Lu, Weiming

Weiming Lu was born in Shanghai, China. Political unrest caused his family to flee to Taiwan in 1949. After attending Cheng-Kung University (where he earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering) and fulfilling a military obligation, Lu emigrated to America and entered the University of Minnesota to continue his engineering studies. After receiving a master of science degree in civil engineering (1954) he went on to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to study regional planning. He returned to Minneapolis in 1959 to join the city planning department where he eventually rose to the post of Chief of Environmental Design.

During the next dozen years Minneapolis saw the construction of the Interstate 35-W highway, the Nicollet Mall, and the skyway system. Lu was involved in all of these projects, and co-authored the Metro 85 plan (1971), which was the blueprint for Minneapolis urban planning in the 1970s. He helped develop the first plan for the Metropolitan Planning Commission, and successfully lobbied for passage of the Heritage Preservation Commission Act and tax increment financing.

In 1971 Lu left Minnesota for Dallas, Texas where, as Director of Urban Design for that city, he helped establish an active historic preservation commission; a sign ordinance that became a national model; helped create a downtown arts district; and fought successfully for landmark designation for the Texas School Book Depository building.

In 1979 Lu returned to the Twin Cities as a Deputy Director for Urban Design for the Lowertown Redevelopment Corporation (LRC) in St. Paul. Two years later he became its executive director, and led an effort to renovate a run-down area of downtown St. Paul full of old warehouses and parking lots. The goal of the Corporation was to create a more livable urban environment for all ages and income levels; create jobs by attracting new businesses; renovate warehouses for housing; encourage the arts; and create more green space and reconnect the neighborhood with the Mississippi River. This plan, which also encouraged the historic preservation of old buildings while at the same time encouraging the use of high technology, efficient heating and cooling systems, and light rail, has become a model for other urban villages around the world.

Lu has lectured extensively around the world and has written widely on many topics relating to urban planning. He has served on numerous boards, ranging from reconstruction in South Central Los Angeles to planning for the Beijing Olympics, and from Chinatown in Singapore to the South of Market area of San Francisco. He has served as planning advisor to the mayors of Beijing and Taipei. As a member of the Committee of 100, an organization of Chinese-American leaders in arts, academia, business, and science, he authored a position paper on improving relations between the United States and China. He worked with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and other Asian artists and the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota in arranging a memorial concert known as Hun Qiao, which commemorated the Asian holocaust in World War II (May 2001). He has acted as St. Paul's host to many visiting delegations of mayors, city planners, and architects from around the world. Lu is also an accomplished Chinese calligrapher, whose work has been exhibited in a number of art galleries.

From the guide to the Weiming Lu Papers., 1963-2007., (Minnesota Historical Society)