Diane Jones Allen

Diane Jones Allen, ASLA, PLA, has a Doctorate in Transportation Civil Engineering, a Master of Landscape Architecture, and 27 years of diverse experience in private and public practice focused on the areas of land use design/planning, transportation planning, and large-scale residential and park design projects. She is the director of the Landscape Architecture Program at the University of Texas, Arlington. As principal landscape architect, she has focused on projects that affected the quality of life of community residents, whether it was strategic planning for county/parish development, site planning for public housing, urban design for a new transportation corridor, or design of a community playground. The purpose of the work throughout her professional career has been to have positive effect on the physical environment in which people live. The focus has been to bring equity, access, and enhancement to the quality of life of communities of various scales.

Design as Democracy

Techniques for Collective Creativity

Winner of the Environmental Design Research Association's 2018 Book Award

How can we design places that fulfill urgent needs of the community, achieve environmental justice, and inspire long-term stewardship? By bringing community members to the table, we open up the possibility of exchanging ideas meaningfully and transforming places powerfully. Collaboration like this is hands-on democracy in action. It’s up close. It’s personal. For decades, participatory design practices have helped enliven neighborhoods and promote cultural understanding.