Apr 14 2025 24 mins
Urban Lab, a Kansas City-based urbanist group, hopes to inspire city leaders to reimagine streets, developments, and public spaces. Founded by architect Matt Hasek, this grassroots organization has grown organically by creating compelling visual representations that help people see how urban spaces could be different.
• Kansas City has more highway miles per capita than nearly anywhere else in the United States
• The city once had 350 miles of streetcar, now reduced to just 2.2 miles of streetcar
• Urban Lab creates detailed visualizations of specific Kansas City locations rather than generic urban spaces
• Their work includes reimagining the historic Plaza area, the Grand Boulevard corridor, and proposals for highway removal
• One of their designs is currently being implemented by the city, with 80-85% of their model likely to be realized
• Urban Lab's process focuses on both building on existing momentum and introducing new concepts to spark conversation
• Their visualizations target both the general public and city officials who can implement change
You can learn more about Urban Lab here.