UrbanPlan for High School
Our seniors are required to take a government class and an economics class. They may ace the standardized tests on each subject … but it’s UrbanPlan that makes the principles they’ve learned in these separate classes come together. They take away a visceral understanding of how market forces such as supply and demand, opportunity cost, and risk interface with non-market forces such as regulatory oversight, “public good,” and political pressure to affect the quality of their lives.
Steve Teel
AP Government Teacher and Doug Powers, AP Economics Teacher, Berkeley High School, Berkeley, California
UrbanPlan is a realistic, engaging, and academically challenging classroom-based, Web supported program in which high school juniors and seniors learn the roles, issues, tradeoffs, and economics involved in urban development. It provides our future voters, colleagues, community leaders, and neighbors with a hands-on experience in developing realistic land use solutions to vexing urban growth challenges.
While participating in the UrbanPlan program, students interact with professionals from the public and private sectors in the field of land use. This is also an opportunity for them to learn about possible career paths in this industry.
It was created by academics, educators, and land use professionals. The Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, developed UrbanPlan, second edition, in collaboration with the Urban Land Institute (ULI).
UrbanPlan uses rigorously tested standards-based content. The curriculum aligns with all state and national content standards for high school economics and offers a much-needed local government component to the curriculum. UrbanPlan employs best practices of project and problem-based learning. It was field tested in five traditional public high schools for two years with more than 700 high school juniors and seniors by six economics and government teachers, producing a program with real world applications that is highly engaging and rewarding for students and teachers.
How Does UrbanPlanWork in the Classroom?
Students form competitive 5-person development teams to respond to a redevelopment agency’s Request for Proposal for the redevelopment of a 5.5 block site in the fictional city of Yorktown. Their goal is to win the contract from the city. To accomplish that goal, the teams must address and resolve challenging financial, social, political, aesthetic, and environmental issues.
What Are UrbanPlan’s Objectives?
- To help students become excited about creating better communities.
- To introduce them to the challenges of planning and development in a way that engages their energy and creativity while developing skills and insights that will help them become effective and involved problem solvers.
- To provide insight into the many public and private sector career options in policy, planning, and land use and development.
Bring UrbanPlan to Your Classroom
Contact ULI San Diego-Tijuana staff to learn more about how to bring the UrbanPlan program to your classroom.