Grounded Urbanism: How Contemporary Masterplans Rebuild Cities From the Inside Out

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Urban design is beginning to operate from two directions at once. Rather than relying solely on distant, top-down visions shaped by a grand map, contemporary masterplans are increasingly approached from the perspective of the conditions already on the ground. Inherited landscapes and cultural memory are being used by designers as catalysts for ecological repair and renewed public life, all while accounting for existing social rhythms. This grounded urbanism is evident across recent A+Awards-winning projects, which prioritize restoration alongside redevelopment and centre the everyday user within the larger urban framework.

Across these winning masterplans, the new direction, “grounded urbanism”, is evident. By strengthening what already exists, as opposed to approaching design as tabula rasa, the following firms are repairing damaged land and anchoring districts with vestiges of the past, while building networks that support everyday life. Their work shows that resilience and continuity will shape the urban future and that people and place must remain on equal ground.

1. Reworking the Landscape

Bedford Heritage Park by Lemay, Bedford, Canada

Popular Choice Winner, Sustainable Landscape/Planning Project, 13th Architizer A+Awards

Lemay approached this large-scale project from a place of restoration. The site was once an active limestone quarry that, for over 70 years, supported construction and agriculture. Its hard labor is now met with a chance to heal alongside the people who relied on it. Lemay read the land carefully and shaped man-made hills, play areas, hiking trails, and gathering spaces from what remained. The project rebuilds the social fabric and shows how grounded urbanism can renew urban space from the inside out.

2. Restoring Local Identity

Regional Urban Renewal of Chengdu Pengzhou Longxing Temple Area by Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, Chengdu, China

Popular Choice Winner, Mixed Use (L>25,000 sq ft), 13th Architizer A+Awards

Regional Urban Renewal of Chengdu Pengzhou Longxing Temple Area by Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, Chengdu, China | Popular Choice Winner, Commercial, 13th Annual A+Awards

The Beijing Institute of Architectural Design approached this renewal by giving a neglected district the public life it lacked while keeping the area’s identity intact. They set the Longxing Temple as the center point and arranged new cultural and commercial spaces around it. The museum, forecourt, reused factory green space, water features, and roof forms all follow the logic of the place. They did not overwrite the district. They strengthened what was already there and improved how people live with it every day.

3. Stitching a City Back Together

King’s Cross Masterplan by Allies and Morrison, London, United Kingdom

Jury Winner, Urban & Masterplan, 13th Architizer A+Awards

Allies and Morrison saw that King’s Cross was cut off from the rest of London and treated that as the central problem to solve. Instead of imposing a new geometry, they worked with the site’s existing conditions and stitched the area back into the city with new streets and careful reuse of historic structures. Their long-term grounded urbanism approach set a standard for accessibility and environmental goals, including a wider push toward net-zero carbon by 2035. King’s Cross became a place that works because it feels found and grounded, not forced.

4. Strengthening a Living Community

Kampung Mrican Phase 1 by SHAU & Instansi Direktorat, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Popular Choice Winner, Urban & Masterplan, 13th Annual A+Awards

Kampung Mrican Phase 1 by SHAU & Instansi Direktorat PKP, Yogyakarta, Indonesia | Popular Choice Winner, Landscape & Planning, 13th Annual A+ Awards

SHAU’s outside-in approach to this project was largely due to the fact that Kampung Mrican (Mrican Village) services two large universities in its neighborhood. This warranted that they did what they called “acupunctural” design to preserve the original fabric and identity of the area, much like the Pengzhou Temple Area project. SHAU, however, took it a step further by actually involving the kampung residents in the planning process. The residents assisted with site selection and interface with their neighbors, helping the team shape walkways, play areas, flood-control points, and urban farming upgrades in ways that supported daily life without disrupting the existing community rhythm.

5. Blending Daily Life with Nature

Masterplan Begbroke Innovation District by OKRA, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

Popular Choice Winner, Unbuilt Masterplan, 13th Annual A+Awards

Masterplan Begbroke Innovation District by OKRA, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom | Popular Choice Winner, Landscape & Planning, 13th Annual A+ Awards

OKRA approached the Begbroke Innovation District with the same grounded logic seen across the other projects in this article. The process began with what the land already offered and let that guide the plan. They read its geology, water, history and social needs, then used those observations as the basis for a new community. The plan mixes research spaces, homes, schools, farming and public parks in a way that feels deliberate rather than experimental. Everything is held together by a green framework that sets the tone for daily life. It is a large project, but the logic is straightforward: build a place where living, learning and working sit side by side.

6. Returning a City to Its Woods

The Lower Ramble by Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, Fayetteville, Arkansas

Popular Choice Winner, Architecture +Landscape, 13th Annual A+Awards

The Lower Ramble by Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, Fayetteville, AR | Popular Choice Winner, Concepts, 13th Architizer A+ Awards

Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects treated the Lower Ramble as a place that needed healing before anything else. They restored the woodland, fixed stormwater patterns, and created simple paths that let people walk through the trees without cutting into them. The site sits between Fayetteville’s busiest cultural zones, so this quiet landscape now anchors everything around it. It already hosts festivals, walks, and daily use, showing how grounded urbanism can bring a city back to its natural center.

7. Letting the Coast Lead the Design

Lignano 2.0 by STUDIO VI, Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy

Jury Winner, Unbuilt Masterplan, 13th Architizer A+Awards

Lignano 2.0 by STUDIO VI, Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy | Jury Winner, Landscape & Planning, 13th Annual A+ Awards

For Lignano 2.0, STUDIO VI let the landscape take the first step. They preserved the wild stretch of coast and added new paths, small pavilions, and viewing points that settle into the greenery instead of competing with it. The result feels easy and familiar, like the coast finally has room to breathe with its people. This shows how grounded urbanism can grow from restraint rather than reinvention.

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