Mark Johnson
President, Civitas Inc.
Denver, Colorado

Mark served on the ULI J.C. Nichols Prize Jury from 2014 to 2018, serving as Jury Chair in 2017.

Mark Johnson is a leading landscape architect, designer of public space, and strategist for the regeneration of core cities. He is currently leading the regeneration planning for the decayed Northside of downtown St. Louis, the design of the North Embarcadero in San Diego, and a master plan for the waterfront on the Harlem River in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan.

Johnson is a core member of the Working Group for Sustainable Cities at Harvard, an arm of the Harvard Center for the Environment; lecturer with the Institute of Design and Health, Stockholm; and a regular lecturer and participant in urban vision and community-building strategies with the Urban Land Institute and several universities.

Johnson has led many complex projects that have had a transformative impact on cities: three riverfront parks in Denver; a master plan for Balboa Park in San Diego; a waterfront plan for Memphis; and a corridor plan to connect historic neighborhoods along Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue. He recently completed the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan, a project that immediately gained national recognition for its economic, social, and environmental impact to revive economic, environmental, and social health over the length of this 32-mile, forgotten resource.

Johnson has been deeply involved in the redevelopment of the Stapleton International Airport in Denver continuously since 1988 and is a primary author of the highly acclaimed Stapleton Redevelopment Plan. His 22 years of experience on the project includes participation in negotiating the airport planning, deal structure, governance, development process, development standards, and zoning.

Johnson is a fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects. He holds a master’s degree in landscape architecture/urban design from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and has received numerous awards from the ASLA, AIA, APA, ULI, and Waterfront Center and recently the prestigious Distinguished Service Award from the regents of the University of Colorado.