For High Schools
UrbanPlan is offered at over 30 high schools in economics or government courses in the junior and senior years. In the 15 class hours of the curriculum, students form development teams to respond to a “request for proposals” for the redevelopment of a blighted site in a fictional community. Each team member assumes one of five roles: Finance Director, Marketing Director, City Liaison, Neighborhood Liaison, or Site Planner.
Through these roles, students develop a visceral understanding of how various market forces (supply and demand, availability of capital, risk vs reward, etc.) clash and collaborate with non-market forces (regulation, politics, advocacy groups, etc.) to create the built environment. They must reconcile the often-competing agendas to create a well-designed, market-responsive, financeable, and buildable project.
Create Engaged Citizens
The curriculum was developed for and is only supported in economics and selected government classes. The curriculum aligns with all state and national content standards for high school economics and provides a much-needed local government component to government classes.
How UrbanPlan Works in the Classroom
Teams address challenging financial, market, social, political, and design issues, develop a pro forma, and create a three-dimensional model of their plan. At strategic times during the project, land use professionals, who have attended a full day of UrbanPlan volunteer training, interact with the student teams. There are two facilitations where professionals visit the teams and challenge the students on their roles, their vision, and the decisions they have made using Socratic interaction. The module culminates when the teams present their proposal to a “City Council” of ULI members that awards the development contract to the winning team.
Facilitators
Through Socratic interaction, volunteers challenge the students to think more critically about the UrbanPlan issues and the specific responsibilities of their “role” (Financial Analyst, Marketing Director, Site Planner, City Liaison, Neighborhood Liaison).
Presenters
UrbanPlan volunteers engage in interactive discussions with students on the member’s own project work. Through thoughtful questioning, the presenter helps students relate these issues and decisions to the struggles the students are experiencing in UrbanPlan.
City Council
UrbanPlan volunteers hear student presentations, challenge their proposals as would happen in an actual city council hearing, and award the development contract to the winning development team.