What Detroit Learned from Portland; What Portland Can Learn from Detroit

As a young, ambitious urban planner, Maurice Cox intently watched Portland reshape itself with light rail, urban plazas, waterfront redevelopment, streetcars, bicycle paths, ground-floor retail, and other innovations. Hired to lead Detroit's planning office in 2015, and empowered by Mayor Mike Duggan to hire 50 city planners, Cox helped reshape Detroit with similar initiatives.

But whether working with neighborhood groups to create new public spaces or Ford Motor Co. to regenerate a long-empty landmark, Cox often led with artists, designers, and fast-track temporary projects that show how grassroots creativity can be the leading edge of urban economic recovery.

Maurice D. Cox is Emma Bloomberg Professor in Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Prior to joining the GSD faculty, Cox was Director of Planning and Development for the City of Detroit between 2015-2019 and Commissioner of Planning and Development for the City of Chicago between 2019-2023, where he focused on the adaptive challenges facing contemporary urban revitalization.

Cox is an urban designer acclaimed for his ability to merge architecture, design, and politics in pursuit of design excellence and the equitable development of cities. His career spans public service, private practice, and higher education, including his tenure as mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia; Design Director for the National Endowment for the Arts under two presidents.

Host or Publisher PDX Design Collaborative