Jesse Hirakawa

Jesse Hirakawa is an Associate Urban Designer and Planner at the New York City Department of City Planning (NYC DCP). He currently focuses within the Borough of Brooklyn on neighborhood planning initiatives, large-scale housing projects, public spaces, mixed-use developments, fresh food accessibility and community outreach. Through collaboration with other city agencies, developers, designers, community members and stakeholders, he continues to advocate for the highest urban design standards.

Prior to DCP, he worked as a landscape designer focusing on parks with community gardens, playgrounds, native ecologies, and resource preservation in Southern California. Additionally while in Southern California, he was a music educator focused on percussion and performance at an international competitive level for almost a decade.

Jesse teaches urban design seminars during the summer semester at Columbia University (GSAPP) and has been a visiting critic/lecturer at Syracuse University, NYIT, and Pratt Institute. He holds a Master’s degree in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia GSAPP, as a recipient of the Lucille Smyser Lowenfish Memorial Award. He also has a Bachelor’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the California Polytechnical University in Pomona, California.