About
Urban by Design helps organizations create lasting value through design excellence, placemaking, and strategic thinking. We see design as a powerful tool for advancing equity, strengthening communities, and expanding access to opportunity. Working across scales and time frames, we combine urban design, planning, and cultural narratives to reveal possibilities, navigate complexity, and shape meaningful change. From community groups and institutions to developers, businesses, and entrepreneurs, we help clients transform ambitious ideas into places that contribute to health, resilience, and neighborhood vitality.
By bringing climate, community, and design together, we create places that are uniquely made Urban by Design.
Urban X Design LLC is a certified Minority-Owned Business Enterprise (MBE) in New York City and New York State.
Our Story
Urban by Design is shaped by the experiences and perspective of its founder, Phu Duong. A Vietnamese-born American architect, urban designer, and educator, Phu's approach to design was influenced by an upbringing that spanned cultures, landscapes, and communities. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, he helped with his family's French bakery, where daily deliveries took him through the region's highways, railways, neighborhoods, and rivers, fostering an early fascination with the systems that connect people and places. Those experiences instilled a lasting appreciation for the relationship between communities, infrastructure, and the natural environment, a perspective that continues to inform his work. For more than 25 years, Phu has collaborated with clients, institutions, and communities around the world, bringing an inclusive, forward-thinking approach to architecture and urbanism. In 2022, Phu founded Urban X Design, a practice dedicated to shaping more resilient, equitable, and vibrant places.
Phu Duong AIA, AICP, LEED AP
Founding Principal