UrbanPlan in the Community
What is UrbanPlan?
The Mission of UrbanPlan is to create a more sophisticated level of discourse among local stakeholders involved in land use decisions through education of tomorrow’s voters, neighbors, community leaders, public officials, and land use professionals so, together, we can create better communities. Through UrbanPlan, students discover how the forces of our market economy clash and collaborate with the nonmarket forces of our representative democracy to create the built environment. This insight provides the essential foundation for any sophisticated land use discussion.
The UrbanPlan youth session was held at Rosa Parks Middle School because of its location in the heart of the study area and the partnership with school administration.
As a part of the UrbanPlan program, the task force conducted the following activities:
- Worked with Luther Burbank High School, including principal and teachers, beginning in August 2019 to define project and secure partnership;
- Created an innovative community flyer announcing the UrbanPlan session and posted it around the community;
- Conducted outreach to partner nonprofits that encouraged their student network to join;
- Developed and delivered ULI’s first UrbanPlan for Youth one-day workshop curriculum, which is likely to be replicated through other ULI District Councils
- UrbanPlan event was at capacity of participating students; and
- Several adult community members attended just to observe the exercise.
UrbanPlan Logisitics
- Teacher champions were key to the occurrence and success of the program, including because they are the lead source of communication with students.
- Timing of the event (on a Saturday during the sports season) presented challenges for students who had athletic commitments.
- Transportation to/from the event was a barrier for students. Although the event was conducted across from a light-rail station, students incurred transit difficulties due to rainy weather.
Check out these UrbanPlan Student Videos!