Student Planning and Design Competition
2027 Student Planning and Design Registration is Open!
Put your planning and design skills to the test! The prompt is now available for the 2027 APA Student Planning and Design Competition, challenging student teams to reimagine Houston’s East River Site along Buffalo Bayou.
Develop a proposal that connects neighborhoods, expands housing options, and improves public spaces. The top three teams will compete in the finals at NPC27 in Houston!
Review the prompt, gather your team, and register by December 11 at 11:59 p.m!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can teams submit questions, registrations, or proposals late or update/change submitted questions, registrations, or proposals after the relevant deadline?
A: No, questions, registrations, and proposals cannot be submitted, uploaded, updated, changed, amended, modified, or replaced after their respective deadlines. Exceptions are considered only in cases of a genuine medical emergency or natural disaster. Teams encountering technical submission issues should contact APA immediately. APA strongly recommends testing upload capabilities and file compatibility well before each deadline. This rule only applies after respective deadlines have passed; teams may edit or change submitted materials before their respective deadlines and should notify APA staff of any changes.
Q: Can teams request unpublished data from the City?
A: No. Team members should not contact City staff to request data. Any publicly available information can be used to inform the proposal. Upon successful registration, GIS data for (FIGURE 0-3) and the study boundaries (FIGURES 0-1 and 0-2) will be provided to registered teams.
Q: Does APA offer any team formation assistance?
No. APA does not assist with forming teams. Team members do not need to attend the same university, but all participants must meet the competition’s eligibility requirements. Students looking for teammates are encouraged to connect through the Students and Emerging Planners LinkedIn Group.
Q: What are the limits for public participation? How do we conduct proper community outreach without contacting current residents/property owners?
A: Teams may not conduct public engagement to avoid an unfair and confusing situation where multiple competition teams contact community members. Teams are encouraged to access public engagement data in publicly available City resources and other sources like census data and media coverage.
Q: Can non-planning students participate?
A: Yes, so long as they meet all the requirements outlined under “Student Team Qualifications & Capabilities.” Note: The team leader must be a planning student.
Q: Can students form a team entirely composed of undergraduate students?
A: Yes, so long as they meet all the requirements outlined under “Student Team Qualifications & Capabilities.” However, keep in mind that the competition anticipates graduate-level responses.
Q: When can my team start work?
A: Immediately after completing a valid registration.
Q: Can teams ask for expert consultation and feedback? How much outside participation is permitted?
A: Outside participation is only allowed in an advisory role. The team members (students) must complete all the work of the submitted proposal on their own.
Q: Can international teams participate?
A: Yes, so long as they meet all the requirements outlined under “Student Team Qualifications & Capabilities.” International participation is welcome; however, APA cannot provide additional travel assistance or accommodations to attend NPC27.
Q: Can a student participate solo and not have other members?
A: No. The competition is designed to encourage and strengthen teamwork and skills.
Q: Where can my team find higher quality aerials?
A: APA provides features that geolocate the site upon registration. Use these features to locate the site and generate high-resolution map series. In keeping with the format of an RFP, APA does not provide teams with aerial imagery.
2026 Student Planning and Design Competition Finalists
First Place: Terminus — Georgia Institute of Technology
Meryl Pawlick
Maria Del Valle
Emma Uppelschoten
Nick Lucovsky
Andrew Sarphie
Second place: Team Joe Cool — University of Michigan
Alisa Sehgal
Renee Magyar
Irene Nguyen
Jeremy Kailing
Kristin Hollenbeck
Third PLACE: Make/Mend — Harvard University
Emma Fairfield
Kendal Eastwood
Micah Weese
Sierra Foster
Noah Johnson
Student Planning and Design Competition Participant Testimonials
Experiencing the competition is more than a challenge; it's an immersion into real-life scenarios. It is where diverse perspectives converge, allowing us to witness how experienced professionals approach complex issues. As some of us are international participants, it is our inaugural opportunity to delve into American design and policies, exchange ideas, and witness the power of innovation in shaping cities.
—Sofia Chiappero
Participating in the APA Student Planning and Design Competition was an amazing opportunity to collaborate with my classmates from different backgrounds and use our collective expertise to solve a real-world planning problem. I'm grateful for the opportunity we had to travel to NPC to present our design, meet the other teams, and share our experiences.
—Cale Wagner
Participating in the APA Student Planning and Design Competition has been such a fulfilling experience, coming from diverse backgrounds to collaborate and apply planning concepts in real-world scenarios. This challenge was particularly exciting as we're simulating the design phase of an ongoing project!
—Hannah Leung
Previous Winners
2025
University of Texas at Austin
GreenLink - UDP Collective
The team from the University of Texas at Austin took first place in this year's Student Planning and Design Competition. Photo by Jordan Sweet.
The winners from the University of Texas at Austin were Chaochen Fan, Edwin Flores, Tess Matzakos, Kunth Shah, and Maria Rubio.
2024
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Twin City Studios
Massachusetts Institute of Technology team members: Zak Davidson, Cal Wagner, Hannah Leung, APA President Angela D. Brooks, FAICP, Sophia Belen Chiappero, and Mikal Berra.
2023
Arizona State University | Sun Devil Development Team
Repairing Logan's Urban Fabric: The Stitch Project
Vision Statement
"The Logan Triangle will be mended back into the urban fabric of the Logan Neighborhood, having become a healthy, safe, affordable, desirable, and sustainable community by 2033. This will be accomplished by The Stitch Project, a design that will transform the Triangle from a detached piece of Philadelphia's urban fabric back into a vital part of the Logan community. The Project will accomplish this through four categories of complementary activities: connecting people with places, blending old and new, enhancing quality of life, and reviving to thrive."
Sun Devil Development Team: Bryan Leyba (MUEP & MSUS), Kelsey Ouellette (MSUS), Sara Pimentel (MUEP), Deema Abdul Rahman (MUEP), and Leen Elharake (MUEP).
2021
First Place
Reimagine, Macon, Georgia
Team Reimagine — University of Georgia
Team Reimagine aims to help regenerate a city that has struggled with many challenges regarding civic engagement, socioeconomic mixing/racial injustice, connectivity between communities, and environmental sustainability. The purpose of honing in on the site context and analysis was to find the true character of the spaces and the people of Macon. Our proposed ideas and designs strove to not only tackle the existing challenges but also help create a healthy and safe environment for all residents in the community through public access, parks and recreation, and revitalizing the downtown.
Team Members: Adolfo Martinez, Karlie Roper, Margaret Apperson, Duncan Watts, Jeremy Smith, Anneka Pace
2020
First Place
Team RES
Columbia University
2020 Student Design Competition Winners
"Team RES (resilient, responsive, restorative) seeks to promote healthy communities, support workforce development and community entrepreneurship, increase high-quality housing options, and incorporate strategies that optimize environmental assets and awareness. Through our proposal, we seek to address some of the community's concerns targeting flood mitigation, environmental remediation, gentrification, housing affordability, and the high crime rate. We explore the myriad of solutions around planning for communities that are equitable, resilient, and for residents who need ready access to housing that's affordable."
2019
Team Fruitpad
Cornell University
2019 Student Design Competition winners, Team Fruitpad from Cornell University.
2018
NOLA Shares
Cornell University
Team Leader — Anna Callahan; Team Members — Thomas Pera, Hannah Plummer, Kari Spiegelhalter
NOLA Shares features a web and app-based platform that aims to increase and facilitate shared skills, resources, and knowledge across the Iberville community in downtown New Orleans. In addition to cloud-based infrastructure, the team proposed physical kiosks installed throughout the neighborhood to guarantee access for all residents.
2018 Student Design Competition Winners: Team Leader - Anna Callahan; Team Members - Thomas Pera, Hannah Plummer, and Kari Spiegelhalter.
2017
L.E.A.P. to a Smart Future
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Team Leader — Xiaochen Chen; Team Members — Yuanyi Xiao, Donggyu Lee
The 2017 Student Design Competition invited interdisciplinary student teams to apply place-based Smart City technologies to a specific New York City site. The winning team, L.E.A.P. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, creatively identified a four-part vision — L.E.A.P. to a Smart Future — detailing how Smart City technologies could be used to improve Livability, Empowerment, Accessibility, and Play on site.