Planning Board reviews draft citywide urban design guidelines; staff schedules public open house

City staff and consultants presented a draft set of citywide urban design guidelines to the Cambridge Planning Board on March 18, and invited board input before a public open house and exhibition the following week.

Susanna Bigelow, an urban designer in the Community Development Department, introduced the project and said staff and the consultant team had worked across departments and stakeholders to craft guidance intended to shape future development and public projects. “Urban design guidelines are very important to Cambridge’s quality of life,” she told the board, framing the document as a flexible, evolving resource to guide buildings, open spaces and streetscapes across the city.

Rami El Samahi, principal at the consultant firm OverUnder, described the draft’s organization and the process used to create it. The document is organized into four core chapters — context and site, buildings, open space and streetscapes — and articulates three goals (design excellence, equity and sustainability) and six core values (inviting, eclectic, contextual, connected, adaptable and healthy). El Samahi said the project team reviewed nearly 50 other guideline sets, conducted public‑space observation and met frequently with city staff and stakeholders over an 18‑month period.

The draft is intended as nonbinding guidance to inform advisory design consultation and design review processes; the project team said it may prompt zoning updates where specific regulatory changes are needed. The team noted near‑term next steps: a public open house scheduled for the week after the March 18 meeting, an exhibition at the main branch of the public library and a plan to…