What Town Planning & Urban Design Collaborative (TPUDC) does

Town Planning & Urban Design Collaborative (TPUDC) is a privately-held professional services firm founded in 2005 and headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee. The firm provides planning, urban design, zoning code, entitlement, and implementation consulting for municipal and private clients across North America, with a stated portfolio spanning more than twenty U.S. states. TPUDC positions itself as a specialist in New Urbanist principles, form-based coding, and charrette-based community engagement, and explicitly limits the number of engagements accepted each year to provide personalized service.

TPUDC's service catalog includes master planning, comprehensive planning, regional planning, urban design and revitalization plans, form-based coding and pattern books, SmartCode calibration, architectural review, landscape architecture, traditional building design, site/feasibility studies, project implementation oversight, investment procurement, branding/marketing support, and developer training seminars. The firm has developed branded engagement processes—Planapalooza™ and Codeapalooza™—alongside a multi-day charrette methodology to build community consensus around planning visions. Co-authorship of the SmartCode (by Director William S. Wright, J.D.) and a leadership team that includes alumni of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company and the Metro Nashville Planning Department underpin the firm's technical authority in Smart Growth and form-based regulation.

The firm operates on a project-based professional services revenue model, engaging directly with municipal governments (via RFP or referral) and private developers/landowners for multi-month or multi-year assignments. Engagements range from municipal comprehensive plans (e.g., Homewood, AL at $500,000) to large private master plans (Cumberland Oaks 400 acres; Armistead Agrihood 192 acres; Southall 450+ acres; Spring Grove ~78,000 acres with WestRock). Distribution is entirely direct, with reputation, referral, and project portfolio serving as the principal go-to-market mechanism.

Name

Town Planning & Urban Design Collaborative (TPUDC)

Legal name

Town Planning & Urban Design Collaborative, LLC

Website

https://tpudc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

TPUDC is a Franklin, Tennessee-based planning and urban design consultancy serving municipal governments and private developers across North America, providing master planning, form-based coding, charrette facilitation, entitlement, and implementation services grounded in New Urbanist principles.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Franklin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Planning and Urban Design Consulting Services: TPUDC generates revenue through professional consulting fees for planning, urban design, coding, entitlement, and implementation services for public and private projects across North America. Services include master planning, comprehensive plans, form-based coding, charrette facilitation, and project implementation oversight.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

TPUDC is an award-winning planning and urban design firm that provides professional consulting services for public and private projects across North America. The firm delivers master planning, comprehensive planning, urban design, form-based coding, entitlement, and project implementation oversight using New Urbanist principles and innovative community engagement processes (charrettes, Planapalooza™, Codeapalooza™).

Product overview

TPUDC is a planning and urban design professional services firm, not a software product company. The company offers a comprehensive suite of planning services centered around the New Urbanist movement, including master planning, form-based coding, community engagement, and urban design. Services include Master Planning & the Charrette Process, Comprehensive Planning, Regional Planning, Urban Design & Revitalization Plans, Coding and Pattern Books, SmartCode Calibration, Architectural Review, Landscape Architecture, and Branding & Marketing Services. TPUDC works on public and private projects across North America, specializing in mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly environments and authentic placemaking.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Master Planning & Charrette Process

Quantifiable outcome

• TPUDC received unanimous approval for a one-of-a-kind Rezoning and PUD Development Plan Application for the Skinner Family project in Jacksonville, now regarded as the new standard for the City
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• WestRock (formerly Meadwestvaco)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTPUDC was hired to work with landowner and developer WestRock in developing Form-Based sector, settlement, community, and lot and building development ordinances and Master Plan Regulations for the Spring Grove project spanning approximately 78,000 acres in Dorchester and Charleston Counties, South Carolina.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Opticos Design: Co-author of the original SmartCode alongside TPUDC's William Wright, Opticos specializes in form-based coding, missing middle housing, and walkable neighborhood design — directly competing for the same municipal and developer clients.
• Moule & Polyzoides: An architecture and urbanism practice with deep New Urbanist credentials, offering master planning, coding, and architectural services for mixed-use, walkable communities that closely compete with TPUDC's combined planning/design offering.
• Dover, Kohl & Partners: A leading New Urbanist town planning firm known for master planning and form-based coding across the U.S. and Caribbean, with a portfolio, methodology, and client base (municipalities and developers) that closely overlap TPUDC's.
• Calthorpe Associates: A pioneering urban planning firm focused on regional planning, transit-oriented development, and sustainability — competing with TPUDC in the regional and master planning segment of the same public-sector client base.
• DPZ CoDesign (Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company): Founded by the originators of the New Urbanist movement, DPZ is the most direct peer to TPUDC: both firms offer master planning, form-based coding, and charrette-driven community design services to municipalities and private developers, and TPUDC's founding principal began his career at DPZ.
• PlaceMakers: An urban planning and consulting firm focused on form-based codes, coding workshops, and tactical urbanism services for municipalities. Directly comparable to TPUDC's coding and community engagement offerings.

Others

• Urban Land Institute (ULI): A research and education organization supporting best practices in land use and real estate development. While not a direct competitor, ULI shapes the standards and policy environment in which TPUDC's New Urbanist and form-based coding work is adopted.
• HR&A Advisors: A real estate and economic development advisory firm that frequently partners with or complements planning firms on large master-planned and mixed-use developments. Operates adjacent to TPUDC's private-developer segment as a strategy/implementation partner.

Broad incumbents

• Sasaki Associates: A multidisciplinary design firm spanning planning, urban design, landscape architecture, and architecture. Competes with TPUDC for larger master planning and campus/community engagements, particularly with institutional and private developer clients.
• Torti Gallas + Partners: A larger, established architecture and planning firm with broad urban design and placemaking capabilities across multiple U.S. markets. Overlaps with TPUDC's urban design and master planning services but at a much larger scale and broader portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Town Planning & Urban Design Collaborative (TPUDC)