OUR PHILOSOPHY
Urban planning and allied disciplines of urban design, zoning, and environmental planning are our focus. Through our work we seek to give form to community aspirations, and foster places that are vital, livable, and reflect environmental stewardship. Our work is place-based – responsive to context, physical and natural settings, economic realities, and community needs. It is directed toward improving the quality of the living environment and promoting sustainable development patterns.
Dyett & Bhatia (D&B) was incorporated in California in December 1975 and has been providing professional services for the last 40 years. D&B's sole office is located in Oakland, CA. Our small size – about 25 employees – allows us to be nimble and responsive in our work, communication, and outreach. We conduct analysis and develop policies on a range of planning topics from land use and urban design, to economic development, sustainability, and social and environmental justice. The professional services we offer are focused on: urban design and specific plans, development codes and zoning ordinances, general plans, environmental planning and assessment, community engagement, geographic information systems (GIS), three-dimensional computer modeling, and visual simulation.
Our firm has won 12 awards in the last four years alone from the American Planning Association (APA), as well as two national awards from the APA in the last six years, including for California's first Public Health Element.
We believe that plan-making is a collaborative effort, involving a diversity of stakeholders, and we are committed to active community engagement, and considerations of social and environmental equity in planning processes. Our work continues to evolve in response to changing concerns of urbanism; however, our underlying commitment to creativity, excellence, and shaping livable and sustainable places remains unwavering.
Dyett & Bhatia (D&B) was incorporated in California in December 1975 and has been providing professional services for the last 40 years. D&B's sole office is located in Oakland, CA. Our small size – about 25 employees – allows us to be nimble and responsive in our work, communication, and outreach. We conduct analysis and develop policies on a range of planning topics from land use and urban design, to economic development, sustainability, and social and environmental justice. The professional services we offer are focused on: urban design and specific plans, development codes and zoning ordinances, general plans, environmental planning and assessment, community engagement, geographic information systems (GIS), three-dimensional computer modeling, and visual simulation.
Our firm has won 12 awards in the last four years alone from the American Planning Association (APA), as well as two national awards from the APA in the last six years, including for California's first Public Health Element.
We believe that plan-making is a collaborative effort, involving a diversity of stakeholders, and we are committed to active community engagement, and considerations of social and environmental equity in planning processes. Our work continues to evolve in response to changing concerns of urbanism; however, our underlying commitment to creativity, excellence, and shaping livable and sustainable places remains unwavering.
Dyett & Bhatia has a highly-trained staff of approximately 25, with academic backgrounds and professional experience in urban and regional planning; urban design; zoning; urban environmental planning; urban economics, architecture; graphic design; and public meeting facilitation. Dyett & Bhatia’s technical staff specializes in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), cartography, three-dimensional computer modeling, and computer-aided visualization.
Each Dyett & Bhatia Partner is an experienced practice leader and firm owner, with full decision-making authority, committed to excellence and nurturing enduring relationships.
LEADERSHIP
We are connected by a shared passion for planning and places, and a fundamental desire to enhance the quality of life of the communities we serve Our work methods are rooted in collaboration and inquisitiveness, and our work culture is engaging and inclusive.
LEADERSHIP
LEADERSHIP
Dyett & Bhatia is a leader in urban planning, renowned for its pioneering, creative, and award-winning projects.
Through our work we seek to give form to community aspirations, foster vital and livable places, and promote environmental sustainability and equity. Our work is place-based, tailored to each community’s specific needs. We believe plan making is a collaborative effort that engages and connects people and communities.
Our areas of practice are general plans; specific and area plans, including station area plans, downtown plans, and corridor and neighborhood plans; zoning; environmental review; and community engagement. Our work is place-based, responsive to context, physical and natural settings, and community needs. It is directed toward improving the quality of the living environment and promoting sustainable, equitable, and just development patterns. Our geographic focus is the western US; we have done projects across the US and overseas.
We are connected by a shared passion for planning and places, and a fundamental desire to enhance the quality of life of the communities we serve Our work methods are rooted in collaboration and inquisitiveness, and our work culture is engaging and inclusive.
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Honolulu Transit Oriented Zoning
Dyett & Bhatia is preparing a framework for citywide zoning regulations for the City and County of Honolulu to integrate land use planning with the new $7 billion urban rail system. This project represents one of the most ambitious new urban rail systems currently planned in the country—construction of which is slated to begin later this year. The Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project will provide faster, more reliable public transportation service in a 20+ mile corridor currently suffering from traffic congestion. Integrating land use planning and zoning with rail planning is essential to realizing the full potential of the multi-billion dollar investment. As a separate project, Dyett & Bhatia is leading planning and urban design for six station areas.
The 21 transit stations encompass a diverse range of settings and a wide range of typologies: the financial district with high-rise office buildings; low intensity suburban areas such as Kapalama; greenfield development areas; station areas where conservation will be a priority, such as Chinatown; areas that may transition from industrial and other uses to transit-supportive ones, such as in Kalihi; major points of origins and destinations, such as Airport and Convention Center; or shopping and tourist attractions, such as Ala Moana or Waikiki. One specific set of regulations cannot adequately address TOD needs and opportunities across all stations. The challenge is to translate broad land use policies and into a user-friendly, legally adequate, and effective set of regulations and procedures that implement the goals and policies of the TOD plans and create more livable communities that take advantage of the benefits of transit.
To ensure a streamlined approach and repetition of similar provisions in multiple places, an approach is to stratify stations based on typology, and identify provisions that: (1) are common to all or most stations, such as prohibition of certain kinds of uses (such as drive-through establishments within a certain radius of stations) or pedestrian-orientation of buildings; (2) will be applied as part of station typologies (such as suburban employment stations); and (3) will be unique to individual stations.
Ongoing