Today one-third of the U.S. population lives in central cities, the highest proportion since 1950. How are urban centers responding to growth, and how do they find imaginative ways for creating vital places to live and work? We investigate three metropolitan areas in the process of reinventing themselves Oklahoma City, Pittsburgh (Forbes Avenue is shown here), and Cleveland and examine how they are changing, through public initiatives, architecture, and urban design. In these cities, long-term investment, rather than opportunistic development, is the key to building a promising future.

Photo © James Ewing

Pittsburgh
The former steel city embraces green design and its rivers.

Image © Jason Varney

Cleveland
The metropolis of the Western Reserve reclaims its urbanity.

Photo © Roger Mastroianni

Oklahoma City
Fueled by public initiatives and energy dollars, a plains city calls on design to improve quality of life.

Photo © Thomas Tucker

Building Types Study: Civic Spaces
Four new public projects serve the city around them.

Pictured: Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park; Photo © Stephen Amiaga

Rebuilding Detroit Piece by Piece
Experts and residents rally in an ambitious plan to save a struggling city.

Photo © Dave Jordano

Editorial: American Cities: The Next Chapter
Reinventing the urban realm for the 21st century.

Photo © Michel Arnaud