Matthew Bernstine

Matthew Bernstine, AICP, LEEP^AP, is a practicing designer and educator who is actively engaged with a wide variety of partners on civic engagements and projects for the built environment. In addition to his role as associate director of the Sam Fox School’s Office for Socially Engaged Practice, Bernstine teaches seminars and workshops on Informal Urbanism, Metropolitan Sustainability, Urban Research Methods, and Community Design. He previously served as the senior urban designer and planner within WashU’s Office of the University Architect & Real Estate.

Bernstine has established relationships with the St. Louis design community, municipal leaders and institutions, community groups, and residents through project-based work. He is actively working on projects throughout the region including: Peace Park, a civic-led collaboration to establish a neighborhood park in the College Hill neighborhood; the Delmar Collaborative, a multidisciplinary group of stakeholders dedicated to promoting a common vision along the Delmar Corridor; and the co-creation of a Pocket Park, where he worked with lecturer Alexandra Mei, residents, and local partners to develop a vacant corner lot in the West End neighborhood into a pocket park.

He works to integrate practice and academic scholarship and has done so through collaborative endeavors. He was the project manager for the Misi-Ziibi Living Delta team that was selected as a winning submission for the International Van Alen Design competition, “Changing Course; navigating the future of the Lower Mississippi River Delta.” He was a co-principal investigator for the Mobility for All by All project, a grant supported by The Divided City initiative, which is funded by the Mellon Foundation. Bernstine is also currently collaborating on a Divided City grant investigating the role of technologies in cementing socioeconomic segregation in Mexico City.

Before coming to St. Louis, Bernstine worked for over a decade in the private sector as an urban designer and planner in New York City, San Francisco, and Charlottesville. He enjoys collaborating and connecting with people and groups that push the boundaries of the built environment. In recent years, he has served on the boards of the St. Louis Metro American Planning Association and St. Louis Regional Data Alliance. He is currently a member of St. Louis City’s Community Mobility Committee. He was also previously selected as a Next City Vanguard and a New Leaders Council Fellow.