Proformus is an urban planning firm that bridges data, design, and the built environment from the scale of a single lot to the city.
pro·for·mus [n.]
Origin: Neo-Latin, from pro (“for, in favor of”) + formus (from forma, “shape or structure”). →
Northwest Landing Vision Plan // Indianapolis, Indiana
Mass Ave Next Plan // Indianapolis, Indiana
Urban Farms Toolkit // Fairfax, Virginia
10th Street Traffic Calming // Indianapolis, Indiana
Rockville Zoning Code // Rockville, Maryland
10EastArts Corridor Strategy // Indianapolis, Indiana
Infilling Carolina // Charlotte & Raleigh, North Carolina
Our work spans community engagement, development strategy, urban planning, and the codes and ordinances that shape them — from single infill sites to citywide frameworks. Every project draws on all four, because places don't separate their problems into disciplines.
Explore Services →We don't talk at people to plan — we listen to them. Planning is both a technical framework and a cultural act, and our practice is built on placekeeping: honoring what a community already is while building toward what it wants to become.
Read Our Philosophy →Cities aren't designed once — they emerge, block by block, decision by decision. Emergent Planning is our framework for working with that reality: rules that guide rather than restrict, strategies that adapt as neighborhoods reveal what they need next.
Discover Emergent Planning →Our work spans the full spectrum of city-building, from community engagement to regulations and guidelines, to neighborhood-scale plans, and citywide plans. Each unique project benefits from the cross-pollination of our multi-scalar in-house expertise.
Community Engagement
Community Engagement
We lead with joy to gamify and create memorable experiences that gather community input and aspirations — then combine this with geospatial mapping to understand physical ramifications.
Development Strategy
Development Strategy
We understand market and real estate conditions to project realistic, actionable scenarios for developers and municipalities — then actualize them.
Urban Planning
Urban Planning
We work in a design language to create and craft experiences for neighbors and municipalities — and enact implementable best practices.
Codes & Ordinances
Codes & Ordinances
We work across the country with staff to balance resident priorities and development pressures, crafting development in its best form — and illustrating it in an accessible way.
Our Clients
How We Do It
01 Community Engagement
We don't talk at people to plan — we listen to them. Engagement is participatory spatial analysis: the community tells us what the map misses.
- Engagement Strategy & Facilitation
- Participatory Mapping & Pop-Up Events
- Stakeholder & Steering Committee Coordination
- Tactical Placemaking
- Visual Storytelling & Graphic Design
02 Development Strategy
We reframe site constraints as opportunities — pairing market analysis with human-scale design to show what smart, community-controlled growth looks like on real parcels with real numbers.
- Development Scenario Planning
- Feasibility Studies & Infill Pro Formas
- Site & Market Analysis
- Economic Development Strategies
- Housing Prototypes & Missing Middle Design
03 Urban Planning
Planning as both technical framework and cultural act — balancing policy, land use, and design with lived experience, from single sites to citywide visions, always aimed at implementation.
- Neighborhood & District Vision Plans
- Corridor & District Frameworks
- Campus & Institutional Master Planning
- Urban Design & Concepts
- Public Realm & Open Space Strategies
04 Codes & Ordinances
Rules shouldn't get in the way — they should guide emergent needs. We write and align the regulatory tools that let good places grow.
- Zoning Strategy & Policy Alignment
- Zoning Code Audits & Rewrites
- Form-Based Codes & Design Guidelines
- Entitlement & Rezoning Support
- Specialized Toolkits (Urban Agriculture, Adaptive Reuse)