Don Carter, FAICP
James Sasser: First of all, can you tell us a little about your professional background and what drew you to the multi-disciplinary fields of planning, design, and preservation?
Don Carter: I have a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, and did post-graduate studies in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. My first professional position was as a Senior Planner for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Planning Commission. Subsequently I joined Urban Design Associates (UDA) in Pittsburgh as an intern architect and urban designer, rising eventually to associate, partner, and president in the course of thirty-six years. Our practice is international and includes small scale and large scale urban design projects. I retired from UDA in 2009 to teach urban design at CMU where I am also the Director of the Remaking Cities Institute. I grew up in the City of Pittsburgh and saw the harm that Urban Renewal did to my neighborhood and to two other neighborhoods in Pittsburgh when I was in college. That is what motivated me to study and practice urban design.
J.S.: I’m sure a lot of our student members would like to know what you enjoy most about your day-to-day work, and in so, do you have any advice for future planners and designers?
D.C.: In private practice I enjoyed working in multi-disciplinary teams, engaging in authentic citizen participation, working in cities all over the world, and mentoring young professionals. At CMU I enjoy teaching a graduate course I call “The Practice of Urban Design,” being on design juries, and experiencing daily the energy of students and faculty. I also enjoy the research projects of the Remaking Cities Institute. My proudest achievement at CMU was co-organizing the International Remaking Cities Congress in 2013 in Pittsburgh that included 300 delegates from North America and Europe. Prince Charles was the Honorary Chair and Keynote Speaker. The purpose of the Congress was to examine the transformation of post-industrial cities after the precipitous collapse of big industry in the 1980s on both sides of the Atlantic. Subsequently I published a book, Remaking Post-Industrial Cities: Lessons from North America and Europe with in-depth case studies of five cities in North America (Buffalo, Detroit, Milwaukee, New Orleans, and Pittsburgh) and five cities in Europe (Bilbao, Liverpool, Rotterdam, Ruhr Region, and Turin). The book documents their recovery in the thirty-year period from 1985 to 2015. I have been giving lectures on the book in the US and Europe the past two years. My advice to future (and current) planners is to never stop learning. Challenge yourself. Take risks. Enjoy what you do.
J.S.: The FAICP designation is a huge deal in the field of planning (congratulations!), is FAICP something you have strived for, or is it something that happened unexpectedly?
D.C.: Before AICP was a designation I was a member of American Institute of Planners (AIP), having taken a test and been interviewed by senior colleagues in the profession. Those of us who had AIP standing were grandfathered into the AICP. Some years later it was suggested that I be nominated for Fellowship. It was a great honor to be inducted into the Fellowship in San Antonio in 2006 along with my friend and colleague Paul Farmer.
J.S.: Has becoming a fellow changed your perspective on the field of planning and design?
D.C.: Yes for sure. I am pleased to see so many professionals with AICP next to their names, both in private and public practice. That was not the case even twenty years ago when there were far fewer planners and urban designers with the requisite training and experience. The AICP and FAICP designations are proof and assurance to the development community (private and public), and to citizens, that planning is a respected and credentialed profession with standards and ethics.
J.S.: How do you see the future of the built environment? Are there any trends or practices that you strongly believe in?
D.C.: I am encouraged by the emphasis on sustainability, walkability, public transit, density, mixed income, mixed use, sensitive urban revitalization, and, most important, the engagement of citizens in shaping their physical environment. I am concerned about what Alan Mallach calls "The Divided City" in his book of the same name published in June 2018. The book blurb says it all, "Even as cities revive, they are becoming more unequal and more segregated. What does this mean for these cities—and the people who live in them?"
J.S.: Lastly, what is something that most people don’t know about you?
I love music of all kinds, but I play an Autoharp and sing for my own pleasure (and sometimes at jams at folk festivals and local bars), including Appalachian Old-Time music, and songs by the Carter Family (no relation), Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Merle Haggard, Bob Dylan, and others.