The award seeks to identify and honor places, rather than people, that address economic and social concerns along with urban design.
[2] According to the Bruner Foundation, the award is intended to be a platform for the discussion of issues related to urban architecture, planning and revitalization.
[5] In 1998 the University at Buffalo collaborated with the Bruner Foundation and the Urban Design Project of the School of Architecture and Planning to create a digital archive, making data gathered in reference to past winners of the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence accessible to the public.
2003 New Directions in Urban Excellence, Jay Farbstein with Emily Axelrod, Robert Shibley and Richard Wener, Bruner Foundation, 2003.
1999 Commitment to Place: Urban Excellence and Community, Robert G. Shibley with Emily Axelrod, Jay Farbstein, and Richard Wener, Bruner Foundation, 1999.
1989 Breakthroughs: Re-creating the American City, Neal R. Peirce and Robert Guskind, Center for Urban Policy Research, Rutgers University, 1993.
1987 Urban Excellence, Philip Langdon with Robert Shibley and Polly Welch, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1990.