Over 84 million U.S. households have pets. They’re part of our lives and everywhere we live, work and play. Whether you’re a developer, architect, designer, urban planner, real estate professional, city official or a pet-passionate citizen, the dramatic increase in pets is shaping our communities and affecting the built environment in new ways.

Join a network of pilot projects in developing pet-friendly spaces and places of the future. Contact woof@civicdesigncenter.org  

We have expertise and tools to help you design with pets in mind in any type of environment. Check out our free resources featuring designing with pets in mind below and explore this site, BetterCitiesForPets.com, to learn more!

START HERE

• Adapting Urban Environments for City Pets: A Q&A about Pet-Friendly Communities
• The BETTER CITIES FOR PETS™ Model
• Video: What Is the BETTER CITIES FOR PETS™ Program?
• Video: BETTER CITIES FOR PETS™ 2017 Year in Review

HOMES

• White Paper: Downtown living with pets (PDF)
• Benefits of allowing pets in rental housing
• Facilities considerations for pet-friendly housing
• Questions and answers about allowing renters with pets

PARKS

• White Paper: Reclaiming public space and PARK(ing) Day: Exploring opportunities for people and pets (PDF)
• White Paper: The urban dog park of the future (PDF)
• Pet-friendly signage: Sample messages for cities (PDF)
• Sample designs for parks and parklets (PDF)
  
  

BUSINESSES

• White Paper: Pets Welcome: Pet-friendly places that are good for business, people and pets (PDF)
• Pets Welcome Toolkit
• PETS WORK AT WORK™ Toolkit

SHELTERS

• White Paper: How to help shelters be warm and friendly to increase adoption (PDF)