Despite the widely recognized effectiveness of place-based education (PBE) by researchers in the science education community, there is a lack of resources and curriculum appropriate for the environment of urban schools. Unequal access to quality science curriculum materials is an ongoing issue facing urban schools in the United States. This basic interpretive qualitative study explores curriculum developers' processes for creating place-based science materials for learners in urban schools, which is a potentially significant and under-researched aspect of curriculum access. Drawing on the concepts of personal frames of reference (York & Ertmer, 2016) and the representation of children in urban schools (Quinlan, 2021), the study aims to understand curriculum developers' design processes and places they design for, and the prior experiences that inform their design processes. Realist thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with place-based and science curriculum developers provided valuable insight into the strategies, considerations, and methodologies used by curriculum developers when creating PBE lessons for urban learners. In the results, I determined that the curriculum developers in the DMV area were intentional about designing for the city. They studied the local history in the neighborhoods and museums to ensure they planned lessons connecting to the learners. Personal frames of reference did contribute to the curriculum designers' passion for place-based curriculum. Still, they felt the reason for the lack of access to place-based curriculum in urban schools was due to funding, time, and administrators' assessment concerns. By understanding their approaches, the dissertation identifies areas of improvement and makes recommendations such as considerations for developing curriculum for urban learners, incorporating meaningful diversity onto the lessons, and providing equity and accessibility to enhance access to and inclusivity of PBE curricula for diverse urban populations. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]