Marcel Acosta
As executive director of the federal government’s central planning agency, Marcel Acosta leads a team of urban planners, architects, landscape architects, and other professionals committed to preserving and enhancing the extraordinary qualities of America’s capital city and the national capital region.
Through planning, policymaking, and project review, the National Capital Planning Commission protects and advances the federal government’s interest in the region’s development. The Commission provides overall planning guidance for federal land and buildings in the region through its review of memorials and museums on the National Mall, civic buildings in the nation’s capital, civilian and military installations, and public spaces and parks. The Commission also oversees long-range planning for future development and evaluates capital investment by federal agencies. Current projects include the Pennsylvania Avenue Initiative, Beyond Granite Temporary Commemoration Program, Southwest Ecodistrict Plan, the Workplace Scenario Planning and Changing Federal Footprint Initiative, Comprehensive Plan for the Nation’s Capital, Memorials for the Future, and the review and approval of the National WWI Memorial, Hirshhorn Museum Sculpture Garden, and Smithsonian South Mall Master Plan.
Before joining NCPC in 2001, Mr. Acosta was senior vice president of planning and development for the Chicago Transit Authority, the nation’s second-largest public transportation system. He was deputy commissioner for the Chicago Department of Planning and Development. He is the Chair of the American Planning Association’s Urban Design and Preservation Division.