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Victor Dover, co-founder of the town planning firm Dover, Kohl & Partners, has spent his career spurring the revival of traditional neighborhoods, walkable streets, preservation of livable communities, and conservation of our natural environment.
On April 26, 2025, his commitment to better cities and towns will be honored with the Addison Mizner Medal for Service by the Institute for Classical Architecture and Art (ICAA) at a ceremony at the historic Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. The award is named after Addison Mizner, a celebrated Florida architect “whose civic and domestic works defined the standards of excellence in composition and craftsmanship for classical and traditional design in the early years of urban development in Florida,” according to ICAA. Mizner Awards celebrate individuals and design firms who excel in the advancement and promotion of the ideals of classicism and traditional design in architecture, urbanism and the allied arts.
Dover has been a driving force within the New Urbanism movement. New Urbanism prioritizes building sustainable places people love, where they can get to know their neighbors, drive less, and live fuller lives. According to ICAA, “His service as an advocate, author, and volunteer has made a difference to countless colleagues, the shape of numerous communities, and the quality of life for citizens across Florida and beyond.”
ICAA leader James Constantine wrote, “At a time when our national dialogue has focused on how to effectively talk and listen to the average person, Mr. Dover could lead the master class. Witnessing him in action at a community charrette is the very definition of service. He engages with citizens to gain a true understanding of their needs, concerns, and dreams. With this dialogue as a foundation, Mr. Dover leads a collaborative design process, creating plans that respond to the community and embody their aspirations.” Dover’s firm has been recognized with Mizner Awards twice before, for specific urban design projects.
Collaborator, Leader, Educator
Dover, as an urban designer, town planner, and futurist, has been bringing new life to traditional towns, addressing suburban sprawl, rethinking visual communication, and reforming regulations since 1987. His connection to business partner Joseph Kohl traces back to their undergraduate years studying architecture in the early 1980s, where they cultivated a passion for innovative visual media experiments and “architecture at the scale of the community, not just the building.”
By the 1990s, the duo of Dover and Kohl had established an award-winning national practice. They have consulted on and designed projects in 28 states, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, Central America, and Australia. The Dover-Kohl projects have ranged in scale from the redevelopment of a single city block to master plans that cover thousands of square miles. The collaborators were awarded the John Nolen Medal in 2010 for contributions to urbanism, were recognized as Fellows of the Congress for New Urbanism (CNU), and more recently, awarded the Seaside Prize in 2024.
Dover is an adjunct faculty member in urban design and real estate development at the University of Miami. He is co-author of Street Design: The Secret to Great Cities and Towns, widely acclaimed as the leading textbook in the field. He has enriched the conversation on urban development through his short film series, Town Planning Stuff Everyone Should Know. Known for persistence and challenging the status quo, Dover was nicknamed “the Michael Jordan of urban planning” by business leader Quint Studer. A former triathlete, Dover was a five-time Ironman finisher; today he is known for leading long walks and bike tours to size up conditions in the towns where his team is working.
The ICAA Service Award recognizes Dover in part for his pro bono efforts on behalf of his nation, profession, and community. He played key roles in founding the Form-Based Codes Institute (now known as the Center for Zoning Solutions) and in establishing the curriculum for the National Charrette Institute. He led the creation of neighborhood pattern and design standards for the US Green Building Council’s LEED for Neighborhood Development certification system. As a leader in the Congress for the New Urbanism, he was the founding chair of CNU’s Florida chapter, the first and largest of its kind, and served as CNU’s national chair from 2010-2012. Dover was elevated to the American Institute of Certified Planners College of Fellows in 2012; according to the American Planning Association, “Election to Fellow is one of the highest honors that the American Institute of Certified Planners bestows upon a member. Victor Dover insists that planning return to its roots as a humanist pursuit, the civic art.”
Dover is an advocate for reconnecting the professions of city planning, parks planning, and conservation, always advising design teams to “start with the green parts.” Dover was President of the Parks Foundation of Miami-Dade during a pivotal period, and a board member of the National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA).
Locally, Dover has been president of the Rotary Club of South Miami and a board member of the Biscayne Bay Foundation, the Friends of the Ludlam Trail, Jubilee Community Development Corporation, Dade Heritage Trust, and Tropical Audubon Society, among other organizations. He also served as the community representative on the board of the First National Bank of South Miami.
Impact on South Florida
The Dover, Kohl & Partners team has had lasting impacts on our region; that history played a important role in being selected for the prestigious Addison Mizner Award honor.
After Hurricane Andrew, the firm orchestrated South Miami’s revitalization by conducting a extraordinarily public planning process, swiftly rewriting land development regulations and implementing street redesigns. The results have included transit-oriented development, rescues of historic structures, neighborhood revival, and walkability upgrades in the heart of town. That plan catalyzed a series of improvements such as the reconstruction of the outdoor scene along Dorn Avenue, now known as the social center of the downtown. “It’s hard to remember, but outdoor dining was actually prohibited by law in South Miami at the time,” Dover said. “We went from boarded-up buildings and $6 per square foot rents to white tablecloth restaurants and $65 per square foot rents, and more, in just a handful of years.” (The firm has also led post-disaster recovery planning efforts in Ocean Springs, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina, in Panama City, Florida after Hurricane Michael, and on the island of St. John in the US Virgin Islands after Hurricanes Irma and Maria.)
The South Miami success story inspired the creation of the Downtown Kendall Master Plan & Code. When ChamberSouth executives first referred to the greater Dadeland Mall / Datran area as “Downtown Kendall,” many were puzzled at first. The plan was created in the late 1990s, when the area had very little housing and no walkable places, despite the nearby retail offerings, workplaces, and two Metrorail stations. Following the creative plan, about 10,000 much-needed dwellings have been newly developed in Downtown Kendall, all close to transit and in a walkable neighborhood, no small feat in a region struggling with both housing scarcity and epic traffic congestion. Transit ridership at the two stations has since surged.
Guiding initiatives such as the Ludlam Trail, Dover and Kohl continue to elevate Miami-Dade County. Their plans for transforming 5.6 miles on a former railroad right-of-way into a dynamic linear park and trail system are now funded and construction is slated to begin in 2025. Ludlam Trail will unite schools, parks, residences, shopping areas, places of employment, and transit stops via a world-class trail tailored for safe walking, running, and bicycling. Dover is also actively engaged in the Commodore Trail master plan, helping the City of Miami and Friends of the Commodore Trail realize a long-sought five-mile pathway linking Coral Gables and Coconut Grove to the Brickell area. Once fully implemented, the Commodore Trail will secure a nonmotorized connection from the Old Cutler Trail in the south to the Rickenbacker Trail and the Underline in the north.
In Coral Gables, Dover, Kohl Partners contributed to the City’s multimodal transportation plan and the “Gables Greenways” pilot program for combining traffic calming, tree planting and beautification with much-needed bike infrastructure. The firm also produced the innovative design code that governs redevelopment in the Plaza Coral Gables area, and designed the dramatic makeovers implemented on the surrounding streets.
Another landmark project of the firm is the regional blueprint for the seven counties of Southeast Florida over the next fifty years, known popularly as the “Seven50” plan. DK&P organized an extensive public process to create the plan, involving thousands of participants. Following a key recommendation in that plan, passenger rail traffic has returned to the Florida East Coast Railway corridor—the same tracks Addison Mizner traveled in the 1920s to carry out his famous architectural work in Palm Beach.
More information about the Addison Mizner Awards can be found at https://www.classicist.org/honors/addison-mizner-awards/.
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