Martin Zimmerman

Biography

Martin is a planner, architect, urban journalist and principal of City Wise Studio USA, an urban research and communications firm. He writes about sustainable cities and livable neighborhoodsand he travels frequently to communities in the USA, Canada and abroad in search of innovative models for Charlotte.  His articles and reviews have appeared locally in the Charlotte Observer and Axios / Charlotte Agenda.com, and nationally in Urban Land.orgAPA Planning, National Building Museum's Blueprints Journal, ASLA DIRT.org, Architectural Record, Washington TimesAtlanta Journal-Constitution, and other print and on-line media. As the first architect to lead the Office of Facilities Planning for the Charlotte campus of the University of North Carolina (1992-2001), Martin and his team created campus-wide design guidelines, updated the master plan, and launched corridor studies for light rail transit link to Center City Charlotte. As ED for the Charlotte Area Bicycle Alliance (2003-2012), he campaigned successfully to redirect the arc of Charlotte's auto-centric travel culture. His vehicle of choice has two wheels and a bell. He can be reached at martin@citywisestudio.us.

Stories by Martin Zimmerman

Car-free Life for a Family of Four in Delft, Netherlands

Charlotte-based architect and urban planner Martin Zimmerman talks with Melissa and Chris Bruntlett about their latest book and their family’s first few years living and navigating Delft, a 1,...



Mobilizing for climate change: Evaluating the Strategic Energy Action Plan, two years in

Contributing writer Martin Zimmerman interviews Sarah Hazel, recently appointed as Chief Sustainability & Resiliency Officer for the city of Charlotte.
 



NoDa perceived: past, present and future of a mill village

Not that long ago, a few aging blocks in a declining, working-class neighborhood revived from the dust and grit of the textile mill era as Charlotte’s  home-grown arts district.



Can Charlotte’s auto-dependency be cured? Planners launch Strategic Mobility Plan

The heightened attention to COVID-19 aftershocks has not  distracted  local planners from tackling related issues that beg for solutions.