Background

Each year the Urban Design Studio at MIT's School of Architecture and Planning investigates current urban design and planning issues in one of the world's dynamic urban settings. In the last ten years, with the support and assistance of interested governments, non-profit organizations, and private sponsors, these studios have developed ideas for strategic areas and sites in Taipei, sponsored by a private foundation and the City of Taipei; Beijing, sponsored by the Sun Fund; Barcelona, sponsored by the Generalitat of Catalunya; Boston, sponsored by the Boston Harbor Conference; and, currently, Singapore, sponsored by Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Agency. In each case, ideas and recommendations have been based on field study, and a systematic exploration of a variety of proposals for future patterns of place, activity, and access. These ideas have then been prepared for a final presentation and publication.

The studio's pedagogic objective is to introduce students from different backgrounds to the issues that can be addressed through good urban design and planning, as well as to techniques and values that must be engaged in that task. Beyond this educational purpose, there is also a wider important public objective attached to the studio. Typically, there has been a concerted effort to stimulate public understanding and debate about a current design or policy issue in that locale. Thus we have always worked with specific clients who can benefit from the proposals that such a studio can generate. Student teams produce design and policy recommendations including methods of implementation, and past sponsors have found that the studios have influenced thinking about their own cities.

The studio is intended to offer students an opportunity to:

- engage with the different stakeholders, and become familiar with the range of issues entailed in achieving good urban design

- formulate configurations of use, built form, public space and landscape and access systems that will together respond to these issues

- become familiar with digital environments as a mode within which to analyze, sketch, develop and present urban design proposals

- develop abilities to work in multi-skilled teams

- and produce graphic and written evidence of arguments and ideas in a lucid and publishable form