What is UrbanPlan?

UrbanPlan is a realistic, engaging exercise in which participants—high school students, university students, or public officials—learn about the fundamental forces that affect real estate development in our communities. Participants experience the challenging issues, private and public sector roles, complex trade-offs, and fundamental economics in play when proposing realistic land use solutions.

Through an academically challenging, classroom-based curriculum, high school and university students are afforded the opportunity to discover how market and non-market forces in their community effect what can be approved, financed, and built. The UrbanPlan committee enables the success of the program by working closely with high school educators and universities, growing the volunteer base, and evaluating and improving the curriculum.

Objective:

High School Create a more sophisticated level of discourse at the local level, where land use decisions are really made, through the education of tomorrow’s voters, neighbors, colleagues & public officials.

University Create more sophisticated and effective land use professionals: developers, planners, architects, investors and policy makers entering the profession.

Impact

UrbanPlan has reached more than 20,000 high school and university students across the country since 2003. More ULI members, including trustees, governors and product council members, participate in UrbanPlan than any other national or local ULI program.

Get Involved

The success of UrbanPlan relies on a multi-disciplinary team of volunteers – ULI members – who work with the student teams to develop ideas and concepts, culminating in a presentation to a panel of volunteer judges.

To volunteer, please fill out this Application Form. To learn more about UrbanPlan visit https://americas.uli.org/programs/urbanplan

ULI South Carolina’s UrbanPlan program is planning to deliver the program to Charleston County School of the Arts and Wando High School this spring.  To learn more about volunteer opportunities, please contact Robin Hargett at [email protected]

Useful Volunteer Info

Click here to view the recent webcast on Volunteer Best Practices.