12 events. 1 week. Unlimited potential.
Phoenix Urban Design Week, April 18-25, will bring a diverse group of people together to design a city we want to live in — and then build it.

This week-long affair is presented by Design RePublic Studio, Cake Arts Management, and The Whitt, and includes a variety of activities including a vacant lot activation project, mobile bike-garden how-to, and so much more.
Downtown Phoenix Inc.’s free networking event, RadiatePHX, is also on the roster. On Tuesday, April 21, we’ll team up with PHXUDW to talk urban parks and placemaking in the Japanese Friendship Garden. Attendees can then continue the conversation with dinner at FEZ Restaurant & Bar (individuals will be billed separately).
At its core, this event is about elevating the great, innovative things happening in our city, said Lindsay Kinkade, an event organizer. Specifically, the event aims to highlight maker spaces, which she said are opening up around downtown.
These spaces vary but are public spaces that provide the community with a shared set of tools for creating things — tools like hammers, nails, and wood to build community furniture, or laser cutters and printers.
“One of the challenges is that Phoenix is so big that it’s hard to know what cool things are happening,” she said. “This is a way to share (those things) amongst ourselves.”
The event was once based out of Arizona State University. Now, it’s spearheaded by individuals like founder Aaron Kimberlin and Kinkade along with a coalition of more than 15 community members, businesses and organizations.
“We very intentionally decided to make it more of a grassroots… event,” Kinkade said.
They also intentionally made it inclusive as most events are free, family-friendly, and vary in scale.

PHXUDW kicks off on Saturday, April 18 with a vacant lot activation project.
In collaboration with Hands On Greater Phoenix, Chicanos Por La Causa and the American Institute of Graphic Arts, volunteers will build picnic tables and create a vibrant art project at the CPLC Pickle House, which sits on a blighted corner on 14th and Van Buren streets.
Kinkade said that everyone has the ability to make a positive impact — whether you’re building a mobile garden for your bike or developing a sustainable building.
“We’re encouraging everyone to take the opportunity” to shape how the city is made, she said.
Visit the PHXUDW website or Facebook page for a full list of events.