A colorful street with a park adjacent to it

Change Streets, Change the World

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Streets impact health and wellbeing public health and safety quality of life environmental sustainability economic sustainability social equity multimodal access

The Global Designing Cities Initiative transforms streets for the people who use them, shaping cities that allow everyone to prosper.

Our team of designers, planners, and urban strategists seeks to inspire leaders, inform practitioners, and invite communities to imagine what is possible when we design streets that put people first.

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Created with the input of experts, our guides redefine the role of streets in cities around the world.

Global Street Design Guide

Global Street Design Guide

The Global Street Design Guide supports practitioners in redefining the role of streets in cities around the world. Created with the input of experts from 72 cities in 42 countries, the Guide offers technical details to inform street design that prioritizes pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders.
Designing Streets for Kids Guide
Designing Streets for Kids NACTO GDCI Report

Designing Streets for Kids Guide

Designing Streets for Kids captures international best practices, strategies, programs, and policies that cities around the world have used to design spaces that enable children of all ages and abilities to utilize cities’ most abundant asset – streets.
How to Implement Street Transformations

How to Implement Street Transformations

This handbook outlines the steps from initial site selection to planning, implementing, and maintaining pop-up or interim street transformations with a focus on community-driven street designs that ensure the safety and comfort of all street users.

Endorsing the GSDG provides a permission slip for organizations, cities, and regions to advance safe, healthy, sustainable, and vibrant streets.

Latest Updates

The GDCI Reverse Periscope

April 8, 2025

The GDCI Reverse Periscope

Since its launch in 2023, cities around the world have embraced the reverse periscope as a playful tool to reimagine streets from a child’s perspective. From community walkshops to international conferences, the tool is helping spark deeper conversations about child-friendly design. Discover how practitioners are using it to shift perspectives—and shape safer, more joyful streets for kids.

On GDCI’s 10th Anniversary, announcing ten inaugural winners of the Street Shaper Award

March 11, 2025

On GDCI’s 10th Anniversary, announcing ten inaugural winners of the Street Shaper Award

Ten years in to GDCI, we’ve worked to transform streets around the world, inspiring leaders, informing practitioners, and inviting communities to imagine what’s possible when we design streets that put people first. But none of it would have been possible without the enthusiastic collaboration of urban leaders around the globe, who continue to pave the way for safer streets and better cities. In celebration of these leaders and their impact, GDCI is introducing the Street Shaper Awards.