Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk

About the Author

Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk is a pioneering architect and urban planner renowned for her advocacy of New Urbanism, a movement that seeks to create walkable, community-oriented neighborhoods in opposition to the car-dependent sprawl of modern suburbia. Co-founder of the influential firm Duany Plater-Zyberk & Partners, she has shaped countless master-planned communities worldwide, emphasizing sustainable design, mixed-use development, and the revival of traditional town planning principles. Her seminal work, Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream, co-authored with her husband Andrés Duany and Jeff Speck, critiques the failures of postwar suburban expansion and offers visionary alternatives for reclaiming the American Dream through thoughtful urbanism. A former Dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Miami, Plater-Zyberk continues to influence policy and practice, promoting environments that foster social interaction, environmental stewardship, and architectural beauty in everyday life.