The mission of CityDesign is to support urban design excellence throughout Seattle. In its role as a creative catalyst, CityDesign promotes coordination and collaboration among city departments, developers, property owners, educational institutions and the community. Working closely with the Seattle Design and Planning Commissions, the Design Review Program and the Green Building Team, CityDesign provides urban design leadership, project review, public outreach, development facilitation and education to an ever transforming and evolving city. more

Established in 1999 CityDesign was created to ensure the highest standard of public realm design. In 2004 CityDesign became part of the Planning Division at the Department of Planning and Development, combining its work with the long term planning and land use policy teams. This transformation strengthened and consolidated its role as Seattle’s urban design office.