Arizona State University Downtown Phoenix Initiative

[conceptualization initiated]

Consistent with our objective to be socially embedded in our metropolitan region, Arizona State University seeks to enhance its downtown Phoenix presence and plans to transform its downtown center into a campus. The ASU Downtown Campus Initiative will explore options for the advancement of knowledge and societal transformation downtown and in surrounding neighborhoods. The presence of our existing downtown Center and the availability of land position ASU to become a key stakeholder in the revitalization of downtown Phoenix.

ASU plans to establish programs downtown in such areas as urban design, economic development and diversification, and education and training. The presence downtown of the state-wide genomics collaborative is another incentive for ASU to develop a campus.

ASU has the opportunity to enhance and diversify its profile in the community by developing an identity downtown. We hope to attract members of the creative class to our campus, and in so doing, encourage the economic development of downtown Phoenix. We hope that developing an academic center will also encourage residential development in this diverse and vibrant district of Phoenix. We hope to encourage new creative urbanism in Phoenix, embedding the arts into the planning process.

The Joint Urban Design Program, an outreach arm of the ASU College of Architecture and Environmental Design, is already a presence downtown. Through partnerships between the college and other units at ASU and other public and private agencies, the program fosters environmental stewardship, neighborhood and community development, quality of life, sustainability, transportation improvements, and a revitalized urban form. An example of the program's support for the community is the development of Arizona's Capitol Mall, a project that as it continues, involves the ASU School of Social Work as well.