Center for Sustainable Community Design

The CSCD works to enhance the quality and character of communities and the environment that supports them. We do that by working with the people living in those communities. Our faculty, students and staff work with people around the state, nation and world to engage citizens in decision-making that will bring solutions to the design and planning complexities of our ever-growing communities.

What are these complexities? Read more about our fight against sprawl and the environmental problems caused by poorly planned development in our Mission.

We seek to inform, educate and build societal capacity to move communities toward sustainable design.

What is sustainable design?

We define it as planning and development that can protect landscape ecosystems, encourage affordable, green community designs, ensure basic public health and safety, support more walkable, transit-oriented neighborhoods, and enhance economic vitality.

Our backgrounds are diverse: CSCD faculty, students and staff draw from backgrounds in city and regional planning, environmental design, urban and environmental impact simulation modeling, transportation, and the social and natural sciences. Read more about us individually here: People.

The CSCD is funded by federal, state and private grants, and is located within the UNC-Chapel Hill Institute for the Environment.