OUR
SERVICES
We are a US-based firm with presence in Colombia, working across scales and timelines—from reconstruction to long-term development, from community interventions to city-wide resilience strategies—always centering people, nature, and risk reduction in our approach.
DESIGN, URBAN PLANNING + VISION DEVELOPMENT
We aim to create dynamic urban fabrics that engage with the life of neighborhoods, their surroundings and the environment.
Participatory urban diagnostics, area plans, and strategic visioning that integrate climate resilience and community development.
URBAN
REHABILITATION +
INFORMAL SETTLEMENT UPGRADING
Integrating underserved communities through improved infrastructure, public space, and nature-based solutions. We also focus on the social infrastructure to ensure strong local governance, appropriation, as well as grounded operation and management (O&M) strategies.
PARTICIPATORY PLANNING + COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Allowing PEOPLE to be at the center of our approach, we can create successful projects and a strong sense of place-making. These are co-creation processes, tactical urbanism, and community empowerment strategies that ensure local ownership and sustainability.
HOUSING DEVELOPMENT & POLICY
From incremental housing to PPP advisory, creating resilient, affordable housing solutions grounded in community needs.
RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE + DRR
We bring systems-based approaches to resilience and disaster risk reduction, integrating multi-hazard risk analysis, historical landscape analysis, and nature-based solutions. We contribute prioritization strategies and participatory planning expertise to infrastructure projects, ensuring technical solutions are contextually appropriate and sustainable.
BRIDGING RECONSTRUCTION & LONG-TERM DEVELOPMENT
We apply a whole settlements approach that addresses immediate post-disaster needs while building long-term resilience and sustainable development.
We support clients through TECHNICAL ADVISORY SERVICES, as well as through the DESIGN + PLANNING components of projects.
We work across the multiple phases of a project and have a particular knack for:
HAZARD ADAPTATION + NATURE BASED SOLUTIONS
Through our system-based approach, looking at infrastructure as interconnected networks rather isolated interventions, we bring a landscape-driven approach to planning and design, incorporating NbS and locally appropriate interventions.
SUSTAINABILITY+
LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
We help develop integrated approaches and programs to create sustainable, productive, and resilient communities and urban assets, considering both immediate needs and long-term adaptation.
PLACEMAKING + TACTICAL URBANISM
Allowing PEOPLE, NATURE AND RISK to be at the center of our approach, we can create successful projects and a strong sense of local appropriation and place-making, bringing forth specificities of place and innovation.
SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS+ VERNACULAR
CONSTRUCTION
Exploring sustainable materials and construction techniques, such as bamboo and earth, as well as leveraging local skillsets and techniques.
Our design-build studios are coordinated through our non-profit BUILDING LOCAL.
OUR
STORY
urbanSEED stands for Urban, Social, Economic and Environmental Development.
Founded in late 2016, urbanSEED began with a simple but powerful conviction: that the most sustainable urban solutions emerge from deep engagement with place, people, and context. What started as a community-centered design practice has evolved into a multi-disciplinary collaborative addressing the interconnected challenges of urban informality, disaster risk, and broad-based economic development.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C. and with a presence in Bogotá, Colombia, we work globally, bringing international expertise adapted to local realities. Our projects span scales—from individual buildings to city-wide strategies—and timelines—from post-disaster reconstruction to long-term resilience planning.
Through partnerships with leading international organizations and direct engagement with communities and governments, we've developed deep expertise in participatory urban planning, nature-based solutions, disaster risk reduction, hazard adaptation, and infrastructure resilience. Whether leading community-scale projects or contributing specialized expertise to large-scale infrastructure programs, we maintain the same commitment: placing people, nature, and risk at the center of our approach.
Our name reflects our integrated perspective. Urban challenges are inseparable from community well-being, economic viability, and environmental sustainability. True resilience requires addressing all four dimensions simultaneously, through collaborative processes that respect local knowledge and empower communities to shape their own futures.
CONTACT US
ADDRESS
52 O Street NW #207
Washington DC 20001
Cra. 7 # 73-42, torre 2
Bogotá, Colombia