Planning Department

Urban Design

Urban Design affects the look and feel of our city environment.  Structures, streets, and open spaces interact to create a wide variety of community contexts throughout Davidson County; the design of a suburban area like Antioch or Bellevue will be very different from the design of an inner-ring suburb like East Nashville or Belmont-Hillsboro, and both will be very different from the Downtown city center.

Our Design Studio helps create a wide variety of unique and usable neighborhoods, all with respect to the diversity of development in Nashville and Davidson County.  Our four staff designers work with Council members, development professionals, neighborhood leaders, and other Metro departments to guide and support livable, appropriate development based on each community’s needs and goals.

Our Neighborhood Guidebook explains Metro Planning’s basic philosophy for creating neighborhoods and communities.

The Urban Design Overlay is one of the designers’ main tools. A “UDO” defines a specific area and sets design standards for its development. Learn more about how UDOs are created.

UDOs in the Antioch/Priest Lake Community include:

UDOs in the Bellevue Community include:

UDOs in the Donelson-Old Hickory-Hermitage Community include:

UDOs in the Downtown Community include:

UDOs in the Green Hills/Midtown Community include:

UDOs in the Southeast Community include:

Institutional Overlays

Institutional Overlays provide development rules for specific areas, but, unlike UDOs, they work in cooperation with that area’s existing residential zoning.

Clarksville Pike Corridor Study

bordeauxMetro Planning staff began preparing an update to the Bordeaux-Whites Creek Community Plan in spring 2003, after a series of community meetings which revealed a community need for improved residential, entertainment, and shopping opportunities.
At the request of the Councilwoman, the planning staff began to develop a varied land-use plan for the area along Clarksville Pike from the Cumberland River to Briley Parkway.

That study led to a proposal for growing an interconnected ribbon of four sustainable communities along Clarksville Pike; click here to see the complete document.

Corridor Studies provide design assistance along existing road corridors. 

Regional Urban Design Assistance Team

tornadoA plan provided by volunteers from the American Institute of Architects has guided East Nashville’s rebuilding after the 1998 tornado; click on the links below to see specific recommendations.

  1. Recovery
  2. The physical framework
  3. Transportation and parking
  4. Land uses
  5. Implementation

Davidson County also has a R/UDAT district in East Nashville, where a “Regional Urban Design Assistance Team” provided by the American Institute of Architects helped plan the area’s renovation and rebuilding after the 1998 tornado.