AICP Student Project Award

Each year, the American Institute of Certified Planners recognizes outstanding achievements that contribute to advances in the field of planning. Awards are presented annually at the APA National Planning Conference to a student or group of students in an accredited planning curriculum for an outstanding paper or class project. No more than three awards will be given. The annual award categories are:

• the project that best demonstrates the contribution of planning to contemporary issues
• the project best applying the planning process
• applied research

For information about the AICP Student Project and Outstanding Students Awards, click here.

2008 Winners

Winners of the 2008 Awards will be honored at the 2008 APA National Planning Conference in Las Vegas, April 27–May 1.

AICP Student Project Award — Applied Research
"The Oregon Land Use Stories Project"
Portland State University, Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning
The Oregon Land Use Stories project grew out of the polarized political climate created by the passing of Measure 37 (M37). Planning students heard much about how M37 would negatively impact planning and livability in Oregon, but heard little about the meaning behind the measure's passing. The project focused on using story as a planning tool to better understand the meaning of M37 and the future of land use in Oregon, while making the conversation accessible to citizens. In crafting the project, team members sought to get back to the root of what land use planning in Oregon was all about — creating and preserving those things that people value about the places they live.

Click here for details of the project and the project team

Click here for the project website

AICP Student Project Award — Application of the Planning Process
"Creating a New Place: A Concept Plan for 15 Peabody Street"
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning
The project "Creating a New Place: A Concept Plan for 15 Peabody Street" came at an ideal moment which allowed the team to examine the parcel's potential to become a way to connect the Salem Harbor Walk with the Point Neighborhood, while providing much-needed open space and water access. The team worked with the Salem Sound Coastwatch (SSCW) and the Salem Department of Planning and Community Development to facilitate a design that draws its inspiration from the local community. To advance this goal, the project team engaged the community in two charettes as well as participatory surveys.

Click here for details of the project and the project team

Click here for the project website

AICP Student Project Award — Contribution of Planning to Contemporary Issues
"Planning for Detroit’s Tax-Reverted Properties: Possibilities for the Wayne County Land Bank"
University of Michigan, Urban and Regional Planning Program, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning

The plan is one of the first to connect urban planning to the handling of tax-reverted property. When the students began work, Wayne County officials said that the usefulness of their land bank was to remove liability from the Treasurer (the foreclosing agent) and to make property eligible for state brownfield programs. Although the Genesee County Land Bank used urban planning, Wayne County regarded Genesee's program as too broad to be duplicated in Detroit where the volume of tax-reverted properties was much greater. The students tailored a plan that was feasible for Wayne County. In doing so, they convinced many that a land bank could make a major difference in increasing property values, returning vacant and abandoned property to productive uses, and strengthening neighborhoods. They showed the benefits of integrating planning into work normally left to lawyers and tax collectors.

Click here for details of the project and the project team

Click here for the project website

2007 Winners

Winners of the 2007 Awards were honored at the 2007 APA National Planning Conference in Philadelphia, April 14-18.

AICP Student Project Award — Application of the Planning Process
"Two Squares, One Place"
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
"Two Squares, One Place" is the plan for the Hyde/Jackson Square Main Streets District of Boston. Completed by a team of 13 graduate planning students in the "Revitalizing Urban Main Streets" class in the spring of 2005, the plan presents recommendations for economic development and urban design changes in this neighborhood commercial district. The project draws upon the strengths of the district, especially the proliferation of "mom and pop" type stores and the strong presence of diverse demographic groups, including concentrations of Latino, non-Latino white, and non-Latino black business owners and residents to offer a plan that unites the district into "one place."

Click here for details of the project and the names of the student participants

Click here for the project website

AICP Student Project Award — Contemporary Issue
"Going Public! Strategies for Meeting Public Restroom Need in Portland's Central City"
Portland State University, Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning
"Going Public" reports on the existing condition of Portland Central City’s public restroom supply, demand, and need; provides an analysis of management, funding, and policy alternatives; and recommends options for meeting need. The project involved interviews with representatives from over 20 stakeholder groups representing a range of Portland Central City restroom interests, including neighborhood associations, social service organizations, city bureaus, land owners, and nonprofit organizations. Relief Works did case studies to gauge what other cities have done to address public restroom needs and conducted an assessment of Portland’s current public restroom facilities for safety, services provided, ADA accessibility, building components, and maintenance.

Click here for details of this project and the names of the student participants

Click here for a PowerPoint presentation

AICP Student Project Award — Applied Research
"Changing of the Guard: A New Vision for Fort Monmouth"
University of Pennsylvania School of Design, Department of City & Regional Planning
In Fall 2005, the U.S. Department of Defense announced the third round of military base closures under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process, which included Fort Monmouth, in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The installation must cease operations by 2011, though estimates suggest it may close as early as 2008. "Changing of the Guard: A New Vision for Fort Monmouth" balances the needs of the host communities, the natural resources and critical environments on and around the fort, as well the economic and social realities in the region — all while considering the possibility that the federal government may choose to sell the entire site to the highest bidder. The plan includes recommendations for environmental and historic preservation, the creation of vibrant live-work-play centers for each host community, and important social and transportation connections between the new development and the region.

Click here for details of this project and the names of the student participants

Click here to visit the project website (view report and PowerPoint presentation)

2006 Winners

AICP Student Project Award — Application of the Planning Process
"Pioneering Palmer's Future: Strategies for Managing Growth"
University of Washington, College of Architecture and Urban Planning
The student team produced a comprehensive, complementary set of planning recommendations to preserve and enhance Palmer, Alaska's small-town character and historic agricultural resources while guiding future area-wide growth and spurring economic health. The synthesis document, Pioneering Palmer's Future, presented nine integrated recommendations in a highly accessible, compelling format.

Click here for details of the project

Click here for the project website

AICP Student Project Award — Contemporary Issue
"Otsego Land Trust Land Conservation Plan"
Cornell University, Department of City and Regional Planning
Fourteen Master's in Regional Planning students participated in a workshop to assist the Otsego Land Trust, (OLT) a nonprofit conservation organization, by creating a land conservation plan to guide the land trust's conservation efforts. Students researched the demographic changes taking place across Otsego County, New York; designed criteria to select land conservation projects that reflect the land trust's mission; and created tools to prioritize the landscape for proactive conservation.

Click here for details of the project

Click here for the project website

2005 Winners

AICP Student Student Project Award — Applied Research
"Conservation and Landscape Planning Heritage Trail, featuring Historic Places in Massachusetts"
Ann Chapman, University of Massachusetts
This master's thesis proposes a Massachusetts Conservation and Landscape Planning Heritage Trail. The inspiration for this trail comes from the life and work of visionary planner, Benton MacKaye, father of the Appalachian Trail.

Click here for more

AICP Student Project Award — Contemporary Issue
"Food for Growth: A Community Food System Plan for Buffalo's West Side"
State University of New York, University at Buffalo
The Food for Growth project was a semester-long planning process undertaken by 11 students at the University at Buffalo in the fall of 2003. Under the guidance of Dr. Samina Raja, students in this studio prepared a food system plan for a neighborhood on Buffalo's West Side.

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AICP Student Project Award — Application of the Planning Process
"San Miguel 2025: Draft Community Plan"
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Two documents created by the students are a product of a six-month long community study designed to emulate the process of preparing a community plan and expose students to state-of-the-art technology, methods, and techniques used in "real-world" planning situations. The project incorporated all aspects of planning including data collection and analysis, community participation and surveying, goal and objective creation, visioning, development of alternative concept plans, and policy creation.

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2004 Winners

AICP Student Project Awards— Application of the Planning Process
University of Buffalo
"Towards a Smart Growth Master Plan: Assessment and Recommendations for the Town of Porter, New York"
Dr. Ute Lehrer, Advisor
Fida Abdel Latif; Brian Gatewood; Fredy Rodriguez Gutierrez; Amy Kacala; Joel Kleinberg; Hui-En (Grace) Lee; Nnabuihe Maduakolam; Karen Palmer; Seokhoon Shim; Brian Slack; Mark Territo; Katherine Wagner; Robert Wisener; Ji Zhang

Honorable Mention
Georgia Tech — "Fort Valley: Making Connections"
Texas A&M — "City of Palacios, Texas, Design Plan"

AICP Student Project Awards — Contemporary Issue
University of Oregon
"Integrating Transportation and Land Use Planning: Outreach to Planning Commissioners"
Paul Bender, Carloyn Bonner, Jennifer Dill, Kathryn Frank, Bethany Johnson, Evan MacKenzie, John Mermin, Darren Muldoon, Tina Nunez, Robert Parker, Michelle Pezley, Mike Rose, Paul Seilo, Rachel Warner

Honorable Mention
The Ohio State University — "University District Code Enforcement: An Assessment and Recommendations for Improvement"
Portland State University — "Wildlife Crossings: Rethinking Road Design to Improve Safety and Reconnect Habitat"

AICP Student Project Awards — Applied Research
"Save Ammendorf!"
Kate Zidar
Pratt Institute Graduate Center