Curridabat Master Plan
Curridabat, Costa Rica

City of Curridabat Master Plan

Project Type: Master Plan & Form-Based Code
Project Status: Approved
Completion Date: December 2010
Site Area: 2300 acres
Team: PlusUrbia + Castillo Arquitectos (lead) + Dover Kohl & Partners
Client: Municipalidad de Curridabat

In December 2011, a group of designers from PlusUrbia and Dover, Kohl & Partners traveled to Curridabat, Costa Rica, under the direction of Eduardo Castillo of Castillo Arquitectos, Guatemala. The workshop entailed a week-long, hands-on visualization of different areas of the city where neighbors, municipal staff, and stakeholders participated in various activities and meetings with the group of designers.
The plan humanizes the city with wider sidewalks, parallel parking, planting strips, and urban furniture. A form-based code creates a properly-scaled built environment to sustain the pedestrian-friendly city. The plan structures future development by ensuring smart growth and providing a safe and innovative environment for its citizens. The project, the first comprehensive plan to be implemented in Central America, was created under the direction of Eduardo Castillo of Castillo Arquitectos, Guatemala. It was honored as “Best City Plan” by the Congress for New Urbanism 2014.  The plan resulted from a week-long, hands-on visualization of different areas of the city where neighbors, municipal staff, and stakeholders participated in various activities and meetings with the group of designers.
This report is the base for a Form-Based-Code for the municipality of Curridabat (the first implemented comprehensive plan in Central America) to structure future development, ensuring healthy growth and providing a safe and forward-looking environment for the municipality’s citizens. It was honored as “Best City Plan” by the Congress for New Urbanism 2014.

CNU XXII Charter Awards – 2014 Best City Plan