Speaker
Description
The application of urban design theories and methods in a studio setting if fundamental in planning curricula as it allows us to test and visualize the physical and spatial implications of what planners generate through policies, programs, zoning, and land use regulations. However, the role of these studios is threatened. Planning’s move towards the social sciences shifted interest towards social, economic, political, and cultural problems. Academic culture and accreditation boards increasingly required educators to have doctorates and engage in scholarship and publication, creating a culture that promotes traditional teaching over experimental, studio-based, community embedded projects. Increasingly tighter budgets exert pressure on studios as they require more time than a regular class from both students and faculty, require more space, serve fewer students, and involve a constant search for clients and "real" projects. Threats increase as planning programs develop more flexible curricula, embrace on-line teaching, and focus on moving students faster towards graduation.
In this presentation we will discuss the urban design four-studios sequence in the planning program at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, USA. We will focus on the service-learning opportunities these studios had with local jurisdictions and private parties over a 25-plus year period. Dealing clients and “real problems” has proven to be an engaging and efficient method to reach the learning objectives while providing students with a strong sense of satisfaction and self-confidence. The contracts help paying some of the extra costs involved in the studio and these opportunities allow us to give back to the communities served by Cal Poly and popularize what planners and urban designers can do. Our discussion will draw from insights from the authors’ experience, from other faculty members, from assessments by the Planning Accreditation Board, and from surveying current and former students engaged in the profession.
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
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