Make Sense of the Urban Change Happening Around You

(Without sitting through a planning meeting)

Every week, I break down one misunderstood aspect of urban change in plain language. Drawing from my experience as an architect, developer, and professor, I reveal the hidden connections between culture, economics, and design that explain why our cities transform the way they do – all in a 5-minute read that makes the complex suddenly comprehensible.

See Urban Change Clearly.

About Alex Yuen

I am a practicing architect, urban designer, and real estate developer with roots in the East and the West. As a co-founder of CO-, a hybrid design and real estate development firm, I bridge design innovation with practical implementation and feasibility, transforming architectural ideas into real-world change. In my spare time, I teach Urban Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, guiding the next generation of designers to make sense of the built environment while developing the agency to change it.

My thoughts have been featured in The Economist, NPR, and Fast Company, and my experience spans from award-winning academic research to real-world projects such as the 11th Street Bridge with OMA and the Highline with Diller Scofidio + Renfro. I also co-host the Most Podern Podcast on stories behind the built environment, with Libo Li and Minkoo Kang.

I started Dust to Density after my experiences living in vastly different cities as an architect, which taught me that while design matters deeply, it's just one force among many shaping our urban environments. Through this newsletter, I translate my experience with complex urban systems into clear insights for everyone, from curious city-dwellers to seasoned professionals and emerging urbanists.

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