An inescapable fact of life is that change is unavoidable, and as time moves forward, changes continue to shift to accommodate the growth of individuals, companies, and entire industries. Understanding the constancy of change and the need to move past the fear of change is David Debs Dixon, FAIA, an expert in urban design and planning. With over 50 years of professional experience, recent Marquis Who’s Who nominee Dixon‘s passion for designing spaces where people can celebrate shared humanity highlights his ability to manage change for both community and public benefit.
Building a Foundation
Dixon is an advocate and activist who has long believed that architects and planners must be more active in advocating for their values, politics, and other ways to shape their communities and create policies to promote better futures. Yet, before heading down his vocational path, Dixon earned a Bachelor of Arts in social studies with honors from Wesleyan University. It was during his time at Wesleyan University that Dixon made one of the most important decisions for his future.
While attending Wesleyan University, Dixon joined the prestigious College of Social Studies program. This three-year, highly interdisciplinary program focused on history, government, and economics. It was rooted in bringing different perspectives together and creating something positive to help the world, and it inspired Dixon’s future endeavors.
Driven by his passion for designing well-planned cities and spaces that can unite people and provide opportunities for common ground, Dixon furthered his education at the University of Pennsylvania, earning a Master of Architecture and a Master of Urban Design from Harvard University.
Career and Accomplishments
From 1991 to 2014, Dixon was principal-in-charge of planning and urban design for Goody Clancy. During this period, Goody Clancy won the American Planning Association’s Excellence in Planning Award for a firm. Before stepping into his current role as Stantec’s Urban Places Fellow in 2019, he founded and led Stantec’s Urban Places practice, which focuses on an interdisciplinary approach to planning and urban design.
In his current position, Dixon has led planning for a variety of high-profile projects, including downtown plans for the cities of El Paso, Texas, and Memphis, Tennessee; Tampa’s new mixed-use Water Street District; a new urban neighborhood for Portland, Maine; and transformation of Nashville’s Global Mall into the new Antioch Arts and Innovation District.
Dixon’s most well-known professional achievement is leading the post-Katrina master plan for New Orleans from 2006 to 2008. He also led the last round of planning for Kendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the most successful life science innovation district in North America.
Recognized for his contributions to the field, Dixon has been the recipient of numerous awards, including four American Planning Association (APA) Excellence in Planning Awards, the Thomas Jefferson Medal for “a lifetime of significant achievement” from the American Institute of Architects (AIA), a Gold Medal from the American Society of Landscape Architects and more than two dozen national planning and urban design awards from the International Downtown Association, The Congress for the New Urbanism, the Society of College and University Planners, the AIA and APA. He has also been recognized by Residential Architecture Magazine, which named him to their Hall of Fame “as the person we call when we have questions about cities.”
Dixon is the co-editor of “Suburban Remix: Creating the Next Generation of Urban Places” and co-author of “Urban Design for an Urban Century.” He is a fellow of the AIA and served as president of the Boston Society of Architects (BSA). He currently sits on the board of America Walks, an organization that advocates for walkable environments.
Attributing his success to his genuine passion for well-planned cities as places that bring people together, Dixon intends to keep working, creating more urban plans that unlock a new era of opportunities that promote equity and inclusion.
