About Us
Philosophy + History
Perez Planning + Design, LLC (PP+D) is a research-based planning and design firm that lives at the intersection of people, space, and the built and natural environment. We focus on working with our clients to thoughtfully and strategically integrate these key elements to plan, design, and implement a public realm that is viable, responsive, dynamic, and resilient. Stated simply, we work collaboratively with our clients in Re+Defining the Public Realm.
PP+D believes that through our collaborative, research-based planning and design process, public realm planning and design projects can help not only improve the built and natural environment but also address some of the complex social, economic, and environmental issues that community face, such as crime/community safety, low-educational attainment, food deserts, poverty, flooding, affordable housing, environmental contamination, etc.
Through the years and through professional practice and research, we've collected examples, case studies, and best practices that illustrate this power and enjoy sharing them with our Clients and communities. These case studies help educate, inspire, and empower communities to consider how the principles from these best practices may be implemented in their communities to enact change.
PP+D was founded by Carlos F. Perez in 2014 in order to provide clients with client-focused, responsive, and thoughtful public realm planning and design consulting services. PP+D focuses on providing Parks and Recreation System Planning + Design, Active Transportation Planning + Design, Urban Design + Landscape Architecture consulting services.
Planning + Design Team
Carlos F. Perez, PLA | President + Founder
Carlos F. Perez has focused his professional career on collaboratively planning and designing livable communities through the strategic planning and design of the public realm. His academic training and professional specialization in Parks and Recreation System Planning and Design, Active Transportation Planning and Design, Urban Design, and Landscape Architecture provide for a unique view and keen understanding of the important, multifaceted role that the public realm plays in creating livable communities.
Carlos has led or collaborated on over sixty-five Parks and Recreation System Plans for cities throughout the United States including Seattle, Washington; Washington D.C.; Raleigh, North Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; Gwinnett County, Georgia; Miami-Dade County, Florida; Sarasota County, Florida; Norfolk, Virginia; and Downtown San Diego, California.
Carlos also specializes in Active Transportation Planning and Design and served as one of the lead planners and designers for the PATH Foundation, a non-profit organization in Atlanta, Georgia that has implemented over 300 miles of trails and bicycle facilities in the Atlanta Metro Area. Significant projects that Carlos has led include PATH 400, PATH Parkway, Peachtree Creek Greenway, Centennial Olympic Park Signature Cycle Track, and the on-going planning and design of the Atlanta BeltLine Northeast Trail.
Carlos is a Board Member of the City Parks Alliance and the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership. He also served as a Board Member and Vice-Chair of the Atlanta non-profit and parks advocacy organization Park Pride, was a Founding Board Member of the Atlanta Chapter of Young Professionals in Transportation, a member of the Urban Land Institutes Center for Leadership Class of 2014. Carlos also serves on the Advisory Council for the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Florida and the College of Design at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Carlos also speaks regularly at conferences sharing his passion, experience, and lessons learned on parks and active transportation planning and design.
Prior to establishing Perez Planning + Design, LLC, Carlos co-led AECOM’s (formally Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin, Inc.) Parks and Open Space System Planning and Design practice. During his tenure at AECOM, Carlos led and collaborated on a variety of significant projects and established many of the processes and procedures that the company still uses today.
Carlos received a Bachelor’s Degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Florida, a Master’s in City and Regional Planning with a specialization in Transportation, and a Master’s of Science in Architecture with a Concentration in Urban Design from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is married to his beautiful and loving wife Iliet and currently lives in the Midtown Neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia.
Hayley Harrison, PLA | Senior Landscape Architect
Hayley is a Registered Landscape Architect that specializes in the development of design development and construction documents. Hayley seeks to provide designs that recognize the natural landscape and local cultural context. She works collaboratively with clients as partners in creating designs that are realistic in budgetary, maintenance, and aesthetic expectations in order to great spaces to visit and inhabit with unintrusive and logical maintenance regimes. Halley received a Bachelor’s Degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Florida.
In Memoriam of David L. Barth, PhD, PLA, AICP, CPRP
Dr. David Barth's battle with cancer sadly ended in June 2022, but Dr. Barth will forever be a part of PP+D. Dave was a registered Landscape Architect, Certified Planner, and Certified Parks and Recreation Professional who specialized in the planning, design, and implementation of the public realm. He was also an expert facilitator and strategic planner. He had developed parks and recreation system master plans for over 150 communities throughout the United States including Washington, D.C, Miami-Dade County, Norfolk, VA, downtown San Diego, and the City of Raleigh. He also led the planning and/or design of hundreds of parks and trails including Orange County’s West Orange Trail, Martin County’s Indian Riverside Park, and the City of Kissimmee’s Lakefront Park. He was a co-author of the American Planning Association (APA) publication From Recreation to Re-Creation, a contributor to APA’s Planning and Urban Design Standards for parks and recreation needs assessments, and the author of APA’s Planning Advisory Service Memo Alternatives for Determining Parks and Recreation Levels of Service. Most recently Dave published Parks and Recreation System Planning, A New Approach for Creating Sustainable, Resilient Communities.
David received a Bachelor’s Degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Florida; his Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from Palm Beach Atlantic University; and his PhD in Design, Construction and Planning at the University of Florida. We will miss Dr. Barth tremendously, but his legacy continues through the projects he completed and the people he touched.
Yan Duan | Urban Designer + Planner
Yan Duan is an urban designer and planner that specializes in research, design, and visual communications. She combines her expertise in these three areas to develop thoughtful, practical, and innovative active transportation, parks planning, and urban design solutions.
Yan received her undergraduate degree in Engineering in Urban Planning from the School of Civil Engineering and Architecture at the Xi'an University of Technology in P.R. China; her Master’s Degree in Urban Planning with a specialization in Urban Design from the University at Buffalo (SUNY Buffalo) School of Architecture and Planning; and completed a Design Discovery, Urban Planning and Urban Design Summer Program at Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
Nick Stephens | Planner
Nick Stephens is an urban planner who is dedicated to planning and designing park systems that enrich communities, encourage active transportation, and strengthen the local ecology. With a diverse academic and professional background, Nick’s experience supports a passion for creating vibrant, walkable and bikeable urban areas. Nick is an Atlanta native, a board member of Atlanta’s Grant Park Conservancy, and an active bike commuter since age 11. Nick received his undergraduate degree in Anthropology from Columbia University, NY; and his Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning with a specialization in Urban Design from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Tejas Khandekar | Urban Planner + Designer
Tejas Khandekar is an architect and urban designer with a passion for well-designed effective and efficient public spaces. Trained as an architect, Tejas has a varied technical expertise in high-rise, institutional, residential and industrial architectural projects. This experience provides him the ability and experience to problem solve from various angles, which he uses to inform his design of the public realm.
Tejas received his undergraduate degree in Architecture from the VNIT in Nagpur, India; and his Master’s Degree in Urban Design from the Georgia Institute of Technology.