urban design research topics

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Best thesis topics for Urban Planning and Design

  • January 8, 2022
  • urban design terminology , urban design theory , Urban design thesis , urban glosary , Urban Planning , urban research

Best thesis topics for Urban Planning

Once you enter the final year of your postgraduate study in urban design. Each student’s postgraduate architecture thesis project is a chance to demonstrate their creativity and ability. We’ve compiled a list of Best thesis topics for Urban Planning and design to assist you in choosing a topic for your research project. This section contains the best and most relevant topics related to urban design projects for your knowledge and understanding of new trends in urban design.

Urban design thesis topics list:

  • Urban aesthetics and new trends in urban design
  • Eco-friendly development.
  • 3D Pedestrian Flow Modeling.
  • Sensing, Monitoring, Modeling and Adapting the Urban Micro Climate.
  • Deconstructing Eisenman: Cultural presemantic theory and social realism
  • Modern and historical landscapes.
  • Discourses of Futility: Expressionism in the works of Archigram.
  • Sub dialectic desemanticism and constructivism in the works.
  • Sub constructivism and De-objectivism: Crucifying the cross.

Best thesis topics for Urban Planning

Source:  Architecture renewal in relationship to public space as a catalyst for urban regeneration :: Future Architecture (futurearchitectureplatform.org)

  • Waste as a Resource – Urban Metabolism.
  • 3D Indoor space analysis for way finding.
  • The Urban Heat Island (UHI).
  • Campus Project.
  • The mobility of People.
  • Optimal Cycling Infrastructure.
  • Solar Energy Potential Calculation.
  • New design methodologies.
  • Preservation methods of architectural heritage.
  • Urban property and regeneration.
  • Building multicultural cities

Best thesis topics for Urban Planning and Design 2

Source: Studio Wessendorf – Urban Development – Hannover City 2020+ (studio-wessendorf.de)

Urban design and health.

Spatial changes in big cities.

Design of infrastructure as a reflection of public policy.

Coding the urban form

Designing density: increasing functionality through flexibility in family neighborhoods.

Resurgent Networks of cities.

Suburban Revisions.

Urban design in the wake of deindustrialization.

Urban Mobility: Transference and Public Transit.

The role of technology in changing how a city works.

Open exhibitions.

Modern Marketplace.

When is a design labeled as intrusive?

Is architecture about creativity or economy?

Should heights correspond with surrounding buildings?

Are there natural alternatives to lighting signage?

How to identify utility facilities in an eco-friendly manner.

Urban Street Design.

Best thesis topics for Urban Planning and Design 4

Source: Gallery of ‘Shenyang International Automobile City’ Winning Proposal / SBA International – 6 (archdaily.com)

Vestiges of urban spirit Isfahan’s urban fabric through socio-spatial transformations.

Critical Soviet Design: Senezh studio and the utopian imagination in late socialism.

A marketing design approach to destination development.

Separations in Multi vocality: Reconfiguring Dialogue through Design.

Suburban Navigation Structural Coherence and Visual Appearance in Urban Design.

URBAN SEGREGATION AND URBAN FORM From residential segregation to segregation in public space.

Evolving Urban Culture in Transforming Cities Architectural and Urban Design in a Fluid Context.

Light Design: Outdoor Urban Public Places – Urban Lighting: Design and Technologies.

  • Sustainable Economic Urban Fringe Plan for an Internationally Important Trade Center
  • Planning Interventions to address industrial Disparity,
  • Change in Agricultural Pattern And Impact On the cities
  • Potential for Eco-Tourism Development.
  • Spatial Transformation through Agriculture.
  • Impact of Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises on Regional Development:

Best thesis topics for Urban Planning and Design 6

Source: Gallery of Vancouver to Buy Old Rail Corridor for Future Public Greenway – 1 (archdaily.com)

Port and Port City Development in an Economically Emerging Coastal Region.

  • Integrated Rural Cluster Action Plan for Agricultural Development.
  • Impact of mining on Regional Development.
  • Transformation of Villages under Urban Influence.
  • Water Resource Management in a Drought Prone regions.
  • Selection and Strategies formulation for modal villages.
  • Planning Implications of Highway Corridor on Levels of Development and Settlement Pattern.
  • Impact of Religious Tourism in Regional Development.
  • Role of Agro- based industries in Regional Development.
  • Legality and Illegality in Urban Fringe Development.
  • Fiscal Decentralisation and Millennium Development Goals.
  • Uncommon Ground : Urban Form and Social Territory
  • Data-Driven Approaches for Traffic State and Emission Estimation
  • Nature-Based Solutions in Environmental Planning: Ecosystem-Based Adaptations, Green Infrastructures, and Ecosystem Services to Promote Diversity in Urban Landscapes.
  • Short-term and Long-term Effects of New Light Rail Transit Service on Transit Ridership and Traffic Congestion at Two Geographical Levels
  • Waste Management in the Global South: an Inquiry on the Patterns of Plastic and Waste Material Flows.
  • The Impacts of the Bicycle Network on Bicycling Activity: a Longitudinal Multi-City Approach,

Best thesis topics for Urban Planning and Design 8

Source: Postareal Kiel — CROSS Architecture | Architekturbüro | Aachen & Amsterdam (cross-architecture.net)

Impact of government policies and initiatives (most recent) on urban land use

Impact of urban sprawl on provision of public services

Implications of airport expansion on the surrounding areas

Assessing linkage between the parent city and satellite town

Planning for sustainable neighbourhood

Assessing the liveability in the residential areas of IT parks

Changes in building bye-laws and its implications on urban development

Planning implications of highway corridor on settlement pattern

Socio-economic impact assessment of metro rail

Impact of urban expansion on small towns

Role of International aid in urban poverty alleviation

Impact of urbanization on land use in the rural-urban fringe

Evolving a mechanism for public participation in urban planning and implementation

Role of urban local bodies (ULBs) in urban governance

Quality of life assessment in residential areas

  • GIS modelling of Land Information System
  • Urban Growth Modelling in GIS
  • Urban Sprawl Pattern analysis using GIS
  • Role of GIS in revenue improvement
  • Municipal Information System using GIS in Property Tax Management
  • Application of GIS for property tax Geo-Spatial Information System Based Model for Micro-Level 
  • Integration of land records to GIS, a model for municipal application 
  • Application of GIS Technology in Watershed management
  • Use of the Geo-Informatics in land suitability analysis for Industrial Development
  • Integrated public transportation systems using GIS

Best thesis topics for Urban Planning and Design 10

Source: Fountain City (archi.ru)

Tourism Potentiality of pilgrim centres

Impact of Tourism on Rural Livelihood

Water tourism: An Exploration of the Role of Inland Water Transport in Tourism Development

Strategies for Heritage Tourism Development

Strategies for Ecotourism Development

Potential of Community based Ecotourism

Tourism Development Plan for Inter State Border Conflict areas

Spatiotemporal movement patterns of international tourists

Potential of Urban Wetlands for Ecotourism Development

Impact of Religious Tourism in Regional Development

Planning for tourism circuit

Impact of tourism on the development of Local Areas

Eco-Tourism development strategies for Coastal Town

Impact of Ecotourism on Local Community

Impact of tourism on district development

Best thesis topics for Urban Planning and Design 12

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Introduction: the future of public space

  • Published: 02 March 2018
  • Volume 24 , pages 1–3, ( 2019 )

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  • Tigran Haas 1 &
  • Michael W. Mehaffy 2  

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This special issue of Urban Design International delves into the emerging field of public space research with a range of new articles from a number of leading scholars in the field. It is timely for a number of reasons.

First, it comes at a time when many authors (including several represented here) have documented an alarming decline in the quantity and quality of public space in many cities around the world—even as “urbanisation” is occurring with historically unprecedented speed. The term “post-urban” describes these trends well: an increasingly fragmented world of sprawling suburbs, shopping malls, gated communities, and chaotic informal settlements. Importantly, all of these places have in common the degradation, privatization, or other diminution of public space. Even where public spaces exist, they are increasingly controlled by and for private interests, with profound consequences (as several of our authors discuss). Our aim with this edition, then, is to contribute to the ongoing debate about the importance of public spaces in a post-urban world—and to point to possible pathways of transition toward a needed “re-urbanisation,” organized around the revival of public spaces.

Second, such a re-urbanization around public space is very much a part of the “New Urban Agenda,” the 2016 outcome document of the Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, or Habitat III. That historic document, later adopted by consensus by all 193 member states of the United Nations, has affirmed the importance of public space as a key to creating more socially, economically and ecologically successful and sustainable cities, with no fewer than nine paragraphs on the subject. In the wake of its adoption, this issue aims to contribute to a much-needed assessment of the most important issues for further development in this emerging “public space agenda.”

Third, this issue also commemorates the four-year “Future of Places” forum of events, papers and debates in which most of the authors herein participated. Its partners and participants included UN-Habitat, Project for Public Spaces, and Ax:son Johnson Foundation (its NGO host) as well as over 1500 researchers, practitioners, officials and activists, representing more than 700 organizations, 275 cities and 100 countries from all around the world. The series of global conferences and additional side events resulted in extensive cataloguing of public space knowledge and building of strategic networks to enable improvements to the quantity and quality of public space. At its conclusion, the forum produced an action-oriented set of Key Messages promoting the value of public space, and covering critical issues for public space, including but not limited to, inclusivity, human scale, people-centered cities, and the importance of a citywide approach (UN-Habitat et al. 2015 ). The Key Messages were also used as source material (along with other documents) in the drafting of the New Urban Agenda.

Now the focus must be on implementation, with research into action across the larger networks of urban discourse. Central to the Future of Places aim has been to operationalise a paradigm shift in urban planning, emphasizing benefits on offer for sustainable urban development through a people - centered approach . Many critics have argued that the focus of urban design and development has been too much on the hardware of cities (buildings and infrastructure), and not enough on the software of cities (culture and place). The Future of Places attempts to address this deficit by shifting the conventional design thinking, “from objects to places .” The authors of this special issue reflect that “place-led” and “placemaking” approach.

Mathew Carmona’s “Principles for public space design: Planning to do better” considers the literature and notes that “underpinning the notion of ‘public’ space in much of the literature is the idea that, as far as possible, space should be ‘free’, in three senses of the word: open, unrestricted and gratis.” He then sets out what he terms “an unashamedly positive framework for shaping public space,” and he offers three over-arching principles, and seven detailed considerations for evaluating public space. Dr. Carmona is a Professor of Urban Design at the Bartlett School, University College London.

Aseem Inam, in “Designing new practices of transformative urbanism: An experiment in Toronto” emphasizes the engagement of informality as a conscious planning tool to empower marginalized communities and drive needed political change toward greater social justice. He demonstrates the dynamics of this process with a case study from Toronto. Professor Inam is the Chair in Urban Design at Cardiff University in the UK.

Mattias Kärrholm’s “Scale alignment: on the role of material culture for urban design” describes urban space as “a complex sphere of spatio-temporal claims and overlaps, where interior/exterior and public/private intersect in different ways,” which means that only rarely can one observe a clear demarcation between public and private. Yet we must be able to manage this complex array of borders, and he suggests this is only possible by assembling multiple actors working at multiple scales, especially the smaller scales of material culture, that is, objects and artifacts. Dr. Kärrholm is the Professor at Department of Architecture and the Built Environment, Lund University.

Setha Low, in “Public space and diversity: Propositions for social justice in street, parks and plazas” argues that public spaces function as the most important forum for the development of a socially just society—the places where “race, class, gender, age, sexual preference, ethnicity and ability differences are experienced and negotiated in a forum for political action, communication, and democratic practice.” What is needed is a set of shared tools and strategies to “improve urban public spaces that are being restricted and homogenized by neoliberal governance strategies.” Professor Low is Director of the Public Space Research Group at City University of New York, and Professor of Anthropology, Sociology, and Environmental Psychology.

Ali Madanipour’s “Rethinking public space: Between rhetoric and reality,” recognizes that public space is an increasingly priority for urban development, accompanied by burgeoning research literature. At the same time, he warns that the public space agenda is being co-opted by those who seek “a space of attraction, an instrument of delivering investment and maximizing rewards.” In this process, an overly harsh delineation between public and private indicates an unequal society, whereas “highly articulate, soft and porous boundaries, in contrast, show a more peaceful and sophisticated encounter, and a more urbane society.” The ultimate question separating the rhetoric of public spaces from the reality, then, is “whose spaces are they?” Dr. Madanipour is Professor of Urban Design at Newcastle University in the UK.

Vikas Mehta, writing in “Streets and Social Life in Cities: A Taxonomy of Sociability,” celebrates the fact that “we have made significant advances in the awareness of the value of the public realm and in the planning and design of urban public spaces including streets.” On the other hand, we can only achieve the potential of streets as valuable public spaces “when the design and management of the space and the uses on the street remains open-ended to represent numerous groups and constituencies of the neighborhood and beyond, and are meaningful to them.” Dr. Mehta points to hopeful evidence that “… there are streets that counter the prevalent culture of consumption and one can find visible signs of spontaneity and diversity of people and activities, and genuine social life.” He draws helpful lessons from “…how these streets perform as social spaces—how sociability is enacted, and what is the nature of planning, design and management that supports a taxonomy of social behaviors on the street.” Dr. Mehta is Fruth/Gemini Chair, Ohio Eminent Scholar of Urban/Environmental Design at the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, the University of Cincinnati.

The emphasis on public space within the New Urban Agenda is just one more reminder of its emerging status as a central subject of study. Among the disciplines that now treat public space as a major research topic are urban design, urban studies, anthropology, sociology, environmental psychology, political science, and urban economics. This inter-disciplinary characteristic also points to one of the most helpful aspects of public space, its capacity as an organizing framework for other urban systems.

Cities, we are learning, are the ultimate complex adaptive systems, and public space systems offer us a very helpful entry point to understand, and manage, the emerging complex challenges for cities and for urbanization. As Dr. Joan Clos, director of UN-Habitat, has observed, if we fail to provide a healthy system of public space, well-related to built space, there is some doubt as to whether we will have a city at all:

The principal question… is the relationship in a city between public space and buildable space. This is the art and science of building cities–and until we recover this basic knowledge, we will continue to make huge mistakes. (Clos, 2016 )

In that light, and given the magnitude of the challenges, it is clear that public space research urgently needs further development. As we take up in the concluding section, a number of key questions remain, including the nature and benefits of public spaces, its relation to private spaces, the roles of the various actors that create and use it, and the tools and strategies they may use to do so.

For example, what makes a great public space? There are numerous spatial and social qualities involved, of course: Issue of size, scale, degree of physical enclosure, amenities, aesthetics, and other variables matter; public spaces at different times and in dissimilar contexts might change in their role of accommodating various and heterogeneous groups of people in the city (Carmona et al. 2003 ). These changing roles also mean changing conditions for various social and economic groups, for those inhabiting the adjacent urban realms, and for those visiting or passing by (Amin 2008 ). This urban complexity clearly demonstrates the complexity of the problem of public space, and begins to point toward a new nomenclature and system of public spaces (Haas and Olsson 2014 ).

The New Urban Agenda expresses the proposition—supported by considerable evidence—that the cities that will do best in the long run will be those that best support an open, equitable public realm, and leverage its benefits for all the people who utilize those places. This is because, as we see in this issue and in other research, public spaces offer the capacity to support a complex agenda of livability and sociability, economic prosperity, community cohesion, social justice, and overall sustainability for cities. Yet as we also learn from the authors herein, these goals can only be achieved if we understand, and assure, the fully open, porous and dynamic nature of public spaces—which is, in fact, the very essence of their publicness.

Change history

25 march 2019.

The following paragraph on page 2 (bottom of first column) has been removed.

Amin, Ash. 2008. Collective Culture and Urban Public Space. City Journal ( Analysis of Urban Trends, Culture, Theory, Policy, Action ) 12 (1), 2008 Routledge.

Carmona, M., T. Heath, T. Oc, and S. Tiesdell. 2003. Public Places—Urban Space: The Dimensions of Urban Design . Oxford: The Architectural Press.

Google Scholar  

Clos, J. 2016. We have lost the science of building cities. Interview in The Guardian newspaper, 18 April 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/18/lost-science-building-cities-joan-clos-un-habitat . Accessed 7 Dec 2017.

Haas, T., and Olsson, K. 2014. Transmutation and Reinvention of Public Spaces Through Ideals of Urban Planning and Design. Space and Culture Journal, Sage 2014, 17 (1): 59–68.

UN Habitat, PPS and Ax: son Johnson Foundation. 2015. Key Messages from the Future of Places. https://unhabitat.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Key-Messages-from-the-Future-of-Places.pdf . Accessed 25 Apr 2017.

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Centre for the Future of Places (CFP), School of Architecture and the Built Environment, KTH, Stockholm, Sweden

Tigran Haas

Center for the Future of Places, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

Michael W. Mehaffy

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Haas, T., Mehaffy, M.W. Introduction: the future of public space. Urban Des Int 24 , 1–3 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41289-018-0062-3

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News | July 7, 2020

A/B Streets game lets you create the Seattle street grid of your dreams

It seems like a lifetime ago when we could just leave the house and go places, whether on foot or bike or (if we must) car. And as much as one might long for a return to normal-times, let’s not forget that normalcy also involved such headaches as congestion, traffic sewers, long waits for buses,…

Aaron Luoma

Map | New York

Accidental Skyline NYC

Too often, New Yorkers are caught off guard by new development in their neighborhoods. The Accidental Skyline offers tools to help demystify the city planning process and bring the public into the conversation.

Research Beyond UW | University of Cape Town

African Centre for Cities

The African Centre for Cities (ACC) is an interdisciplinary research and teaching programme focused on quality scholarship regarding the dynamics of unsustainable urbanisation processes in Africa, with an eye on identifying systemic responses. Rapid and poorly governed urbanization in Africa points to a profound developmental and philosophical crisis. Most scholarship focuses on the development challenges…

Research Beyond UW | Harvard University

Aga Khan Program

The Aga Khan Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design is part of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard and MIT, dedicated to the study of Islamic art and architecture, urbanism, landscape design and conservation. The GSD program is invested in the application of that knowledge to contemporary design issues. Established…

Ahmed Abdel-Aziz

Alan borning, alex anderson, ali modarres, amazon catalyst grant.

Amazon Catalyst’s goal is to help people develop solutions to key problems faced in the world today. Problems can be diverse, from computer security, to immigration, to climate change. Because issues like these are complex, solutions will come from many different fields and many different perspectives. Therefore, the grants are open to all disciplines, including…

News | March 15, 2022

An Online World That Doesn’t Destroy the Real One

Inviting as visions of the metaverse can be—a 3D stroll through Barcelona, avatars kissing, selling your side-hustle NFTs for mad Bitcoin—the real-world price of virtuality is alarmingly high and climbing. Nothing “internet” happens without megatons of hardware, those hot racks of servers in highly secured data centers (DCs) that sprawl in the most unimaginative way…

Anaid Yerena

Andrea gevurtz arai.

News | March 30, 2022

Andrew Himes of Carbon Leadership Forum presents TEDTalk Change Our Buildings, Save Our Planet

Andrew Himes’ 2021 TEDxSeattle talk is an impassioned plea for buildings that help solve climate change instead of contributing to it. With a sense of hope, Andrew asserts that working together to solve the climate crisis gives us the opportunity to “regain a sense of our shared humanity.” As Andrew explains, the materials used in…

Andy Dannenberg

Ann marie borys, anne vernez-moudon.

News | September 26, 2022

Annual letter recaps urban efforts across UW, beyond

As we all head into another autumn and academic year under the COVID-19 pandemic, Urban@UW wishes to acknowledge the ongoing impacts of this and so many other acute and chronic drivers of struggle, inequality and injustice. Along with the uncertainty, loss, and weariness, we also acknowledge this community’s perseverance and commitment to co-creating cities that…

Center & Lab

Applied Research Consortium

The Applied Research Consortium (ARC) is rooted in the idea that collaboration across academia and industry will accelerate progress in our fields. ARC brings together an interdisciplinary group of built environment firms with faculty experts and graduate student researchers at the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments (CBE) to address the most vexing challenges…

The Applied Research Consortium (ARC) connects students, faculty, and industry partners for applied research. ARC brings together research, practice, and education; generates new ideas and solutions for the built environment; supports diversity and intercultural skills among student fellows; and enhances impact and connections for academic and firm partners alike.

Degree Program

Architecture / Architectural Design (BA, CM dual degree, MArch, dual MArch-MLA, MS, Minor)

The Department of Architecture advances the discipline and practice of architecture by: Educating architects who are responsive and responsible to society, culture and the environment. Advancing architectural knowledge through research, scholarship, and critical practice. Using this knowledge to benefit local, regional, national and global communities. We value excellence in research and teaching, the traditions of…

News | March 29, 2021

Architecture students envision a greater Gould Hall

Back in the days of disco, Architecture Professor Daniel Streissguth, ’48, was asked to lead the design for a new home for the then College of Architecture and Urban Planning. His brief was to lead the team to create “useful, well-balanced architecture” with offices, classrooms, studios, a library and space for the design disciplines to…

Research Beyond UW | University of Virginia

Arctic Design Group

“The Arctic extends over an area of about 5.5 million square miles and includes 8 nations. For centuries it has been understood as vast, and almost mythical frozen realm. But increasingly, the dual forces of climate change and globalization are combining to rapidly transform the region. With increasing temperature, retreating sea ice, the opening up…

Arthur Acolin

News | September 5, 2018

Artificial intelligence can estimate an area’s obesity levels by analyzing its buildings

Two researchers from the University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation have found a way to estimate a US city’s obesity level without having to look at its inhabitants. The duo trained an artificial intelligence algorithm to find the relationship between a city’s infrastructure and obesity levels using satellite and Street View images…

News | April 3, 2017

As Central District gets whiter, new barriers to health care

Last week while lawmakers in Washington, D.C., were gnashing their teeth over what health insurance in the U.S. should look like, patients and providers in King County were wrestling with some of the same challenges they faced before the Affordable Care Act was in place.   In 2014, students in King County who are black,…

News | February 23, 2023

As Downtown recovers, Seattle reimagines what it could be

Office-to-residential conversion has its share of skeptics in the real estate world. It is expensive, in part because office interiors are so much deeper than apartment interiors, meaning it’s hard to get natural light. It’s also expensive to retrofit HVAC systems and other residential necessities that offices don’t need. Not all office buildings are created…

Research Beyond UW | Columbia University

Asian Megacities Lab

Over the next 25 years, it is projected that China will account for 50% of the world’s new construction. The majority of this construction will occur in existing cities or newly formed urban areas. It is the mission of the Asia Megacities Lab to become actively engaged with this rapid urbanization and spatial production occurring…

Athan Tramountanas

Bára šafářová, behçet açikmeşe.

News | September 13, 2022

Benjamin F. McAdoo’s Lasting Legacy as an Architect and Activist

Enid McAdoo was only 6 when her family of five moved from the apartment above her dad’s Capitol Hill office to a brand-new custom home in Bothell. It was an impressionable age, an influential era and an exceptional place, and so her kaleidoscope of early memories reflects the still-vivid images of childhood. Enid is the…

Map | Berlin

Berlin Places I live Map

This map calculates a Life Quality Index for every location in Berlin. What is that? Life Quality Index (LQI) identifies wide scope of threads and opportunities in the social and physical environment of any given urban area. It was created to provide an overall information about neighborhoods in different cities and help their citizens to…

Bill Bender

News | July 25, 2017

Birds versus buildings: Rural structures pose greater relative threat than urban ones

About one billion birds are killed every year when they unwittingly fly into human-made objects such as buildings with reflective windows. Such collisions are the largest unintended human cause of bird deaths worldwide — and they are a serious concern for conservationists. A new paper published in June in the journal Biological Conservation finds that,…

Boris Srdar

Brett maurer, brian gerich, brian mclaren, bridge funding program.

The University of Washington Provost’s Office provides bridge funding to support faculty to span the gap in critical research programs. Applications from faculty should be submitted to the applicant’s department chair, who should prioritize requests before forwarding them to the dean of the college/school. In non-departmentalized colleges/schools, applications should be submitted to the dean or…

News | March 30, 2020

Bringing the Lens of Hip Hop to Urban Planning

Urban planning is in itself an interdisciplinary field, but UW Community, Environment, and Planning (CEP) senior Aury Banos is pushing its interdisciplinary lens even further. For her senior project Aury is connecting hip hop lyrics and artists to urban planning and the built environment. “I was inspired by Michael Ford’s lecture on hip hop and…

Bruner Foundation – The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence

The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) is a national urban design award that seeks to promote innovative thinking about the built environment and advance conversation about making cities better. The award discovers and celebrates urban places that are distinguished by quality design along with their social and economic contributions to our nation’s cities.

News | February 20, 2020

Building Codes for ‘The Really Big One’ in Seattle

Earthquake experts say current building codes don’t reflect the riskiest features of the Seattle area’s geology — but the outlook for survivability looks a lot better if the Really Big One can just hold off for a few more years. The Cascadia subduction zone, centered along a submarine fault just off the West Coast, is…

News | April 14, 2021

Building high-rises, hotels and stadiums out of wood–for climate’s sake

It started as a dream that is slowly becoming a reality. “Maybe six or seven years ago, we set out to build the most sustainable football stadium that’s ever been built in the world,” said Dale Vince, the owner of the football club Forest Green Rovers, in Gloucestershire, in southwest England. Vince’s team has been working…

News | January 13, 2021

Building knowledge: The architect and the builder with Professor Ann Huppert

Throughout history, we’ve seen shifts in how people communicate regarding design. The question of how communication happens between architect and builder is as fundamental today as it was hundreds of years ago. While the dynamics of these communication processes are nuanced, our understanding of them has been colored by a narrative of the past. One…

Bullitt Center Discovery Commons

The UW-Center for Integrated Design (CID), a self-sustaining entity of the University of Washington, is located on the second floor of the Bullitt Center, serving as the home for the Integrated Design Lab and the Discovery Commons. The Integrated Design Lab (IDL) carries out research and technical assistance aimed at advancing knowledge and implementation of…

News | April 21, 2023

Bullitt Center Generated Net Positive Energy over First Decade

In its first ten years, the Bullitt Center has generated nearly 30% more energy from solar panels on its roof than it has used, which is enough excess to power 41 homes in Seattle for a year. Since opening on Earth Day 2013, it has shown indisputably that net-positive energy buildings are possible anywhere. In…

Bullitt Foundation Grants

The Foundation’s resources are modest when compared to the ambitious mission of promoting sustainable development over a huge region. So its role is mostly catalytic. The Foundation looks for high risk, high potential payoff opportunities to exert unusual leverage. It has a special interest in demonstrating innovative approaches that promise to solve multiple problems simultaneously.…

News | November 9, 2017

Can Seattle rezone away the racial divide in housing?

For generations, Seattle was segregated through racist neighborhood covenants, deed restrictions, even banking policies designed to keep certain minorities out of largely white enclaves.Yet nearly 50 years after the landmark Fair Housing Act sought to reverse that legacy, the city remains strikingly separated along color lines. A Seattle Times analysis shows that areas dedicated to…

News | August 7, 2019

Can tiny houses help solve affordability crisis? A student who’s building one thinks so

Olivia Tyrnauer adjusts the ladder and carefully begins to climb, balancing on the steps as she carries a large window up to an empty frame. Positioned precariously on one of the top steps, she loops a screw gun out of her belt and pulls a screw from one of the pockets of her tan cargo…

Candice Rai

News | January 9, 2019

Carbon accountability: progress in work to reduce embodied carbon in construction materials

“We acknowledge that we hold this world in trust and recognize the immediate threat climate change and its impacts pose to current and future generations,” reads a statement signed this fall by more than 100 construction-related companies and nonprofits. “We must act urgently and collaboratively to transform the built environment from a leading driver of…

Carbon Leadership Forum

The Carbon Leadership Forum (CLF) is an industry-academic collaborative research effort. CLF is working to link the rigor of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) based carbon accounting to industry best practices in order to enable quantifiable reduction to the environmental impact of the built environment. Its research is focused on developing the data, analysis, and standards…

News | February 13, 2021

Carbon Leadership Forum among finalists selected for $10 million 2030 Climate Challenge

On February 9th, Lever for Change announced that the College of Built Environment’s Carbon Leadership Forum (CLF) and four other finalist teams will advance to the next stage of the 2030 Climate Challenge, a $10 million award launched last year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. by 2030. The Challenge, sponsored by an anonymous donor, will…

Carla Saulter

Carrie sturts dossick.

News | October 18, 2016

Cars vs health: UW’s Moudon, Dannenberg contribute to Lancet series on urban planning, public health

Automobiles — and the planning and infrastructure to support them — are making our cities sick, says an international group of researchers now publishing a three-part series in the British medical journal The Lancet. University of Washington professors Anne Vernez Moudon and Andrew Dannenberg are co-authors of the first of this series that explores these…

News | February 8, 2018

Cascadia showcases how a coordinated corridor strategy can reinforce urban innovation

A central premise of Meeting of the Minds is that the flexibility, practicality, and focus of municipal governments make them ideal technological and social innovators. But can the ingenuity of U.S. cities be sufficiently amplified to effectively keep up with the pace of climate change, especially in the face of declining federal leadership? Answering this…

Catherine De Almeida

News | July 16, 2020

CEE researchers develop first-ever map that quantifies landslide risk in Seattle

When it comes to safeguarding Seattle from landslide hazards, UW CEE Ph.D. student William Pollock has a plan mapped out – quite literally. He will soon be releasing a first-of-its-kind map that predicts landslide risk throughout the city. “As far as I know, this is the first map in the nation to quantify landslide risk…

Research Beyond UW | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Center for Advanced Urbanism

The Center for Advanced Urbanism is committed to fostering a rigorous design culture for the large scale; by focusing our disciplinary conversations about architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture, and systems thinking, not about the problems of yesterday, but of tomorrow. We are motivated by the radical changes in our environment, and the role that design…

Center for Asian Urbanism

The Center for Asian Urbanism is established to promote and undertake interdisciplinary and collaborative research of urban conditions and processes in Asia and the “Global Pacific” – i.e. the relevancies of cities and city-regions in Asia to each other, to the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., and to the world at large. Specifically, the Center…

Center for Cultural Landscapes

The Center for Cultural Landscapes produces research and creates new models of innovative cultural landscape stewardship in the region, the nation and around the globe. We are an interdisciplinary group of anthropologists, historians, landscape architects, architects, and planners who are connected to, and collaborating with, a larger group of associated professionals and organizations to achieve…

Center for Design & Health

The Center for Design and Health pursues cross-disciplinary research to aid the design and planning of effective environments for human health and well being. The work of the Center focuses on a variety of health issues, including the design and planning of patient-centered medical facilities, housing, neighborhoods, communities, cities, and regions.

Center for Education and Research in Construction (CERC)

The Center for Education and Research in Construction (CERC) is a locus of research, scholarship and discovery in the UW’s Department of Construction Management and allied disciplines of architecture, engineering and real estate. Focused on the people and practices of a dynamic, innovative construction industry, CERC develops new concepts and innovative solutions as well as…

Research Beyond UW | University of California, Berkeley

Center for Environmental Design Research

The Center for Environmental Design Research (CEDR) fosters research in environmental planning and design, ranging from the local environments of people within buildings to region-wide ecosystems, from small details of building construction to large-scale urban planning, from the history of the built environment to the design process itself. Our research is highly interdisciplinary. Our researchers…

Center for Integrated Design

The mission of the Center for Integrated Design is to discover solutions that overcome the most difficult building performance barriers, and to meet the building industry’s goals of moving towards radically higher performing buildings and healthy urban environments. The Center for Integrated Design, composed of the Integrated Design Lab and the Discovery Commons, builds knowledge…

Center for Livable Communities

The mission of the Center for Livable Communities is to enhance the livability of communities in the Pacific Northwest through applied research and outreach in the areas of land use planning, policy, and design; healthy communities; food security; and public participation and democracy. The Center is a research and policy center focused on issues of…

Research Beyond UW | Technical University of Berlin

Center for Metropolitan Studies

The city is our research field. Since 2004 the Center for Metropolitan Studies (CMS) at the Technische Universität Berlin has brought together both young and experienced researchers to study the historical developments and current problems of the metropolis in its international graduate research program, the masters program in historical urban studies, and adjunct research projects.…

Research Beyond UW | University of Toronto

Centre for Urban & Community Studies

The Centre for Urban and Community Studies (CUCS) was established in 1964 to promote and disseminate multidisciplinary research and policy analysis on urban issues. The Centre's activities contributed to scholarship on questions relating to the social, economic and physical well-being of people who live and work in urban areas large and small, in Canada and…

News | August 24, 2018

Certified healthy buildings? Bellevue and UW are working on it

Considering that most people spend one-third of their day at work, UW Civil and Environmental Engineering researchers are advocating for healthier buildings. And they aren’t wasting any time. The first government building in Puget Sound, Bellevue City Hall, recently gained Fitwel Certification thanks to their help. “Since the built environment affects human health, the certification symbolizes the city’s commitment…

Chandigarh Urban Lab

The Chandigarh Urban Lab is dedicated to creating a forum to understanding the contemporary Indian city in transformation. It is designed to support Indian and international students and scholars of architecture and urbanism interested in studying Chandigarh as a case-study in the above context. Besides infrastructural and logistical support, the Lab offers linkages with local…

Christopher Campbell

Christopher meek, chuck benson, circular city + living systems lab (ccls).

The Circular City + Living Systems Lab (CCLS) is an interdisciplinary group of faculty and students researching living systems integrated into the built environment that produce and circulate resources within the food-water-energy nexus. Synthesizing expertise from architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, planning, biology, and ecology, the CCLS applies principles of research and design to investigate transformative…

News | August 25, 2023

Cities Aren’t Supposed to Burn Like This Anymore—Especially Lahaina

Rescue crews are still searching Lahaina, Hawaii, for survivors of the catastrophic wildfire that obliterated the town last week on the island of Maui. It’s the deadliest blaze in modern American history, with 99 people confirmed dead, surpassing the 85 that perished in 2018’s Camp Fire in Paradise, California. Crews have only searched a quarter…

Research Beyond UW | York University

City Institute at York University (CITY)

The City Institute at York University (CITY) brings together over 60 of the university’s urban scholars and scores of graduate students from fields as diverse as planning, geography, environmental studies, anthropology, sociology, political science, education, law, transportation and the humanities. This interdisciplinary institute facilitates critical and collaborative research, providing new knowledge and innovative approaches to…

News | March 23, 2018

City of Bellevue selected as 2018-2019 UW Livable City Year partner

The University of Washington Livable City Year program has selected the City of Bellevue to be the community partner for the 2018-2019 academic year. The year-long partnership connects city staff with students and faculty who will collaborate on projects to advance the Bellevue City Council Vision Priorities, specifically around livability and sustainability. In the upcoming…

Map | Melbourne

City of Melbourne Maps

This site includes information, maps and images relating to properties, features and assets located within the City of Melbourne municipal area. Map data includes childcare and schools, community facilities, development activities, historic maps, mobility information, districts, walking tours and more.

Civil and Environmental Engineering (PhD)

Students in the UW CEE Ph.D. program work closely with distinguished faculty on research and pursue their own innovative projects, preparing them to make a difference in the world. Students who pursue Ph.D. degrees often obtain high-level jobs in industry or go on to work in academia. Students focus their studies on one of the…

Civil Engineering (BS, MS)

At the University of Washington, civil engineering students are preparing to take on the challenges presented by aging national infrastructure and the pressing needs of both urban and developing communities around the globe. Civil engineers design, build, operate and maintain urban environments to improve people’s lives. From transportation to water quality to earthquake preparedness, resilient…

Research Beyond UW | Lousiana State University

Coastal Sustainability Studio

The LSU Coastal Sustainability Studio brings together academic disciplines that typically conduct research separately—such as designers, scientists, planners, and engineers—to intensively study and respond to critical issues of coastal settlement, restoration, flood protection, and economic development. Through its integrated design and systems thinking approach, programs, and projects, the CSS builds university capacity and transdisciplinary teams…

News | September 8, 2017

College of Built Environments’ David de la Cruz partners with communities for environmental justice

David de la Cruz has a question about power. “When we think about toxic sites and where they’re placed in relation to where people live, who’s left out of making those decisions?” “Often,” he answers, “it’s the people who live there. It’s low-income communities, working-class communities and communities of color who don’t have a say….

Community Design Research Center

The Community Design Research Center (CDRC), led by director Suzanne Moomaw, initiates, generates, and works collaboratively with partners to connect faculty, students, and community members to research and design application projects aimed at addressing systemic local, regional, national, and global challenges. Called the “wicked” problems of society, these include human settlements, sustainable ecosystems, poverty, food…

Community, Environment & Planning (BA)

Community, Environment, and Planning is a self-directed, diverse undergraduate major comprised of students, faculty, and staff engaged in holistic growth and a collaborative process of experiential and interdisciplinary learning. In our major, we develop skills, techniques, and knowledge necessary to be active leaders and conscientious planners in our communities and environments. Our values are presented…

News | January 23, 2020

Considering wood as a sustainable building material

Architects, builders, and sustainability advocates are all abuzz over a new building material they say could substantially reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the building sector, slash the waste, pollution, and costs associated with construction, and create a more physically, psychologically, and aesthetically healthy built environment. The material is known as, uh, wood. Recently, UW…

News | April 28, 2020

Construction causes major pollution. Here’s how we can build better.

Buildings of the future will be grown on-site, says Wil Srubar, an assistant professor of architectural engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder who also runs the Living Materials Laboratory. They’ll be made from hemp, or algae or specially engineered wood — or bacteria that can photosynthesize, like the cyanobacteria mortar he and his research…

Construction Management (BS, Arch dual degree, Minor, MS, Cert, PCE)

The department’s mission is: To prepare individuals for careers in the construction and related industries by providing high quality education, to conduct research that will benefit the construction industry, and to provide service to the community. This includes educating students in developing a sustainable built environment and applying innovative construction techniques based on cutting edge…

News | May 2, 2018

CSDE Affiliates Examine Equity Issues Associated with Tolled Roads

Last week, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan proposed instituting a toll on downtown roads to curb congestion. The Seattle Times examined the potential benefits and implications of the toll. In unpacking the possible equity issues, the Times turned to a 2009 study conducted by Affiliate Jennifer Romich, Associate Professor at the School of Social Work; Affiliate Robert Plotnick, Professor Emeritus at the Evans School of…

Dan Abramson

Daniel winterbottom, david miller, david strauss, dawn lehman.

News | August 18, 2022

Dean Cheng at AIA ’22

The Soul Children of Chicago, an acclaimed youth choir, delivered an energetic start to Day 2 of A’22. The group performed four songs to warm up the crowd for the impending keynote panel conversation. Moderated by Lee Bey, a Chicago-based photographer, author, lecturer, and architecture critic, the conversation featured renowned architects Vishaan Chakrabarti, FAIA, Renée…

Dean Heerwagen

Design machine group.

Design Machine Group (DMG) is a collaborative research studio aimed at exploring, fostering, and developing ideas that will shape the future of design and information technology. The lab serves as the primary home of students in the MS in Architecture Program in Design Computing.

News | May 31, 2019

Designing for resilience

Seattle is one of the fastest growing cities in the country– a hub of innovation with a thriving economy. Yet this rapid growth challenges the capacity of the city to adapt without damaging its current communities. Students from The University of Washington’s College of Built Environments responded to these and other challenges through the Winter…

News | October 27, 2017

Developing ‘breakaway’ tsunami resistant buildings

The best designs can also be the most surprising. A promising new concept for tsunami resistant buildings features breakaway walls and floors on lower levels that, when removed by forceful waves, strengthen the structure and better protect occupants seeking safety on higher floors. Thanks to a $1 million National Science Foundation Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing…

Disability Studies (Minor, Major, and Graduate Certificate)

Disability Studies is a multi-disciplinary field that investigates, critiques, and enhances Western society’s understandings of disability. The Disability Studies Program's Minor, Major, and Graduate Certificate will introduce you to a critical framework for recognizing how people with disabilities have experienced disadvantages and exclusion because of personal and societal responses to impairment, and for exploring how…

News | May 4, 2023

Don’t Take Concrete for Granite

Concrete: it’s all around us. It makes up sidewalks, buildings, pavements, bridges, and dams, and can be shaped (within reason) to a builder’s whims. The ubiquitous material probably escapes everyday notice simply because it is everywhere. So, is concrete really a big deal? “I have a presentation that starts out asking that question,” says Fred…

Dredge Collective: Mapping New York Harbor

JFK airport and thousands of acres encircling Jamaica Bay were marshy wetlands before being filled in. The extant vegetated marsh islands within it are eroding at an ever-accelerating rate. Without additional anthropogenic influences – such as the creative application of dredged materials to reconstruct the islands – they may completely disappear as soon as 2020.…

News | October 10, 2017

Earthquakes are inevitable but catastrophe is not

Written by University of Washington Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering professor Marc Eberherd, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering associate professor Jeffery Berman, and Department of Human-Centered Design senior scientist Scott Miles. Many older buildings provide vital, low-cost housing. But we must find a way to make these structures safer. It should not be…

Elizabeth Golden

Elizabeth umbanhowar.

News | March 11, 2022

Empty Champlain Towers garage offers rare window into impact of sea rise underground

As sea levels rose from climate change, a new study found, flooding in the underground garage at the beachside Champlain Towers South became more common. Much more common. Whether rising seas played a role in the collapse of the doomed Surfside condominium is unclear — and perhaps, unlikely — but the new research from Florida…

Energy & Sustainability in Construction (ESC) Lab

The ESC lab promotes energy efficiency and sustainability (EES) in the built environment through the development of sustainable design and construction practices and risk-based financial models for EES investments. We aim to integrate advanced financial analysis, project development, and management strategies used during the delivery of energy-efficient buildings and sustainable infrastructures. With this work, ESC…

Energy, Environments & Design Lab

What does energy want from design? What role does design have in energy systems? As a part of the Research Advancement Initiative (RAI), at Harvard Graduate School of Design, the Energy, Environments & Design Lab investigates novel agendas for energy at a range of design scales. From overlooked thermal parameters at the molecular level to…

News | June 26, 2015

Environmental Change – Local Impacts and Response by Himanshu Grover

Presented at the June 1st Urban@UW Launch

Environmental Engineering (BS)

Environmental engineers work to both safeguard and improve the quality of the environment. By utilizing a combination of both scientific and engineering principles, environmental engineers work to protect the world and its people from negative environmental impacts caused by both natural and human activities. The work of environmental engineers is increasingly important, as healthy environments…

Eric Higbee

News | August 18, 2016

Exploring Artistically Significant Landscapes

Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture Thaisa Way has been appointed chair of the Dumbarton Oaks Fellows in Garden and Landscape Studies. Way, who has been a Senior Fellow with Dumbarton Oaks since 2011 will serve a one year term.As one of six Senior Fellows, the group serves as advisors to the Director of Dumbarton Oaks…

Eyhab Al-Masri

News | March 16, 2017

First UW Livable City Year project reports delivered to the City of Auburn

Teams of University of Washington students have been working throughout this academic year on livability and sustainability projects in the City of Auburn. The yearlong Livable City Year partnership has given students a chance to work on real-world challenges identified by Auburn, while providing Auburn with tens of thousands of hours of study and student…

News | April 25, 2023

For Earth Day, UW Eyes a Carbon-neutral Future

For more than 50 years, the University of Washington has recognized Earth Day by engaging students, faculty and staff in a variety of activities and events aimed at creating a more sustainable future. In 2023, the UW plans to spend $3 million on energy and water conservation efforts, representing a 400% increase from the previous…

Ford Foundation

We believe in the inherent dignity of all people. Yet around the world, billions of people are excluded from full participation in the political, economic, and cultural systems that shape their lives. We view this fundamental inequality as the defining challenge of our time, one that limits the potential of all people, everywhere. Addressing inequality…

News | August 22, 2022

Founders Hall will be a model of sustainable construction, carbon capture, energy and water conservation and natural cooling

As Foster School of Business students, faculty and staff anticipate enjoying the much-improved convenience, beauty and amenities of the newly constructed Founders Hall when it opens next month, they will be doing so in one of the region’s most sustainably constructed buildings. From carbon-sequestering construction materials to drought-resistant vegetation, every aspect of the building is…

News | July 6, 2023

From Vacant Storefronts to Vibrant Hubs: Revisiting ‘Third Places’ for Urban Resilience

In Seattle, city government and the Downtown Seattle Association continue to build on the “Amazon Great Return” through a variety of strategies to reactivate downtown. While attempts to maintain safety and deter drug trafficking remain forefront in the news, increased foot traffic, intriguing office-to-residence retrofit proposals and trends toward park and retail reopening suggest a spirit…

Galen Minah

Giovanni migliaccio.

News | March 20, 2018

Giving Voice, Being Seen: Community Agency and Design Action in a Time of Climate Change, April 26

Climate change affects everyone, but it does not impact all communities equally. These differences may be most evident in the built environment and the shared spaces such as parks, streets, schools, homes, which we experience and move through daily. In seeking to inspire more collaborative, inclusive and creative responses to climate change in the built…

Glen Duncan

Research Beyond UW | Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University

Global Cities Research Institute

The Global Cities Research Institute was inaugurated in 2006 to bring together key researchers at RMIT University, Australia, working on understanding the complexity of globalizing urban settings from provincial centres to mega-cities. Our research is highly collaborative, linking with institutions and people around the world in long-term partnerships, we are directly addressing the challenge through…

Graduate Certificate in Historic Preservation

The College of Built Environments (CBE) offers two complementary certificates in historic preservation which emphasize the field of historic preservation and related developments in allied fields that address the multiplicity of issues in the identification, evaluation, and protection of cultural resources. The certificates are intended to enhance the education of students beyond their regular course…

Graham Foundation

Founded in 1956, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts makes project-based grants to individuals and organizations and produces public programs to foster the development and exchange of diverse and challenging ideas about architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society. Architecture and related spatial practices engage a wide range…

News | September 27, 2022

Green Buildings Get a Boost in WA, but Policy and Demand Still Lag

Two decades ago, Washington became a foothold for a global movement to decarbonize buildings. But since then momentum has sputtered. Embodied carbon is still an emerging field. Since the U.S. Department of Ecology began collecting and cataloguing data on building energy use, carbon emissions have slowly but surely become a bigger part of the equation….

News | March 19, 2021

Green construction can play an active role as climate action accelerates

The following op ed was penned by Anthony Hickling, Managing Director of University of Washington‘s Carbon Leadership Forum.   When President Joe Biden re-signed the Paris Accord and introduced the largest clean-energy and climate-justice plan the country has ever seen, he launched a significant opportunity to fight climate change. Buildings can be part of the…

Green Futures Lab

The Green Futures Lab mission is to support interdisciplinary research and design that advances our understanding of, visions for, and design of a vital and ecologically sustainable public realm. Apply Green Futures research and designs to policy develop potential urban green infrastructure solutions within Seattle and the Pacific Northwest region and work with the University…

News | April 9, 2017

Growing Up in the University District

Vikram Jandhyala sees Seattle’s University District evolving into an “innovation district” — a place where public and private sectors work together to develop socially beneficial technologies. Think Silicon Valley, where Stanford University faculty and students launch new companies or work on their new technologies with existing tech giants. As the University of Washington’s vice president…

Gundula Proksch

H. pike oliver, harvard center for green buildings and cities.

The Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities aims to transform the building industry through a commitment to design-centric strategy that directly links research outcomes to the development of new processes, systems, and products. By strongly emphasizing innovation and multidisciplinary collaboration, the Center will work to promote holistic change within the built environment, namely the…

Heather Burpee

News | February 12, 2016

Heterogeneity and American Ghettos with Dr. Mario Luis Small – 2/25

February 25th / 6:00-7:30pm / CMU 120 Dr. Mario Luis Small Grafstein Family Professor, Harvard University By the end of the 20th century, the dominant theories of urban poverty argued that U.S. ghettos had become isolated areas devoid of everyday institutions and disconnected from mainstream society. Dr. Small examines whether the conventional models have underestimated…

News | December 21, 2020

Hidden in plain sight: The ghosts of segregation

Originally written by Richard Frishman for the New York Times‘ series World Through a Lens.   The six faded letters are all that remain, and few people notice them. I would never have seen them if a friend hadn’t pointed them out to me while we walked through New Orleans’s French Quarter. I certainly wouldn’t have…

Himanshu Grover

News | February 1, 2024

History uncovered: UW research finds thousands of past racial restrictions in Kitsap

Reported in The Kitsap Sun By Peiyu Lin It’s not a secret that Kitsap County possesses a history of segregation, where some areas of the peninsula were only allowed to sell or rent to white people in the early and mid-20th century. But a specific geographic distribution of the over 2,300 properties that carry racial…

News | May 29, 2019

Home construction continues to rise in north Snohomish County

The sounds of hammering, sawing and heavy equipment are echoing across the area these days. It’s in stark contrast to five years ago when few new homes were being built. “Back in 2014, we were one-at-a-timing it to eke our way through,” said Anthony Holbeck of Holbeck Construction & Design on Camano. “Now, it’s a…

News | February 7, 2019

Homeowners keep building walls around Puget Sound. Biologists are taking out more

Puget Sound has started getting healthier, at least by one measure: A little less of its shoreline is buried under walls of concrete and rock. Biologists have long pointed to seawalls, bulkheads and other protective structures known as “shoreline armoring” as a major environmental problem for Puget Sound. More than 660 miles, or about 29…

News | March 14, 2017

How future superstorms could overwhelm today’s wastewater infrastructure

The current Seattle rainstorm, and many like it this year, are overwhelming our city’s wastewater pipes, and some sewage may be dumping into the Puget Sound as we speak. But even in a normal year, King County dumps about 800 million gallons of raw sewage into its waterways. That’s because, when it rains too much…

News | April 28, 2022

How one architect’s radical ideas about nature changed American cities forever

For those of us who did the majority of our growing up in upper Manhattan, it’s not hyperbolic to say that New York’s Central Park was our backyard. We spent snow days careening down Cedar Hill on our sleds. I attended a bar mitzvah reception at Loeb Boathouse, spending a good portion of it perched…

News | March 9, 2022

How one of Seattle’s first landmarks was nearly destroyed in Big Snow of 1916

One of the biggest winter storms to strike the Northwest arrived 106 years ago this week. Though it wasn’t as intense as the Big Snow of 1880, the February 1916 storm nearly destroyed one of Seattle’s earliest landmarks. One of the places where that heavy wet snow really took a toll was at St. James…

News | May 23, 2018

How Seattle’s appetite for construction is creating a growing waste problem

The sun has barely burned the fog off Lake Washington as Noel Stout, standing near the water’s edge, peers at a heavy wooden trellis suspended 20 feet above a concrete backyard patio. He’s rigged a system of ropes and pulleys to the cedar latticework, which just yesterday supported a deck with a sweeping view across…

News | March 15, 2018

How social networks help perpetuate the ‘cycle of segregation’

Think about the last time you looked for a new apartment or house. Maybe you asked your friends or colleagues about where they lived. You thought about your route to work, or that neighborhood you always drive through on your way to your kid’s soccer practice. Many of these places were familiar to you, whether…

News | April 10, 2018

How Texas is ‘building back better’ from Hurricane Harvey

For most Americans, the one-two punch of last fall’s hurricanes is ancient history. But hard-hit communities in Texas, Florida and the Caribbean are still rebuilding. Nicole Errett, lecturer in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, recently traveled with public health students from the University of Washington to southeast Texas, where the impacts of…

News | August 1, 2019

How to consider nature’s impact on mental health in city plans

Almost one in five adults in the U.S. lives with a mental illness. That statistic is similar worldwide, with an estimated 450 million people currently dealing with a mental or neurological disorder. Of those, only about a third seek treatment. Interacting with nature is starting to be recognized as one way to improve mental health. A number of scientific…

News | July 6, 2020

How urban design can make or break protests

If protesters could plan a perfect stage to voice their grievances, it might look a lot like Athens, Greece. Its broad, yet not overly long, central boulevards are almost tailor-made for parading. Its large parliament-facing square, Syntagma, forms a natural focal point for marchers. With a warren of narrow streets surrounding the center, including the…

News | November 3, 2022

How West Coast universities, colleges grapple with ‘literal overheating’ of buildings amid recent heat wave

The historic heat wave that sweltered the West in early September, breaking records and straining California’s power grid, forced colleges and universities across the region to further assess extreme heat events. College campuses, specifically students and faculty on the West Coast, struggled with the intense heat wave. They have warned their communities of the excessive heat but…

News | September 29, 2022

How Will Downtowns across America Change in the Next Decade?

There is nothing quite like the hustle and bustle of a city. No matter where you are, you know when you’ve made it downtown. Since downtowns have changed so much in the past, what will they look like in the next decade? Well, in order to predict the future, we must go back to the…

Howard Frumkin

Hyun woo “chris” lee, ibm center for the business of government – connecting research to practice.

The aim of the IBM Center for The Business of Government is to tap into the best minds in academe and the nonprofit sector who can use rigorous public management research and analytic techniques to help public sector executives and managers improve the effectiveness of government. We are looking for very practical findings and actionable…

News | June 19, 2018

If you want to get to know Seattle, walk through it

Walking is ordinary. It is so ordinary, most of us do it without thinking: You put one foot in front of the other to get to the bus, to walk from your car to the office, to pick up something from the store. It requires only shoes — and, because we live in Seattle, some…

News | May 8, 2018

In a concrete jungle, one architect pushes for plywood for giants

Timber is coming back in the Northwest. I don’t mean old growth forests. Those have been holding steady for a couple of decades.I mean architecture. Cross-laminated timber, or CLT, is a material a true modernist can love — and not just for furniture and finishes. It’s very strong, and too beautiful to hide inside walls….

News | September 9, 2021

In the early 1990s, heat waves battered Philadelphia’s most vulnerable communities. The lessons learned are helping today

The water trickled down quickly, enough to coat the sun-bleached concrete basin in a city park with a layer of wetness. A toddler danced, smiling as water from the park’s sprinklers rained down on her, keeping her cool. It was a blistering midsummer day in July, the kind that as recently as 30 years ago…

Indroneil Ganguly

News | July 11, 2019

Informal housing, poverty, and legacies of apartheid in South Africa

“Ten percent of all South Africans — the majority white — owns more than 90 percent of national wealth… Some 80 percent of the population — overwhelmingly black — owns nothing at all.” — New York Times On April 27, 1994, Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) won the first multiracial democratic election…

Informal Urban Communities Initiatives

The Informal Urban Communities Initiatives (IUCI) is a design activism, research and education program based in Peru and expanding to Nepal this coming year. It focuses on the design, implementation and assessment of community-driven interventions in the built environment and places particular emphasis on the integrated, interdisciplinary design of distributed infrastructure and public space. The…

Informatics (BS, minor)

Informatics is the study, design, and development of information technology for the good of people, organizations, and society. As an Informatics student at the UW iSchool, you'll drive innovation as you explore the intersection of technology and human values. Your passion for analyzing and solving problems is reflected in the creativity you bring to the…

Infrastructure Planning & Management

Well-planned infrastructure strengthens the sustainability and livability of our cities and communities. University of Washington's online Master of Infrastructure Planning & Management degree prepares you to lead the development of the next generation of critical infrastructure systems ­­— resilient, secure and accessible.

Institute of Urban and Regional Development

Through collaborative, interdisciplinary research and practice, Institute of Urban and Regional Development (IURD) supports students, faculty, and visiting scholars to critically investigate and help improve processes and outcomes that shape urban equity around the world. "The future of IURD will be to position itself as a global leader in research and policy that aims to…

Integrated Design Lab

The Integrated Design Lab (IDL) carries out research to advance knowledge and policies that support the healthiest and highest performing buildings and cities. Its performance research includes energy efficiency, daylighting, electric lighting, occupant energy use behavior, human health and productivity in buildings, and advanced building management systems. The IDL transfers findings of its research through…

News | July 19, 2021

Integrating solutions to adapt cities for climate change

A new article explores how record climate extremes are reducing urban livability, compounding inequality, and threatening infrastructure. Co-authored by Marina Alberti, Professor of Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington; Brenda B Lin, Alessandro Ossola, Erik Andersson, Xuemei Bai, Cynnamon Dobbs, Thomas Elmqvist, Karl L Evans, Niki Frantzeskaki, Richard A Fuller, Kevin J Gaston,…

News | September 21, 2021

Interdisciplinary course helps empower the local community

Professors in the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments have created an interdisciplinary, graduate-level course, the McKinley Futures Nehemiah Studio, that combines architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning and design, and real estate principles into a groundbreaking opportunity for the local African American community as well as the students who participate in it. The studio…

Interdisciplinary Urban Design & Planning (PhD)

This program brings together faculty from disciplines ranging from Architecture to Sociology to focus on the interdisciplinary study of urban problems and interventions. Covering scales from neighborhoods to metropolitan areas, the program addresses interrelationships between the physical environment, the built environment, and the social, economic, and political institutions and processes that shape urban areas. The…

Jeff Berman

News | July 26, 2016

Jeff Shulman and the Seattle Growth Podcast: An Office Hours Visit

Jeff Shulman moved to Seattle a decade ago to begin his career at the University of Washington. In that short time, he’s watched Seattle’s dramatic and ongoing growth transform the city. This former South Lake Union resident has put together a thirteen-episode, in-depth look at how Seattle’s changes have affected real people. With nearly 100…

Jeffrey Karl Ochsner

Jennifer dee, jerry v. finrow, jill sterrett, jim nicholls, joe p. mahoney, john schaufelberger, john stanton, joseph wartman, joshua smith, julia nagele, julian marshall, julian yamaura, julie angeley, julie m. johnson, julie parrett, justin hamacher, kate simonen, kathryn rogers merlino, keith harris.

News | May 14, 2015

Ken Smith: Going Beyond the Metrics

In case you missed it. Ken Smith’s lecture, a part of the UW Landscape Architecture Lecture Series on May 14th 2015. The lecture focuses on ideas and craft in creating contemporary landscapes particularly at a larger scale. A number of new or recent projects are discussed as case studies. It addresses issues of scale, infrastructure…

Ken Tadashi Oshima

Kimo griggs, king county imap.

iMap is an application that allows you to view King County spatial information (GIS data and images) in an interactive map display. You can customize your map display to show just the information you want to see at the best scale for your chosen purpose. iMap is your window to a wealth of geographic information…

King County’s condo prices continue to fall as market gets new inventory

Though home prices in the region are not climbing as dramatically as they once were, that doesn’t mean that they’re falling. According to the latest Northwest Multiple Listing Service report, home prices for completed sales in April (the last month for which they have data) rose 2.4% across the 23-county system. Eight counties reported double-digit gains, as the hot market…

Kristi Park

Kyle crowder.

Map | Seattle

Lack of Sidewalks in Seattle

​This map from the Urbanist highlights the roughly 900 miles (28% of city blocks) without any sidewalks in Seattle.

News | June 19, 2017

Lake Union building earns awards for energy savings

Henbart LLC announced recently that a year-long study led by the University of Washington’s Integrated Design Lab confirmed that upgrading to View® Dynamic Glass technology in the Lake Union Building significantly saved energy and improved the tenant experience. The report verified annual energy savings of 17.7 percent or 351,604 kWh – roughly $28,000 a year…

Landscape Architecture (BLA, MLA, dual MArch-MLA, dual MLA-MUP)

At the University of Washington, we strive to create a program that meets the complex social, environmental, political, and aesthetic challenges of our time. Our program emphasis on urban ecological design addresses the multiple dimensions of today’s environmental challenges – infrastructure, culture, ecological literacy, and human and environmental health. With our focus on the intersection…

Latin America and Caribbean Laboratory

The Latin American and Caribbean Laboratory (Latin Lab) serves as an intellectual platform for research, educational, and service initiatives related to architecture and urban planning in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The Lab aims to become a leading laboratory for the study of the built environment and community development in LAC and its diasporas…

Laura N. Lowes

Laure heland.

News | July 18, 2019

Lessons from California earthquakes: What Seattle should know about ‘basin effects’

Ridgecrest, California was hit with a magnitude 6.4 earthquake on the morning of July 4, followed by a magnitude 7.1 quake in the same area on July 5. Despite being 125 miles from the epicenter, people in Los Angeles felt long-lasting shaking. This is because of something called “basin effects” — and Seattle should take…

Livable City Year

Most cities lack the capacity to fully address sustainability goals. Meanwhile, ideas and human capacity abound within universities. UW is a powerhouse of research and innovation on all aspects of urban life, but this knowledge isn’t always available to communities. Through Livable City Year, UW faculty and students from multiple disciplines work on high-priority projects…

News | October 2, 2018

Livable City Year and Tacoma finalize partnership

Throughout the 2017-2018 academic year, 349 University of Washington students and 26 UW faculty members worked with staff and community members from the City of Tacoma on projects to advance livability and sustainability in the city. The year-long partnership between Tacoma and UW Livable City Year (LCY) provided the city with university resources to tackle…

News | June 13, 2019

Livable City Year celebrates partnership with City of Bellevue

This year’s Livable City Year partnership with the City of Bellevue mobilized 285 students from a variety of schools and colleges, representing all three UW campuses, to work on 30 projects in the city. The students’ research, findings and recommendations were on display at a celebration at Bellevue City Hall on Monday, June 3. The Bellevue City…

News | December 13, 2016

Livable City Year releases RFP, invites cities to partner for 2017-8 academic year

The University of Washington’s Livable City Year initiative is now accepting proposals from cities, counties, special districts and regional partnerships to partner with during the 2017-2018 academic year. UW Livable City Year (UW LCY) connects University of Washington faculty and students with a municipal partner for a full academic year to work on projects fostering…

News | November 14, 2019

Livable City Year: Jennifer Otten & Branden Born

Food brings people together. In the case of the academic collaboration between Jennifer Otten and Branden Born, so did food policy. Otten, an associate professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences and core faculty in the Nutritional Sciences Program within the School of Public Health, met Born, an associate professor in Urban Design and Planning…

Living Landscapes Incubator Request for Proposals

The Living Landscapes Incubator is a new grant program, developed as a collaboration among the College of Built Environments, the College of the Environment, Urban@UW, and the School of Public Health. Planning and designing for landscapes, environments, and infrastructure that support sustainable, livable, and equitable communities is a key challenge of our time. With generous funding from…

News | January 19, 2024

Longevity without vitality: Americans live longer but endure declining health

From KEPR TV By Janae Bowens WASHINGTON (TND) – Americans are living longer, but are also sick for more of their lives. Analysis from the Wall Street Journal‘s Alex Janin shows the estimated average of life spent in good health declined to 83.6% in 2021, which is down from 85.8% in 1990. This is all…

Lynne Manzo

Macarthur foundation.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, the Foundation works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is affecting children and…

News | March 7, 2016

Making Disruption a Force for Good – A letter from President Ana Mari Cauce

We hear a lot about “disruption” these days as businesses and institutions—and universities are no exception—are faced with the prospect of an upstart coming along and disrupting a portion of, or their entire, enterprise or industry. Disruption is often seen as a side effect of innovation, particularly in technology. Each of us carries an example…

Manish Chalana

The Materials, Processes, and Systems (MaPS) Group, lead by Professor Martin Bechthold, is a research unit that promotes the understanding, development and deployment of innovative technologies for buildings. The group evolved from the previously established Design Robotics Group, and is located in a research cluster at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. MaPS looks at…

Marc Eberhard

Marina alberti, marty curry, mary roderick, matthew disston, meg drouhard, mehlika inanici, melissa best.

News | August 29, 2019

Mental health benefits of nature should influence city planning, says UW study

City planners should consider the mental health benefits of green spaces when making plans for the future of their cities. That’s according to a new study out of University of Washington that says urban green spaces can help improve mental health. The study found that accounting for the economic impacts of these benefits might help cities prioritize…

Meredith Clausen

Research Beyond UW | Virginia Tech

Metropolitan Institute

The Metropolitan Institute conducts basic and applied research on the dynamics of metropolitan complexities, such as demographics, environment, technology, design, transportation, and governance. With most of the globe’s population moving to urbanized areas, the major public policy challenges of this century will require a deeper understanding of how metropolitan complexities play out across multiple jurisdictions,…

Michael Lewis

News | September 16, 2017

Microsoft backs Seattle-Vancouver high-speed rail study as Cascadia conference aims to deepen ties

Pacific Northwest business and political leaders on both sides of the Canada-US border announced a series of agreements to strengthen relationships between Seattle, Portland, Vancouver B.C. and the surrounding areas. The new partnerships, made ahead of the second Cascadia Innovation Corridor conference in Seattle this week, focus on technology, economic development, education and transportation. Government…

Mike Motley

Minor in urban ecological design.

The Department of Landscape Architecture’s focus on Urban Ecological Design. This design practice integrates site, landscape, and people in a way that is functional, artful, and engaging. Urban Ecological Design is an interdisciplinary approach that addresses emerging local, regional, and global issues in five key areas: (1) design as activism, (2) design for ecological infrastructure,…

Miranda Belarde-Lewis

The Community Innovators Lab (CoLab) is a center for planning and development within the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP). CoLab supports the development and use of knowledge from excluded communities to deepen civic engagement, improve community practice, inform policy, mobilize community assets, and generate shared wealth. We believe that community knowledge can…

News | January 31, 2016

Monthly Wrap up January 2016

It’s been a great start to 2016. UW Alumni association and History Department put together a woderful history lecture series: Excavating Seattle’s histories: Peoples, politics, and place check out details and videos here> The CBE also hosted a number of great speakers and events including SUSTAINING JAPAN: 3.11 FIVE YEARS ON lecture and panel discussion…

MS Architecture in Design Technology

The Master of Science in Architecture / Design Technology program provides the opportunity for architects, engineers, and other qualified individuals to pursue advance research on topics that include design computing, building performance simulation, sustainable systems and design, high-performance buildings, materials and fabrication, structural analysis, life cycle analysis, food-water-energy nexus, and other related topics.

MS in Civil Engineering: Construction Engineering

Learn to combine the engineering principles and management techniques needed to lead major infrastructure efforts. Prepare for new challenges in the heavy construction industry with a program designed for professionals who have an undergraduate degree in engineering.

MS in Civil Engineering: Energy Infrastructure

The country’s existing energy systems are transforming at a rapid pace, driven by technological advances and factors such as the transition from fossil fuels to renewables. The new online Master of Science in Civil Engineering: Energy Infrastructure program, offered by the University of Washington, prepares you for the growing opportunities in this field. This engineering…

Nancy Rivenburgh

Nancy rottle.

News | March 12, 2021

Nature & Health Speaks: Beyond Inclusive Design with The Eli’s Park Project

The Eli’s Park Project is committed to carrying on Eli’s legacy of love through a community-led renovation of the Burke-Gilman Playground Park. They are working with the community to create an accessible, inclusive, nature-based park where people of all ages and abilities can find play and peace. The reimagining and manifestation of this new, inclusive Burke-Gilman Playground…

News | March 15, 2024

Neighborhood Poverty May Impact Women’s Ovarian Reserves

Reported by Lori Solomon at Health Day News FRIDAY, March 15, 2024 — Living in a neighborhood with greater poverty in adulthood is tied to lower ovarian reserve, according to a study published online March 5 in Menopause. Anwesha Pan, from the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues aimed to examine the association between…

News | November 21, 2019

New apps help builders reduce carbon footprint

Two new widgets out of the Pacific Northwest aim to address what their developers say is a pressing need to begin using less carbon-intensive building materials. They work like meal-tracking apps, only for new construction. Input: Materials used in the building. Output: The amount of carbon dioxide used to produce the materials, called embodied carbon….

News | March 10, 2020

New Bill that May Pave the Way for Seattle Seismic Upgrades

Public officials for decades have promised to deal with the old brick buildings in Seattle that could crumble with deadly consequences when a major earthquake hits — and have produced nothing but paper plans. Now some advocates hope a new attempt could at last lead to action. A state bill that could help building owners finance…

News | August 15, 2016

New book ‘Cities that Think Like Planets’ imagines urban regions resilient to change

Marina Alberti is a professor in the Department of Urban Design and Planning, which is part of the University of Washington College of Built Environments. Alberti directs the college’s Urban Ecology Research Laboratory and the Graduate School’s interdisciplinary doctoral program in urban design and planning. She answered some questions about her new book, “Cities that…

News | January 11, 2018

New book ‘City Unsilenced’ explores protest and public space

Jeff Hou is a professor of landscape architecture and adjunct professor of urban design and planning in the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments. His research, teaching and practice focus on community design, design activism, cross-cultural learning and engaging marginalized communities in planning and design. Hou has written extensively on the agency of citizens…

News | February 3, 2017

New route-finding map lets Seattle pedestrians avoid hills, construction, accessibility barriers

Transportation routing services primarily designed for people in cars don’t give pedestrians, parents pushing bulky strollers or people in wheelchairs much information about how to easily navigate a neighborhood using sidewalks. On Wednesday AccessMap – a University of Washington project spearheaded by the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology — launched a new online travel planner…

News | May 26, 2017

New Seattle seawall aims to improve waterfront salmon habitat

Seattle’s new $410 million downtown waterfront is also acting as a huge science experiment.If you walk the area from Colman Dock to the Seattle Aquarium, you’d notice glass panels lining the sidewalk.“I thought it was just something to make the pier pretty,” said Emily Fuller, who visiting Seattle with her family. The panels actually form…

News | February 11, 2020

New Study Abroad Program focused on Sustainable Building in Indonesia

It’s possible to learn about sustainable building materials in a classroom setting. But now, it’s also possible to learn about this important topic while immersed in a bamboo “Green Village” in Indonesia, where villas are constructed almost entirely from bamboo. In addition to residing in a Green Village for a week, students in the new Engineering…

News | July 14, 2016

New Tech Could Restore Some Quiet To Noisy Oceans

Forty feet below the surface of Puget Sound, a marbled murrelet dives for its catch. The water is cold, dark — and incredibly noisy. A ping-ping-ping emanates from the shore over second-long intervals and continues on for the next several hours, sending a series of pressure waves through the ocean. For the endangered bird, these…

News | January 5, 2017

New wood technology may offer hope for struggling timber

John Redfield watches with pride as his son moves a laser-guided precision saw the size of a semi-truck wheel into place over a massive panel of wood. Redfield’s fingers are scarred from a lifetime of cutting wood and now, after decades of decline in the logging business, he has new hope that his son, too,…

New! Urban Map Gallery

We’ve created a new urban map gallery to explore how other people and organizations are studying and visualizing data. The gallery features seven cities facing different social, economic, and geographic issues. This curation is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but rather provide insight and inspiration. Maps included track everything from sound to subway…

Nicole DeNamur

Nicole huber, noise pollution map of berlin.

This interactive map displays Berlin’s computed noise levels in decibels for day, evening and night times. Includes noise source information.

Northwest innovators chase the dream of greener concrete

From The Seattle Times By Mike Lindblom PULLMAN — From a onetime speakeasy in North Seattle to a modern lab in the Palouse, inventors are testing recipes that make concrete less lethal to Earth’s climate. Most people understand that the world’s 1.4 billion fossil-fueled cars and trucks spew carbon dioxide, trapping heat in the atmosphere….

News | May 14, 2021

Opinion: The lack of EV charging stations could limit EV growth

Originally written by Nives Dolšak, professor at the University of Washington School of Marine and Environmental Affairs and Aseem Prakash, professor at the University of Washington Department of Political Science.  Transportation contributes to about 28% of U.S. carbon emissions. To cut emissions by 50% by 2030, this sector will need to be rapidly decarbonized. Electric Vehicles (EVs) are…

Opportunities to engage UW faculty and students to address COVID-19

In recognition of the intense needs of local governments around COVID-19 response and recovery, the LCY program has compiled a list of existing UW courses whose faculty and students are seeking to assist local communities in COVID-related projects. Most projects can start in Autumn 2020 — some as early as Summer 2020. The list of…

News | August 10, 2017

Opportunity abounds as Washington builds the modern electricity grid

The Horn Rapids Solar, Storage, and Training Project—which would be the largest solar installation in Washington, and one of a relative few anywhere with a significant amount of energy storage incorporated—embodies a long chain of public and private sector efforts that have positioned the state, and the broader Pacific Northwest, as a leader in the…

P-REX a research lab focused on environmental problems caused by urbanization, including the design, remediation, and reuse of waste landscapes worldwide. P-REX works to develop non-traditional design solutions to push the boundaries of conventional practice and incorporate resilient thinking into large-scale strategic planning & design.

Pacific Northwest Center for Construction Research + Education

With generous support from the local construction industry in Seattle, the Department of Construction Management took on an ambitious project to develop a nearby research and education center at the old naval base at Sand Point. CERC features 25,000 square feet of space on two levels, providing a home for three areas of research and…

Paolo Calvi

News | October 31, 2018

Park facilities encourage longer bouts of physical activity

Researchers from the University of Washington School of Public Health watched 225 Seattle residents during their visits to public parks – through GPS devices, activity trackers and travel diaries – and found that they were active for longer at parks that had a greater variety of recreational facilities. The study, published online Sept. 19 in the Journal…

News | September 16, 2016

PARK(ing) Day+ and Little Collective’s “Bees and Salmon”

Today you may notice some new public spaces in your neighborhood; but look fast, because they will be gone by Sunday. Now a global phenomenon, PARK(ing) day is a few hours per year when cities endeavor to convert city spaces into public places called parklets. The parklet’s origins are tied to ReBar, a San Francisco…

News | November 27, 2018

Parks help cities – but only if people use them

Written by Thaisa Way, faculty director of Urban@UW and Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture in the College of Built Environments. In cities, access to parks is strongly linked with better health for both people and neighborhoods. Children suffer higher rates of obesity when they grow up in urban areas without a park in easy reach. Because low-income neighborhoods have fewer green spaces, poorer…

PCE Certificate in Commercial Real Estate

Commercial real estate is the raw material of a region’s economy. The Seattle market is experiencing huge growth, which means both increased opportunity and heightened competition. Staying current and getting an insider’s perspective on the industry can give you the edge you need to succeed. In this three-course program, we’ll explore commercial real estate as…

PCE Certificate in Facility Management

Facility managers today play an important role in many organizations, where they contribute to overall goals such as reducing costs, improving productivity and pursuing sustainability. This three-course certificate program imparts comprehensive knowledge of operations, maintenance, budgeting and business-planning issues related to facility management. You’ll also learn about important safety, security and environmental factors in the…

Pedro Arduino

Research Beyond UW | University of Pennsylvania

Penn Institute for Urban Research

The Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR) is a university-wide, interdisciplinary institute at the University of Pennsylvania dedicated to urban research, education, and civic engagement. Affiliated with all 12 schools of the University of Pennsylvania and with the world of practice, Penn IUR fosters collaboration among scholars and policymakers across disciplines to address the…

Peter Cohan

Peter mackenzie-helnwein, phil hurvitz, population health initiative.

The University of Washington aspires to be the world’s leading university in population health. On May 3, 2016, President Ana Mari Cauce launched a groundbreaking Population Health Initiative by inviting the University community and partners to join in developing a 25-year vision to advance the health of people around the world by leveraging capabilities and…

Population Health Initiative announces award of 21 COVID-19 rapid response grants

The University of Washington Population Health Initiative announced the award of approximately $350,000 in COVID-19 rapid response grants to 21 different faculty-led teams. These teams are composed of individuals representing 10 different schools and colleges. Funding was partially matched by additional school, college and departmental funds, bringing the total value of these awards to roughly $820,000. “A…

News | September 17, 2020

Project Highlight: Seattle Street Sink

For many living unsheltered, access to a place to wash up is hard to come by. During the pandemic, it is more important than ever to have accessible hygiene stations. The Real Change Advocacy Department partnered with University of Washington College of Built Environments faculty to design and install environmentally friendly “street sinks”. On May…

News | March 15, 2019

PSU takes on regional sustainability with the Emerald Corridor Collaboratory

Last year,  the Institute for Sustainable Solutions at Portland State University joined a regional pilot project called the Emerald Corridor Collaboratory that aims to do just that by joining four universities and four Pacific Northwest cities in a quest for better, more effective partnerships. Funded by a $100,000 grant from the Seattle-based Bullitt Foundation, the Emerald Corridor Collaboratory…

News | January 5, 2023

Public art in Seattle’s light rail stations has a deeper backstory than you’d think

The stainless-steel blob in an airport. The oversized, poured-concrete nothing in a plaza. The whimsically rendered, locally iconic animals — salmon for Seattle, pelicans for Pensacola — garnishing a park. It’s no secret: Most public art is depressingly perfunctory. Which is to say: If you care about getting it right, public art has to be…

News | September 21, 2022

Q&A: Exploring How the Design of the Built Environment Affects Our Health and Well-Being

How does the design of the built environment – such as houses, schools, workplaces, streets, parks, transportation systems, and urban form – affect our health and well-being? To explore these issues, editors Nisha D. Botchwey, Andrew Dannenberg, and Howard Frumkin, recently published the second edition of “Making Healthy Places: Designing and Building for Well-being, Equity,…

News | March 21, 2023

Quieting a Bridge

Like many bridges around the world, the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (SR 520 bridge) has expansion joints that allow it to expand or contract to adapt to environmental changes, such as changes in water level, without causing structural damage. However, expansion joints can create noise problems. When the new SR 520 bridge opened in 2016,…

Rachel Berney

News | February 6, 2021

Racial equity within built environment design practice

Originally written by Jake Minden, MLA Candidate 2021. In my final year of the MLA program, I’ve been given the opportunity to participate in the Applied Research Consortium (ARC), a new program within the college that links graduate students, faculty members, and firms to research a topic that aligns student interest, faculty expertise, and firm…

News | January 5, 2016

Re-Imaging Urban Scholarship: Differencing the Data

Winter Quarter 2016 | HUM 597E | 1 credit, C/NC Instructor:Thaisa Way (Landscape Architecture) Meeting Dates: Friday, January 15, 12-1:20 pm (Startup Hall) Friday, January 29, 12-1:20 pm (Henry Art Gallery) Tuesday, February 2, and Wednesday, February 3 (Participation encouraged as feasible, Center for Urban Horticulture) Thursday, February 4, 9-10:20 am (eScience Institute, Physics/Astronomy Tower)…

News | April 6, 2016

Reading List for Edgar Pieterse Visit 4/12

In anticipation of Edgar Pieterse’s visit we thought you might enjoy a video lecture and in-depth examination to get a feel for Pieterse’s research and thinking. How can we transcend slum urbanism in Africa? – Edgar Pieterse, University of Cape Town – This short video delivered by Edgar Pieterse and UN-Habitat offers a very accessible…

Real Estate (BS, MS, Minor, Cert, PCE)

Our mission is: To be one the world’s leading academic centers in real estate, through the promotion of excellence in research and educational programs in an intellectually stimulating, creative and innovative environment and that engages with and empowers real estate leaders and the community to transform our built environment To achieve this we aim to:…

News | February 28, 2018

Reducing failed deliveries, truck parking time could improve downtown Seattle congestion

In Amazon’s hometown, people turn to their computers to order everything from groceries to last-minute birthday presents to the odd toothbrush or medication forgotten from the store. If online shopping continues to grow at its current rate, there may be twice as many trucks delivering packages in Seattle’s city center within five years, a new…

Renée Cheng

News | October 1, 2020

Renée Cheng: Change Agency, Value Change

Collisions are violent. The greater the mass or velocity of objects, the greater the energy released. The crises of the pandemic, economic crash, and social justice outcries are massive and still accelerating. In the wake of their collision, they will reveal new questions for our profession—and newfound energy to address them. Previously, architects pondering whether…

News | December 23, 2021

Renovated Mills Offer a Perk in the Age of Social Distancing: Space

On a typical evening at the Wool Factory, a renovated textile mill in Charlottesville, Va., guests savor local wine and hors d’oeuvres in a spacious courtyard decorated with festive string lights. Between bites and sips, their eyes might gaze at the factory, a 100-year-old red brick building where as many as 200 workers once made military…

News | May 7, 2020

Rethinking the needs of a post-pandemic city

What will the future city look like after the pandemic? As political leaders around the country debate when to safely reopen the economy, city planners and designers have been pondering the implications of the pandemic for the future design of cities. Some suggest reducing urban density, while others predict a second wave of “white flight”…

Richard Gleason

Rick mohler.

News | August 20, 2020

Rick Mohler receives Architect magazine 2020 R+D award for housing access prototype ‘ADUniverse’

Rick Mohler, UW associate professor of architecture, has won a 2020 R+D Award from Architect magazine for a project designed with Seattle city planner Nick Welch to give local homeowners the information they need to plan and build accessory dwelling units on their property. The two led a team at the UW Data Science for Social Good Program in creating a prototype…

News | February 3, 2016

Risk of lead poisoning from urban gardening is low, new study finds

Using compost is the single best thing you can do to protect your family from any danger associated with lead in urban soils. Good compost will also guarantee that you will have plenty of vegetables to harvest. That’s the main finding of a paper appearing this month in the Journal of Environmental Quality. The University…

Rob Hutchison

Rob warnaca, robert wood johnson foundation pioneering ideas and a culture of health.

The goal of the Pioneering Ideas Brief Proposal funding opportunity is to explore; to look into the future and put health first as we design for changes in how we live, learn, work and play; to wade into uncharted territory in order to better understand what new trends, opportunities and breakthrough ideas can enable everyone…

Royalty Research Fund

The purpose of the Royalty Research Fund (RRF) is to advance new directions in research, particularly in disciplines for which external funding opportunities are minimal, and/or; for faculty who are junior in rank, and/or; in cases where funding may provide unique opportunities to increase applicants’ competitiveness for subsequent funding. Proposals must demonstrate a high probability…

Rubén Casas

Runstad affiliate fellows program.

The Affiliate Fellows Program brings together thought leaders from industry, faculty from the College of Built Environments, and students on the Master of Science in Real Estate for an 8-month program to examine real estate issues in the built environment. The goals of the Fellows program are to foster interaction between students and the academic…

News | August 7, 2018

Sammamish Utility first to install earthquake early warning technology

The Northeast Sammamish Water District is trying out earthquake early warning technology at a pumping station that sits on top of a half-million gallons of water. Check the Earthquake Tracker A simulation shows us what would happen if an earthquake were detected by the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network. “The earthquake has hit, it’s a 7.5…

Santosh Devasia

News | November 5, 2019

Seattle area has undergone record growth. Now voters may reshape its politics.

The Seattle region has more of almost everything than it did just six years ago, when voters chose to elect City Council members by districts. The area has added 135,000 homes, but has seen its population swell by 400,000. Homelessness has spiked by a third. Amazon’s workforce here has exploded from 13,000 to nearly 55,000….

Seattle Foundation

Few regions in the world can match Seattle’s current growth and prosperity. But accompanying our good fortune are great challenges, including the widening disparities between rich and poor. Such inequities weaken the vibrancy of our community. Philanthropy can—and must—step in. Using our philanthropic expertise, deep roots in the community and network of partners, Seattle Foundation…

News | September 4, 2018

Seattle Growth Podcast 5.3: Homeless in Seattle

The fifth season of the Seattle Growth Podcast continues the wide-ranging conversation about the city’s growing homelessness crisis. “Each episode of this season brings voices from a variety of perspectives,” says podcast host Jeff Shulman Associate Professor of Marketing in the Foster school of Business. “Together, the episodes will help listeners understand homelessness from multiple angles, become better informed…

Seattle startup’s bright idea: High-tech crosswalk could signal a way to improve pedestrian safety

On a rainy, foggy night in Seattle, an incident in a crosswalk changed the path that Janie Bube was on. A University of Washington student at the time, Bube was walking near the Burke-Gilman Trail when she was hit by a bicyclist in December 2018. Nobody was hurt, but Bube was rattled enough to immediately…

News | January 3, 2017

Seattle to Portland in 15 minutes? UW students competing to build 700 mph hyperloop

Imagine a transportation system that could move you from place to place faster than a jet plane, without ever leaving the ground — a system that could take you from Seattle to Portland in just 15 minutes. In a chilly warehouse near Lake Union, a group of University of Washington students is trying to solve…

News | July 13, 2018

Self-driving bikes: Seattle’s next transit revolution?

What does your future commute look like? Will you be taking a self-driving car, a solo-wheel, the hyperloop? What about … a self-driving bike? In this episode of ReInventors, Crosscut looks at how Professor Tyler Folsom and his students at University of Washington Bothell are spearheading a grassroots effort to test and develop lighter, more affordable, personal…

Shannon Affholter

Shaping seattle: buildings.

This interactive map from the Seattle Department of Planning and Development shows building projects throughout Seattle. Images, design proposals and projected timelines are provided for most of the sites.

Sharon E. Sutton

Shawn stankewich.

News | January 23, 2018

Should Seattle declare war on parking to fight climate change?

Make no mistake: The rising cost and declining amount of on-street parking downtown are part of a much bigger plan to reduce Seattle’s carbon footprint.University of Washington traffic engineer Mark Hallenbeck is adamant that Seattle should not go down the same road as Oslo. “Removing parking might have an environmental benefit, but the backlash from…

Shyam Gollakota

Sofia dermisi.

News | July 19, 2018

Sound Transit rail stations could help solve our housing crisis

All of Sound Transit’s LINK light-rail stations offer opportunities to create vibrant, walkable mixed-use communities with significant amounts of new housing and reduced dependence on automobiles. We need a bold, regional approach to housing affordability, says Rick Mohler, Associate Professor at the Department of Architecture, and  Al Levine, Associate Faculty at the Department of Urban Design…

News | October 25, 2022

Sparking Climate Connections – UW Lightning Talks on Climate Change

Addressing our climate crisis can’t be done alone; this all-hands-on-deck moment requires as many voices, disciplines and perspectives as possible to forge connections that will inspire collective action. Urban@UW and the EarthLab Advisory Board of Deans invite you to participate in an exciting two-part event bringing together the rich variety of climate change related research…

News | December 9, 2015

SPH Faculty Tap into New UW Effort to Create More Livable Cities

A new University of Washington initiative is thinking “upstream” when it comes to creating safer, healthier and more livable cities. Urban@UW aims to bring together UW faculty, staff and students from different disciplines with city decision-makers and citizens to wrestle with urban issues such as housing and poverty, growth and transportation, and food and economic…

Steve Badanes

Steve muench, steven kramer.

News | September 10, 2017

Storefront Studio creates vision for downtown block

Three graduate students and their professor from the University of Washington College of Built Environments spent much of this summer visiting Gig Harbor and creating a plan that could change and enhance an area in the downtown waterfront business district. The Storefront Studio Project, as the endeavor is called, began in June when the students…

News | February 16, 2024

Student Housing Has a New Mantra: Bigger Is Better

Written by Kevin Williams for The New York Times Off-campus complexes are getting larger, with some being home to more than 1,500 students, and being built on prime parcels of land as close to campus as possible. When the Standard, an off-campus student housing complex, opened in the fall in Bloomington, Ind., welcoming its first…

News | August 20, 2018

Student volunteers help expand UW’s outreach to homeless youth

It started with a Sunday afternoon café outside a community center last December — the University of Washington’s new initiative to reach homeless youth around the U District. In the eight months since, the UW’s effort, known as The Doorway Project, has offered a café in the neighborhood each quarter, while students have helped add services — from…

News | April 17, 2018

Students research historic South, East Tacoma for Livable City project

The City of Tacoma’s Historic Preservation Office is partnering with the University of Washington on a Livable City Year project to identify historic resources in South and East Tacoma. For this project, graduate and undergraduate students are researching the histories of two neighborhoods: McKinley Hill in East Tacoma, and the Edison Neighborhood along South Tacoma…

News | September 12, 2018

Summer Design/Build Studio 2018

Food and the ability to prepare it are fundamental components of life. Places of food preparation–whether a home kitchen or a fire pit–serve not only their most explicit functions but also act as cultural gathering spaces for families and communities. Food preparation poses particularly unique challenges in Seattle’s homeless communities for individuals, families and larger…

Sustainable Transportation: Planning and Livable Communities (Cert)

Examine the important issues involved in sustainable transportation planning. Review policies and programs that encourage mixed use development and higher density levels in order to promote modes of transportation other than the single occupancy vehicle. Study the impact different transportation options have on the environment and sustainability. Explore the movement of goods as well as…

News | September 26, 2019

Tall buildings out of timber? In the face of climate change, Seattle encourages it

The loggers who worked in Ballard when it was Shingletown, a center of the national timber industry, are long gone. And only a few wooden landmarks of the timber heyday, mostly churches, still exist on Ballard’s low-slung skyline. But as concerns over climate change give new life to wooden building design, that could change. In the…

Team of UW seniors wins ‘Re-imagining Red Square’ design competition

A team of UW Architecture and Landscape Architecture seniors has won this year’s Re-Imagining Red Square competition. The designers of the “The Loop” originally were looking at how to preserve Red Square and do some intervention underneath in the garage. Then, one of the architects helping critique the designs in the contest gave the team advice…

News | August 14, 2019

Tech companies step up to fund affordable housing, but experts say it’s not enough to curb shortages

Microsoft pledged $500 million for affordable housing in January. Five months later, Google said it would invest $1 billion to help the Bay Area housing crisis. Amazon and Salesforce also announced contributions of their own this year. Major tech companies are stepping up to help mitigate affordable housing shortages, caused in part by the influx of high-income labor they have imported to the…

News | December 4, 2016

Techstars Teams with Amazon for Alexa Startup Accelerator in Seattle

Alexa, what’s the epicenter of innovation in speech as the new user interface? A good case can be made for Seattle, following an announcement today from Techstars and Amazon. Techstars, a top-tier startup accelerator with locations around the world and a major presence in Seattle since 2010, will begin a second program here next year…

News | April 13, 2023

Ten Story Wooden Building to Be Put to High-magnitude Seismic Test

For nearly two decades, the University of California San Diego has been home to a key instrument for understanding earthquakes: a 40-by-25-foot steel platform that uses a hydraulic system to mimic seismic movements. This “shake table,” which can literally shake whatever is on top of it, is one of the largest in the world. It…

News | October 21, 2020

That sink in the alley is supposed to be there

A sink is nestled in the University District alley between 15th Avenue Northeast and The Ave. It’s bolted to a trough of plants. It appeared in May. Another sink just like it is up The Ave on 47th Avenue Northeast. One was also placed at the University Heights community center along 50th Avenue Northeast. The…

Research Beyond UW | University College of London

The Bartlett Development Planning Unit

The Development Planning Unit conducts world-leading research and postgraduate teaching that helps to build the capacity of national governments, local authorities, NGOs, aid agencies and businesses working towards socially just and sustainable development in the global south. We are part of The Bartlett: UCL's global faculty of the built environment.

News | December 16, 2019

The Central District has lost over a dozen of its Black churches. The rest may still be saved

There’s little doubt that The Nehemiah Initiative faces an immense challenge combating the displacement of African Americans from central Seattle. When you drive through the Central District today, you see gentrification in its stark reality. New market-rate buildings line the intersections of 23rd Avenue and East Union Street, as well as 23rd and South Jackson…

Research Beyond UW | Queen Mary University of London

The City Centre

In 2006, the School of Geography at Queen Mary University of London, launched a new centre for collaborative research and related activities that are focused on the city. The City Centre is designed to provide a space in which academic research can be developed and communicated with those within and beyond the academy. Particular interests…

News | March 23, 2017

The creation of the Burke-Gilman Trail

On Sunday, Sept. 12, 1971, hundreds of people began marching toward Matthews Beach Park along the shores of Lake Washington north of Sand Point. Families, couples, adults and senior citizens converged on the park in two streams – one from the south, one from the north. They marched there that sunny late-summer afternoon along old…

News | February 6, 2018

The Doorway project’s second pop-up cafe

Save The Date: The Doorway Project’s second pop-up cafe will be open on Sunday February 25, from 2:00pm-4:00pm at the University Heights Center, 5031 University Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105. Everyone is welcome to attend this free, family-friendly event to listen to live music, enjoy warm beverages and food. No one will be turned away…

News | January 20, 2021

The environmental psychology of COVID-19 with Professor Lynne Manzo

We are living through a new reality, adjusting to life during a global pandemic. We are all changing our routines, our travel plans, our holiday traditions. For those of us who have been able to keep our jobs through this economic crash, we have had to adapt to a new working environment, working from our…

News | June 11, 2021

The holy grail for sustainability

Each year on Earth Day, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment presents the COTE Top Ten Awards, the industry’s best-known award program for sustainable design excellence. Now in its 25th year, this distinction is granted to projects across the nation — ranging from learning centers and university buildings to houses of…

News | September 15, 2020

The pandemic is transforming how Americans use public libraries, parks, and streets — and it’s depriving vulnerable people of space when they need it most

On a Friday in early March, Jennifer Pearson looked around her library in Lewisburg, Tennessee. “The library was full of older people,” Pearson, the library’s director, said. “I thought, if I don’t close this space, they will never stop coming to it, so I have to close it, for their good and for my staff.”…

Research Beyond UW | University of Calgary

The Urban Lab

THE URBAN LAB, Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary is a research group dealing with urban design, community planning, and urban development issues. Established in 2000, the Urban Lab is an ongoing experiment in education, research and outreach, and is an example of university - community collaboration involving faculty, students and the public. We…

The Urban Risk Lab

The Urban Risk Lab at MIT develops methods and technologies to embed risk reduction and preparedness into the design of cities and regions to increase the resilience of local communities. Operating at the intersection of ecology and infrastructure, rural and urban, research and action; the Urban Risk Lab is an interdisciplinary organization of researchers and…

News | January 19, 2023

The UW and the Seattle waterfront renewal

Seattle’s waterfront renewal is one of the region’s most ambitious and innovative undertakings since the Seattle World’s Fair transformed the city in 1962. Finally reconnecting Seattle’s waterfront to its downtown, this $750 million renovation and restoration will create a network of public parks, cultural celebration spaces and an expanded aquarium — while building a sophisticated,…

News | July 18, 2017

There’s a map for that

If you own a cell phone or a mobile device you’re likely creating data that could be mapped. “When you add a Yelp review or geotag a tweet you’re actually volunteering geographic information, you are mapping,” said UW Tacoma Assistant Professor Britta Ricker. Most of us use maps to determine our location, to find out…

News | January 9, 2020

This is what Seattle’s new neighborhood could look like

Architecture and planning students love to wrestle with big ideas. And while their end-of-the-quarter presentations sometimes include out-of-the-box ideas, they usually don’t have the attention of public officials. But this time was different. Students with the University of Washington Built Environments Studio, taught by Rick Mohler (Architecture) and David Blum (Urban Design and Planning) in…

News | July 8, 2019

This kayaking researcher is learning the secrets of Seattle’s urban salmon

Salmon researcher Kerry Accola is standing on the docks at Seattle’s Bell Harbor Marina on the edge of Elliott Bay. “There’s salmon right there. You can see them,” she says, gesturing toward a nearshore abyss. The setting sun reflects off the water’s surface, making it difficult to see anything more than bits of trash. But Accola…

Tim Overland

Tomás méndez echenagucia.

News | April 24, 2017

Toward greener construction: UW professor collab sets markers for carbon across life of buildings

A University of Washington-led research group has taken an important step toward measuring — and ultimately reducing — the global carbon footprint of building construction and long-term maintenance. The Carbon Leadership Forum is a collaborative effort among academics and industry professionals based in the UW’s College of Built Environments that studies reducing carbon emissions over…

Transit workers fight drugs on buses and trains

Written by Joseph Gallivan for Axios Oregon Transit companies are pushing to make it a Class A misdemeanor to use drugs on buses and trains in Oregon. TriMet, the Oregon Transit Association, and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757 testified yesterday to support amending Senate Bill 1553. The amendment would add the use of illicit drugs…

Travis Thonstad

Tyler sprague.

The "Urban Research and Design Laboratory" was initiated in 2010 at the Technical University of Berlin. Based on the model of dialogue formats it encourages exchanges between teaching, research and practice, responding to demands of interdisciplinary project work as well as case study-based and activity-oriented functioning in the education of future city planners, urban designers…

Research Beyond UW | University College London

UCL Urban Laboratory

The UCL Urban Laboratory, established in 2005, is a university wide initiative that brings together the best urban teaching and research at UCL. Our activities build on the full spectrum of work across the arts and sciences, ranging from civil engineering to film studies, from urban history to the latest developments in architectural design. At…

News | January 9, 2024

Univ. of Washington set to break ground on 69-acre redevelopment to create Seattle innovation hub

The University of Washington this year expects to break ground on a new building that will anchor an ambitious, innovation-focused redevelopment called Portage Bay Crossing. The project will cover 69 acres of the southwest portion of the Seattle campus, revitalizing and unifying an area of buildings that officials called old and underutilized. UW leaders recently…

University of Washington Botanic Gardens

The University of Washington Botanic Gardens has two sites: the Washington Park Arboretum and the Center for Urban Horticulture. Our mission is sustaining managed to natural ecosystems and the human spirit through plant research, display, and education. The 230-acre Arboretum includes a vibrant collection of more than 40,000 plants from around the world with trails…

Urban Design and Planning (Minor, Cert, MUP, dual MLA-MUP, PhD)

Our core mission is to develop a community of inquiry, learning, and practice that helps urban regions to become more livable, just, economically effective, and environmentally sound through a democratic process of urban design and planning.

Urban Design Lab

The Urban Design Lab (UDL) of the Earth Institute and GSAPP works to find innovative solutions to the sustainable development issues confronting cities. The UDL conducts multidisciplinary applied design research in collaboration with community-based organizations and other public and private interests. The UDL's team works closely with outside experts in architecture, ecology, economics, environmental science,…

Research Beyond UW | University of Tokyo

The objective of the Urban Design Lab is to strike a balance between scientific research, teaching, and practical urban design work in the field. We encourage students to develop practical skills as well as a sound theoretical knowledge in order to enable them practicing in all areas of urban design; in the contexts of spatial…

Urban Form Lab

The Urban Form Lab (UFL) aims to affect policy and to support approaches to the design and planning of more livable environments, with a specialty in geospatial analyses of the built environment using multiple micro-scale data in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Current research includes the development of novel GIS routines for performing spatial inventories and…

Urban Freight Lab

The Urban Freight Lab (UFL) brings together transportation engineers, urban planners, retailers, freight carriers, technology companies supporting transportation logistics, and multifamily and commercial developers and operators. The UFL’s Final 50 Feet Research Program analyzes processes, develops potential solutions, and pilot tests operational improvements in the final leg of the urban goods delivery system. The final…

News | November 21, 2018

Urban Freight Lab will help UPS evaluate its new e-bike delivery service in Seattle

Seattle is one of the most congested cities in America, in part due to delivery trucks taking up space on crowded streets. One solution could be for companies to make deliveries using bicycles instead. UPS announced today that it will be pilot-testing deliveries with cargo e-bikes in downtown Seattle. This test is expected to last a…

Urban Infrastructure Lab

The Urban Infrastructure Lab (UIL) brings together students and faculty across numerous disciplines with a shared interest in the planning, governance, finance, design, development, economics, and environmental effects of infrastructure. The interests of the UIL span the systems critical to economic and social well-being, such as energy, water, health, transportation, education, and communications. Across these…

Urban Layers Interactive Map of NYC

Urban Layers is an interactive map created by Morphocode that explores the structure of Manhattan’s urban fabric. The map lets you navigate through historical fragments of the borough that have been preserved and are currently embedded in its densely built environment. The rigid archipelago of building blocks has been mapped as a succession of structural…

News | May 8, 2017

Urban lifestyles help to protect the Puget Sound ecosystem

As the state of Washington estimates that the Puget Sound area will grow by more than 1.5 million residents within the next two decades. That is expected to have profound effects on the environment as more and more people move to undeveloped areas. Christopher Dunagan with the Puget Sound Institute explains why urban lifestyles help…

News | May 10, 2017

Urban Scholar Highlight: Christopher Meek

Christopher Meek is a faculty member in University of Washington’s Department of Architecture and a director in the Integrated Design Lab in the Center for Integrated Design, located in the Bullitt Center. He teaches during the school year and the rest of his time is focused on research on high-performance buildings. We sat down with…

News | October 1, 2019

Urban Scholar Highlight: Rachel Berney

Rachel Berney is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban Design and Planning, Adjunct Assistant Professor in Landscape Architecture, an Urban@UW Fellow, and author of Learning from Bogotá: Pedagogical Urbanism and the Reshaping of Public Space. Her primary interests include community sustainable design, public space, and international development in the Americas, as well as…

Urban Theory Lab

In the early 1970s, Henri Lefebvre put forward the radical hypothesis of the complete urbanization of society. This required, in his view, a radical shift from the analysis of urban form to the investigation of urbanization processes. The Urban Theory Lab builds upon Lefebvre’s approach to investigate emergent sociospatial formations under early twenty-first century capitalism.…

Research Beyond UW | Durham University

Urban Worlds

Urban Worlds is a research cluster that was formed in 2009 to reflect the department’s international standing in cutting-edge urban research. Its purpose is to provide a forum that brings together existing urban research within the department and to generate new lines of inquiry. The urban geographical research in the department aims to understand the…

News | May 24, 2021

Urban@UW Announces Another Round of Funding Through Research Spark Grants

Urban@UW is excited to be able to provide another cycle of funding for small-scale, new or emergent projects in urban systems. Our Urban@UW Research Spark Grants RFP is intended to catalyze new ideas, connections, and next steps for UW faculty and research staff undertaking cross-disciplinary and community-engaged urban scholarship. The application window opens June 14,…

News | February 19, 2020

Urban@UW announces Research Spark Grants

UPDATE: In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on academic and research activities, Urban@UW has made the difficult decision to postpone our Spark Grants program. In addition to recognizing the varied strains and hardship our community is experiencing, we want to ensure that new collaborations launch in a context that promotes meeting and…

News | October 20, 2017

Urban@UW compiles Faculty Highlights Report for research, teaching and engagement on homelessness

As part of its recently launched Homelessess Research Initiative, Urban@UW has collaborated with faculty and staff across all three UW campuses to compile a broad-ranging selection of powerful and robust projects addressing homelessness from a research lens. Check out the Faculty Highlights Report to learn more about these efforts and the people behind them.

News | March 2, 2016

UW aids city of Seattle on open data initiative

<allenges.< p=””></allenges.<>   If people find it easier to get data from the city of Seattle going forward, they can in part thank the University of Washington. A team of UW faculty members and doctoral students spent the past six months working with the city on a new open data policy unveiled last week by…

News | October 27, 2022

UW and SHA tap Bellwether Housing to build mixed-income development in U District

The University of Washington and the Seattle Housing Authority announced that Bellwether Housing has been selected to develop a mixed-income high-rise of about 240 units in the University District, pending approval by the UW Board of Regents. Once completed, the 16-story project will provide a child care space and much-needed housing for faculty and staff,…

News | March 16, 2020

UW Architectural Historian Publishes Work about Kingdome Designer Jack Christiansen

Tyler Sprague is an assistant professor of architecture who studies and teaches structural design and architectural history. A former structural engineer himself, Sprague is the author of “Sculpture on a Grand Scale: Jack Christiansen’s Thin Shell Modernism.” The book, published in 2019 by University of Washington press, is a study of the life and work of…

UW Campus Sustainability Fund

The Campus Sustainability Fund (CSF) grew out of a vision of the student body to have a more substantive engagement with the University of Washington’s sustainability efforts. After an unprecedented student campaign, the Services and Activities Fee (SAF) Committee allocated $339, 805 to the office of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability (ESS) to help implement the…

News | May 31, 2018

UW CoMotion program encourages entreprenurial activity in Spokane

In Seattle, startup companies and entrepreneurship are viewed as old hat. University of Washington medical researchers, for example, have long worked to turn ideas into products and services. In Spokane, that entrepreneurial spirit is still in the development phase. While Spokane does have some venture capital, this is not yet a place known as a…

News | August 16, 2017

UW gets federal money to boost early-warning system for West Coast earthquakes

The U.S. Geological Survey has awarded $4.9 million to six universities and a nonprofit to help advance an early-warning system for earthquakes along the West Coast. The federal agency says the ShakeAlert system could give people seconds or up to a minute of warning before strong shaking begins. The University of Washington, Central Washington University…

News | October 27, 2015

UW initiative aims to tackle city, region’s most pressing urban issues

When Thaisa Way put a call out last spring to see if University of Washington faculty members working on urban issues wanted to join forces, she wasn’t sure what the response would be. “There were a lot of people who said, ‘You’re not going to get anyone to show up,‘” said Way, a UW associate…

News | June 3, 2022

UW Ph.D. students hold symposium on the role of technology in urban environments into the future

Originally written by Mingming Cai, Ana Costa, Kristin Potterton & Salman Rashdi.  On May 20th, students in University of Washington’s Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Urban Design and Planning and Ph.D. Program in the Built Environment hosted the virtual 2022 annual research symposium. Based on the theme, Pathways toward the future: Assessing the digital dimensions of…

News | December 20, 2016

UW professor: Seattle exposed to most ‘chronically high noise levels’ of any city in US

How Seattle’s development is impacting your health and, more specifically, your ears is not something being taken into account by city leaders, according to a University of Washington professor. And changing an ordinance that mutes construction’s noise pollution to match other cities from around the country might be a potent elixir, he says. Eliot Brenowitz,…

News | September 1, 2020

UW researchers explore how urbanization changes Earth’s ecosystems in new paper

UW researchers Marina Alberti, Urban Design & Planning; Simone Des Roches, Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences; and Christopher Schell, Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences at UW Tacoma have published a new report titled “The Complexity of Urban Eco-evolutionary Dynamics”, examining how urbanization affects ecological and evolutionary processes over time, and how these changes affect nature’s contribution to people….

News | August 29, 2017

UW student Jessica Hamilton receives 2017 ASLA student honor award

Jessica Hamilton, a recent graduate of UW Department of Landscape Architecture, received the prestigious American Society of Landscape Architects Student Honor Award in the Communications Category for the Tactile MapTile project: an innovative interdisciplinary work combining big data, additive manufacturing, and pedestrian-centric landscape architecture. The project is a collaboration between the Taskar Center for Accessible…

UW’s College of Built Environments Professor Faces an Electrifying Challenge

Reported by Jen Moss for the University of Washington’ College of Built Environments King County Metro (Metro), which serves a daily average of over 250,000 riders across more than 203 square miles of the county, has an emissions challenge. Their zero-carbon emissions target, set by the King County Council, must be met by 2035. This…

News | November 1, 2018

Valuing older buildings: Architecture professor’s book argues for reuse rather than wrecking ball

In her new book, Kathryn Rogers Merlino, University of Washington associate professor in the department of Architecture in the College of Built Environments, argues for the environmental benefit of reusing buildings rather than tearing them down and building anew. “I was trained as both an architect and architectural historian,” Merlino says, “and have always been drawn…

Vikram Prakash

News | May 10, 2018

Vikram Prakash’s ‘ArchitectureTalk’ podcast explores topics ‘at the edge of the known’

Vikram Prakash says his weekly “ArchitectureTalk” podcast got its start, as many things do, from a student’s idea. Prakash is a professor of architecture in the University of Washington College of Built Environments. An architect himself, he is also an author, a theorist and an architectural historian. He said he has always felt “energized” by discussions in…

Walking Tour of Berlin’s Architecture

Berlin walk highlighting a selection of the city’s architecture, from the jagged angles of the Jewish Museum to the inner ‘vineyards’ of the Philharmonie

News | December 18, 2015

Weekly Recap 12/12-12/18

A few of the highlights in Urban news for the past week: 195 nations reached a landmark accord that will, for the first time, commit nearly every country to lowering planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions to help stave off the most drastic effects of climate change http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/13/world/europe/climate-change-accord-paris.html UW announces new Master of Science in Data Science…

West Philadelphia Landscape Project

The West Philadelphia Landscape Project has worked in the Mill Creek Watershed since 1987, with a focus on the Mill Creek neighborhood. Throughout our more than 25-year history, we have worked with the people of Mill Creek to address the opportunities and challenges posed by the urban landscape. For more than twenty-five years, the West…

News | June 4, 2020

West Seattle Bridge is a surprise crisis, but plenty of other aging Seattle bridges are also vulnerable

In January, if West Seattle commuters caught in a bottleneck had gazed out the window at their high bridge and wondered about its safety, a look at federal bridge ratings may have calmed their nerves. The bridge was labeled sufficient. In a catchall rating out of 100, it had a respectable 69. By the spring,…

News | July 20, 2020

West Seattle’s low swing bridge is cracked, too, and needs repairs

Like its taller neighbor, the low-rise West Seattle swing bridge has developed shear cracks in its concrete girder, which will need repairs. But this time, Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) officials say they identified the risks soon enough to contain the damage and keep the swing bridge open for travelers. The lower bridge is the…

News | November 19, 2017

What counts as nature? It all depends

The environment we grow up with informs how we define “nature,” UW psychology professor Peter Kahn says. Encounters with truly wild places inspire people to preserve them.Think, for a moment, about the last time you were out in nature. Were you in a city park? At a campground? On the beach? In the mountains? Now…

News | May 13, 2020

What cracked the West Seattle Bridge? Hidden design problem may have doomed it all along

The West Seattle Bridge, closed in March because of excessive cracking, might have been doomed since the day it opened in 1984. City officials have listed several factors that could have contributed to the damage, including more and heavier buses and trucks, a seventh lane added years ago, a jammed rubber bearing that thwarts thermal expansion,…

News | January 6, 2016

What motivates people to walk and bike? It varies by income

Lower- and middle-income King County residents who live in denser neighborhoods — with stores, libraries and other destinations within easy reach — are more likely to walk or bike, according to new University of Washington research. But neighborhood density didn’t motivate higher-income residents to leave their cars at home, the transportation engineers found. Of the…

News | March 3, 2020

What New Upzoning Will Mean for the U District

The U District has changed a lot in the last couple of decades. But it is about to change even more dramatically. In 2021, a Sound Transit light rail station will open in the heart of the U District at N.E. 43rd Street and Brooklyn Avenue N.E. Light rail will transform the U District into…

News | February 21, 2018

What would a truly disabled-accessible city look like?

To David Meere, a visually impaired man from Melbourne, among the various obstacles to life in cities is another that is less frequently discussed: fear. “The fear of not being able to navigate busy, cluttered and visually oriented environments is a major barrier to participation in normal life,” says Meere, 52, “be that going to…

News | November 9, 2018

What would happen in Seattle during a large-magnitude earthquake?

If a large-magnitude earthquake were to hit Seattle, what percentage of buildings would be safe? This listener question was posed to Jeff Berman, professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the UW.   Continue to listen to the Radio broadcast

News | August 19, 2017

Why Architects should care about public health

Andrew Dannenberg, an Affiliate Professor at the School of Public Health and the College of Built Environments, writes about the importance of architects recognizing human health: while architects have long recognized the importance of human health —including physical, mental, and social well-being — as part of their mission, implementation sometimes reflects a spirit of compliance…

News | August 24, 2017

Why Seattle is poised to be a leader in ‘smart city’ technology and regulations

New technology is helping local government create “smarter” cities in a variety of ways, from adaptive traffic lights to open data platforms to advanced utility meters. But with innovation comes complication. Privacy, security, and equality challenges are inevitable when the public sector tries to implement technology with the help of private companies. This was the…

News | May 16, 2018

With world’s worst air, Indian city struggles to track pollution

In the world’s most polluted city, Kanpur in northern India, the biggest hospital is so overcrowded with patients with respiratory ailments that they are often bedded in the ophthalmology ward. Kanpur, home to 3 million people, is followed by 13 other Indian cities in a list of the places with the worst air in the…

Working with Vulnerable Populations for Greater Community Resilience

News | September 16, 2021

World Trade Center architect Minoru Yamasaki faced discrimination, criticism and controversy, but his work elevated design — and the Seattle skyline

Minoru Yamasaki appeared on the cover of Time magazine on Jan. 18, 1963, and in the days before they were given reality TV shows, that was about as famous as architects could get. The illustration behind Yamasaki’s face featured a gleaming vision of Seattle’s Pacific Science Center, which he had recently designed, to mostly ecstatic…

Yong-Woo Kim

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Zoning for Future São Paulo

​Interactive map of São Paulo developed based on the the Master Plan approved in 2014, which establishes guidelines for the city’s next 15 years of growth.

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Urbanism, Landscape, Ecology

aerial image of housing on a narrow peninsula with waves crashing against the beach

"Lines in the Sand: Rethinking Private Property On Barrier Islands" by Maggie Tsang (MDes '19) and Isaac Stein (MLA/MDes '20) — Recipient of the 2019 Design Studies Thesis Prize

Over the past decade, longstanding disciplinary divides between the urban and the ecological have given way to more fluid, polyvalent and potentially more productive relations.

The challenges of the built environment have rarely, at any time, corresponded to traditional disciplinary or professional boundaries. Today, contemporary practices of urbanism are shaped by thinking from subjects as diverse as landscape architecture, geography and economics, while increasingly being informed by sensibilities and stores of knowledge broadly associated with the study of the natural world. In this milieu, the MDes Program invites candidates to examine contemporary practices of design and modes of production as they inform and manifest urbanism. As model and metaphor on the one hand, and as applied science on the other, urban and architectural practices and habits of thought are increasingly engaged with ecological thinking. In this space of intellectual inquiry and advancement of the design arts, the MDes Program aspires to be a leading venue for post-professional studies of contemporary urban practice. MDes candidates in the Urbanism, Landscape, Ecology concentration pursue advanced studies in topics related to contemporary urbanism, landscape, geography, or territory within the broader contexts of the global, social and natural environment. Candidates are invited to construct their own program of study from among the course offerings at the GSD, across the Harvard University campus and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Candidates may propose research topics related to the description of contemporary urban forms; the empirical observation of urban or environmental subjects; the representation of ecological or urban sites and systems; cartographic or projective representations of urban, regional, or global orders; ecological orders as determinants of urban, regional, or territorial spatial organization; the histories and theories of landscape as elements of urban or regional order; infrastructure, logistics and material economies associated with urban or regional form; emergent economic orders and their impact on urban form; energy production and consumption in relation to urbanism; agricultural production and consumption in relation to urbanism; water and waste networks in relation to urbanism; large-scale and ultra-rapid development and emergent forms of modernization and their ecological and economic impacts and possibilities; as well as advanced studies in landscape urbanism, ecological urbanism and weak urbanism.

Affiliated Faculty

Anita Berrizbeitia , Professor of Landscape Architecture and Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture Eve Blau , Adjunct Professor of the History and Theory of Urban Form and Design & Director of Research Montserrat Bonvehi Rosich , Lecturer in Landscape Architecture Jill Desimini , Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture Gareth Doherty , Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture & Director of the Master in Landscape Architecture Program Craig Douglas , Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture Ed Eigen , Senior Lecturer in the History of Landscape and Architecture Ann Forsyth , Ruth and Frank Stanton Professor of Urban Planning & Director of the Master in Urban Planning Program Stephen Gray , Associate Professor of Urban Design Toni L. Griffin , Professor in Practice of Urban Planning Sergio Lopez-Pineiro , Lecturer in Landscape Architecture Rosalea Monacella , Design Critic in Landscape Architecture David Moreno Mateos , Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture Mohsen Mostafavi , Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design and Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor Pablo Pérez-Ramos , Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture Robert Pietrusko , Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture Chris Reed , Professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture & Co-Director of the Master in Landscape Architecture in Urban Design Program Peter Rowe , Raymond Garbe Professor of Architecture and Urban Design and Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor Belinda Tato , Associate Professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture Charles Waldheim , John E. Irving Professor of Landscape Architecture & Director of the Office for Urbanization Alex Wall , Design Critic in Landscape Architecture Sara Zewde , Assistant Professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture

Research Affiliations

Harvard GSD Office for Urbanization Harvard University Center for the Environment Harvard University Center for Geographic Analysis Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies Harvard GSD Future of the American City Project Harvard GSD Critical Landscapes Design Lab Harvard GSD Healthy Places Design Lab Harvard GSD Just City Lab

Read about the Urbanism, Landscape, Ecology concentration in  Harvard Magazine .

Tropical Landscape

2021 Design Studies Thesis Prize: Juan David Grisales’ “From Humboldt to Caldas: Environmental Liberations through Tropical Altitudes”

by Juan David Grisales (MDes / MLA I AP ’21) — Recipient of the Design…

Pablo Pérez-Ramos , Faculty Advisor

Spring 2021

urban design research topics

Permanence in the Temporal: Artifacts for Freedom in the Rohingya Refugee Camp

by Nadyeli Quiroz (MDes ULE/ MLA I AP ’20) According to Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben,…

Rahul Mehrotra and Paola Sturla, Faculty Advisors

Spring 2020

urban design research topics

Da Yun He: Symbolism and Evolution Under China’s Leadership

by Frank Wen Yao (MDes ULE ’20) For centuries, China has been known for its…

Peter Rowe , Faculty Advisor

urban design research topics

Working with Urban Informality: A Postcolonial Critique of Planning Theory based on Lessons from the Caño Martín Peña Special Planning District

by Samantha Saona (MDes ULE ’20) This thesis adds to the postcolonial perspective of informality…

Abby Spinak , Faculty Advisor

map of indonesia.

Land Grabs and Land Grants: Social Forestry as New Governmentality in West Kalimantan, Indonesia

by Ziwei Zhang (MLA ’17/ MDes ULE ’20) This thesis focuses on social forestry…

Sai Balakrishnan, Faculty Advisor

architectural collage

(Slum) scapes of adaptation Weak Grounds, Risk Ecologies, Community Initiatives

by Eduardo Pelaez (MDes ULE ’19) Rapid population growth, rural-urban migration, and the occupation of…

Dilip da Cunha, Faculty Advisor

Examining Extreme Frontiers of Waste

Afterlives of Orbital Infrastructures: From the Earth’s High Orbits to its High Seas

by Rajji Sanjay Desai (MDes ULE ’19) “We live in an age in which extremely…

Neil Brenner, Faculty Advisor

Spring 2019

aerial image of housing on a narrow peninsula with waves crashing against the beach

Lines in The Sand:
 Rethinking Private Property On Barrier Islands

by Maggie Tsang (MDes ’19) and Isaac Stein (MLA/MDes ’20) — Recipient of the Design…

Rosetta S. Elkin, Faculty Advisor

Student Work

Community Equity Fund Process

Community Equity Fund

Laura Lopez (MUP ’19), Daniel Padilla (MUP ’19), Eduardo Pelaez (MDes ’19) Due to its…

Jesse M. Keenan, Faculty Advisor

Alberto de Salvatierra thesis project

Zea Mays / Corn as Civilization, Commodity, Consumerism and Control

Alberto de Salvatierra (MDes ’17) Maize (zea mays)—commonly known as corn—often evokes nostalgic visions of…

Spring 2017

Yu Ling Pong thesis project

Unfolding the Western District Public Cargo Working Area in Hong Kong

Benni Yu-ling Pong (MDes ’17) The Western District Public Cargo Working Area (WDPCWA) in Hong…

Jane Zhang thesis project

The Future is Nutty: Balanoculture for the World

by Jane Zhang (MDes ’17) It takes an Oak tree on average 30 years to…

Jakarta’s Orogeny: Inhabiting Java’s Volcanic

by Pedro Aparicio Llorente (MDes ULE ’16), recipient of the Gerald M. McCue Medal, and Namik…

Pierre Bélanger and Dilip da Cunha, Faculty Advisors

Spring 2016

urban design research topics

Void Urbanism. A Genealogy

by Roi Salgueiro Barrio (MDes ’14) The thesis posits that the notion of void and its…

Charles Waldheim , Faculty Advisor

Spring 2014

urban design research topics

The Lower Athabasca Regional Counterplan

by Christopher Alton (MDes ’14) This thesis is constructed as a critical analysis of the…

urban design research topics

Logistical Urbanization

by Conor O’Shea (MDes ’14) Logistical urbanization historically contextualizes and theorizes processes of urbanization catalyzed…

urban design research topics

Wet Grounds: Emerging Landscapes of Storage

by Adriana Chávez (MDes ’14) “Wet Grounds: Emerging Landscapes of Storage” is a projective research…

Pierre Bélanger, Faculty Advisor

urban design research topics

Flexible Urbanism: Retroactive Assemblage for the Contemporary City

by Daniel Ibanez (MDes ’12) Historically, urbanization has depended upon landscapes and broader ecologies to…

Spring 2012

urban design research topics

Border as Urbanism: Redrawing the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea

by Dongsei Kim (MDes ’12) Borders are everywhere and exist at every level of our…

  • Frontiers in Sustainable Resource Management
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Sustainable Urban Development Through Smart City Design and Planning

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About this Research Topic

Over the past several decades, rapid population growth and urbanization in various parts of the world have resulted in various negative impacts on the urban environment. To resolve some of these consequences and to develop urban areas in a sustainable manner, smart city design and planning will play a pivotal role in reshaping future urban landscapes. By synergizing cutting-edge technologies, data-driven insights, and community engagements, smart city initiatives aim to optimize the utilization of resources, improve quality of life, and mitigate the ecological footprint of urban centers. These holistic approaches utilize efficient transportation systems, renewable energy resources, smart and intelligent infrastructure, and responsive planning models to create future cities that are resilient, adaptable, and can coexist with their natural surroundings. As urban populations continue to grow, the pursuit of sustainable urban development through smart city design and planning is essential. There are several goals of this special issue. First, it will attempt to highlight and discuss the various short and long-term consequences of population growth and urbanization. Second, it will also attempt to discuss the various smart tools and techniques that are used for sustainable urban growth and development in various parts of the world. Finally, it aims to highlight the various planning policies and regulations that are implemented or proposed in different urban areas across the developing and developed world for sustainable urban development in the near future. We are inviting academicians, researchers, and graduate students to submit original research, comprehensive reviews, or case studies contributing (but not restricted) to the following topics: 1) The concept and principles of sustainable development and its application in various urban sectors. 2) Examining the role of governments, policymakers, and international organizations in driving sustainable urban development initiatives. 3) Evaluating the role of smart technology and innovation in promoting sustainable development practices and solutions in urban environment. 4) Addressing the social aspects of sustainable urban development, including poverty reduction, social equity, and inclusive development.

Keywords : Sustainable Cities, Smart Cities, Green Transportation Systems, Sustainable Planning and Development, Household Sustainability, Sustainable Practices

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  1. Best Thesis Topics For Urban Planning & Design

    Best thesis topics for Urban Planning and Design. January 8, 2022. urban design terminology, urban design theory, Urban design thesis, urban glosary, Urban Planning, urban research. Once you enter the final year of your postgraduate study in urban design. Each student's postgraduate architecture thesis project is a chance to demonstrate their ...

  2. PDF Urban Planning and Design Thesis Handbook 2022-2023

    Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. The thesis provides an opportunity for students in the department's three master's degree programs to pursue graduate-level research and deeply explore a topic of their interest. This handbook provides a

  3. Urban Design and Planning (UrDP): Research Topics

    Articles & Research Databases Literature on your research topic and direct access to articles online, when available at UW.; E-Journals Alphabetical list of electronic journal titles held at UW.; Encyclopedias & Dictionaries Resources for looking up quick facts and background information.; E-Newspapers, Media, Maps & More Recommendations for finding news, audio/video, images, government ...

  4. Journal of Urban Design

    Journal news & offers. 20% discount on Personal subscriptions for Urban Design Group Members! Contact customer services on +44 (0)20 7017 5544 or [email protected]. Advances theory, research and practice in urban design, a core factor in planning and architectural education, to improve urban environment quality.

  5. Urban design & urban planning: A critical analysis to the theoretical

    In the nineties, urban designer's safeties in an influenced field comprise topics such as sustainability and environmental compatibility/ responsiveness. ... The research suggests those actions as a recommended research plan for urban design academics, theorists and authors. Criticizing the status of urban design merely helps understand the ...

  6. Buildings

    The growing role and importance of research in the field of urban design have been widely acknowledged [2,4,5,6] (Hensel & Nilsson, 2016; Lucas, 2016; Aksamija, 2021; Lehmann, 2021, 155f), and the strategic use of research in the urban design process will most likely lead to more effective and better-performing design solutions. However, there ...

  7. Introduction: the future of public space

    The emphasis on public space within the New Urban Agenda is just one more reminder of its emerging status as a central subject of study. Among the disciplines that now treat public space as a major research topic are urban design, urban studies, anthropology, sociology, environmental psychology, political science, and urban economics.

  8. Urban Design and Planning

    Urban Design and Planning. Our engineering journal titles report the latest research and current practice for the benefit of the international civil engineering profession and related disciplines. We also cover historical research and lessons learned from past events. Each paper is independently assessed and peer-reviewed. State-of-the-art review.

  9. Research Guides: Architecture & Urban Design: Special Topics

    Special Topics. Historical surveys, early architecture books, and important architectural catalogs. Architectural photography, photogrammetry in architecture, and selected aerial photography. Structures and assemblies handbooks, design manuals, recommended books, and more. Includes online resources, Materials ConneXion, journals and product ...

  10. PDF URBAN&PLANNING&AND&DESIGN&& THESIS&HANDBOOK& 2016@17&

    Thesis Preparation Seminar (GSD 9204) This seminar provides the theoretical and methodological foundation necessary for completing a graduate thesis in the Department of Urban Planning and Design. The seminar is appropriate for both planning and design students.

  11. The Routledge Handbook of Urban Design Research Methods

    What makes this book quite distinctive from conventional handbooks on research methods is the way it has been structured in relation to some key research topics and questions in the field of urban design regarding the issues of agency, affordance, place, informality, and performance. In addition to the introduction chapter, this handbook ...

  12. Design & Building

    THE URBAN LAB, Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary is a research group dealing with urban design, community planning, and urban development issues. Established in 2000, the Urban Lab is an ongoing experiment in education, research and outreach, and is an example of university - community collaboration involving faculty ...

  13. Urbanism, Landscape, Ecology

    Master in Design Studies Pre-Fall 2021. Urbanism, Landscape, Ecology. "Lines in the Sand: Rethinking Private Property On Barrier Islands" by Maggie Tsang (MDes '19) and Isaac Stein (MLA/MDes '20) — Recipient of the 2019 Design Studies Thesis Prize. Over the past decade, longstanding disciplinary divides between the urban and the ecological ...

  14. PDF UPD Thesis Handbook 2017-18

    Department of Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. The thesis provides an opportunity for students in the department's three master's degree programs to pursue graduate-level research and deeply explore a topic of their interest. This handbook provides a summary of key thesis requirements and provides an

  15. Sustainable Urban Development Through Smart City Design and ...

    Over the past several decades, rapid population growth and urbanization in various parts of the world have resulted in various negative impacts on the urban environment. To resolve some of these consequences and to develop urban areas in a sustainable manner, smart city design and planning will play a pivotal role in reshaping future urban landscapes. By synergizing cutting-edge technologies ...

  16. Journal of Urban Design: Vol 29, No 1 (Current issue)

    Street-level architecture: the past, present, and future of interactive frontages. Robert Fishman. Book Review | Published online: 6 Mar 2024. Explore the current issue of Journal of Urban Design, Volume 29, Issue 1, 2024.

  17. Research through design in urban and landscape design practice

    ABSTRACT. This study takes stock on how research through design (RTD) is interpreted in urban and landscape design practice in relation to the scholarly meaning of RTD. The results indicate that the term 'RTD' in Dutch practice largely refers to the typical procedures and resources of a practical design process.

  18. Start your Urban Planning and Design Research

    Web of Science Citation Index, including Journal Citations Reports, with ranking of urban studies titles by impact factor. Journal of Planning Literature Factiva : Provides worldwide full text coverage of local and regional newspapers, including The Boston Globe, trade publications, business newswires, press release wires, media transcripts ...

  19. Urban Design and Planning (UrDP): E-Journals

    An interdisciplinary scientific journal, which addresses topics in the areas of Urban Development, City and Town Planning, Landscape and Environmental Planning, Landscape Architecture, Regional and Environmental Economics as well as Transportation Planing. Published quarterly. Coverage: 1999-present.

  20. Urban Design and Planning (UrDP): Urban Ecology & Sustainability

    Articles & Research Databases Literature on your research topic and direct access to articles online, when available at UW.; E-Journals Alphabetical list of electronic journal titles held at UW.; Encyclopedias & Dictionaries Resources for looking up quick facts and background information.; E-Newspapers, Media, Maps & More Recommendations for finding news, audio/video, images, government ...

  21. What is urban design? A proposal for a common understanding

    This paper analyzes some relevant contemporary definitions of urban design. Based on this analysis, it first identifies certain general features of this discipline. Then, it provides a general definition, and finally, it clarifies potential misunderstandings. In this paper, any discussion of what makes good urban design is avoided.

  22. Urban Design and Planning (UrDP): Government Organizations

    Articles & Research Databases Literature on your research topic and direct access to articles online, when available at UW.; E-Journals Alphabetical list of electronic journal titles held at UW.; Encyclopedias & Dictionaries Resources for looking up quick facts and background information.; E-Newspapers, Media, Maps & More Recommendations for finding news, audio/video, images, government ...