Student Planning and Design Competition
2025 Student Planning and Design Competition
Denver, CO | March 31, 2025
Student Planning and Design Competition 2025 (SPDC) details are officially live! New this year, the competition is open to all students. This is your chance to learn firsthand how experienced professionals approach complex issues and to demonstrate your creative solutions.
This year's competition focuses on the historic Colfax & Federal Clover Leaf, a 46-acre site in Denver, CO, which will also host the 2025 National Planning Conference. This has a rich history, including its role as one of the original roads to the Rockies. Unfortunately, many historic buildings along West Colfax were lost to a viaduct and, later, a cloverleaf. This site is adjacent to Empower Field at Mile High to the east and multi-family neighborhoods to the west. Students are tasked with developing a plan that thoughtfully responds to the legacy of the area while addressing contemporary needs and opportunities.
2025 Student Planning and Design Competition Submission Portal
2025 Student Planning and Design Competition Prompt
2025 Student Planning and Design Competition Q&A
The Latino Cultural Art Center is on Old West Colfax Ave.. and Mile High Stadium Circle. There is also an old bar across the street (The Original Brooklyn's). It's only half a block of buildings next to the major thoroughfares and parking lots.
2024 Student Planning and Design Competition
Minneapolis, MN | April 15, 2024
Co-sponsored by the American Planning Association (APA) Urban Design and Preservation Division, Divisions Council, and Student Representatives Council, APA presented the Annual Student Planning and Design Competition, which culminated in a final competition event and winner selection at the 2024 National Planning Conference (NPC24) in Minneapolis, MN.
This opportunity for student planning and design in real-life spaces continued APA's ongoing effort to provide leadership in developing vital communities. Through excellence in planning, promoting education, and citizen empowerment, APA hoped to provide emerging professionals with the tools and support necessary to meet the challenges of growth and change.
2024 Student Planning and Design Competition Prompt
2024 Student Planning and Design Competition Participant Testimonials
2024 Student Planning and Design Competition Winners
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.
Second Place
University of Minnesota
Third Place
University of Illinois-Chicago
2024 Student Planning and Design Competition Finalist Teams
Honorable Mentions
Read more about the Student Planning and Design Competition
The 2024 American Planning Association's Student Planning & Design Competition concluded its seventh year, showcasing urban planning students' skills and vision.
Blog Post
Fostering the Future of Planning: Outcomes from the 2024 Student Planning & Design Competition
2024 Student Planning and Design Competition Participant Testimonials
Experiencing the APA Student Planning Competition is more than just a challenge; it's an immersion into real-life urban planning scenarios. It is where diverse perspectives converge, allowing us to witness firsthand how experienced professionals approach complex issues. As some of us are international participants, it is our inaugural opportunity to delve into American urban design, and American public policies, exchange ideas, and witness the power of collective 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! We are humbled to have presented among peers and fellow aspiring planners and are excited to see how the New Nicollet Initiative unfolds.
—Hannah Leung
Previous Winners
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."
Second Place
University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign
Third Place
Harvard University
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.