Ice Cream City is master planned as an urban infill development in Miami’s Overtown District. A consortium comprised of real estate developers, musical impresario Pharrell Williams and Oppenheim’s planners have crafted a bold yet context-sensitive master plan that makes creative use of the existing urban fabric while weaving in new uses to thoughtfully stitch the under-utilized section of the city. In recognition of the district’s edgy environment and rejection of typical notions of gentrification, this optimistic vision proposes a small business incubator, a light industrial zone of specialty workshops and ateliers, new residential, unconventional big box retail, the country’s largest skatepark and lots of infill development. Pedestrian-oriented new construction will be built around existing structures, many of which may be adaptively re-used. The planning approach is "bottom up," as opposed to the top-down dictatorial mentality of typical master plans. Ice Cream City is all about incubation rather than dictation, and a wild amalgamation of a million bold ideas for the revitalization of a part of town more known for its urban blight and long-lost history than its interesting architecture or bright future.
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