT Team occurred in late December 1990. By this time, the R/UDAT Local Steering Committee had grown to 900 interested citizens and volunteers.

The full team conducted the R/UDAT charrette between January 17 and 21,1991. Approximately 800 Austinites from all segments of the public and private communities participated in the three-day planning session that assessed conditions and community interest in Downtown Austin and provided a framework for implementing actions to revitalize Austin's vital central core. The results of this community-wide collaboration effort are contained in their report RUDAT * Austin.

R/UDAT Austin: A Call to Action

Immediately following the R/UDAT charrette and release of R/UDAT Austin the R/UDAT Austin Implementation Committee began its work. Chaired by Lewis Wright of the University of Texas, the committee's task was to expand the recommendations of R/UDAT Austin into a set of implementation actions.

Nearly two hundred Austinites worked for over one year to develop a document describing the current state of downtown Austin, and developing detailed recommendations to carry downtown into the 21st century. In May, 1992 that document, R/UDAT Austin Implementation: A Call to Action, was released.

On August 20, 1992 the Austin City Council passed a resolution, stating that A Call to Action should be considered as a "guide for implementing downtown Austin revitalization". It further resolved that

"in their deliberations concerning proposed projects and planning initiatives, ordinances and other matters affecting downtown Austin, the City Council and City Departments, boards, and commissions shall consider the consistency of such projects and initiatives, ordinances and other relevant matters with "A Call to Action" and the vision of downtown Austin contained therein."

R/UDAT Reviews

Following up on the earlier R/UDAT reports, members of the original team have revisited Austin twice, to check on the progress we have made, meet again with community members, and to make further recommendations. Their recommendations are contained in:

• 1997's R/UDAT Revisited

• 2000's R/UDAT Review 2000