Student Planning & Design Competition
APA Student Planning and Design Competition
About the Program
The APA Urban Design and Preservation Division, Divisions Council, and Student Representatives Council co-sponsor the Annual Student Planning and Design Competition, inviting teams of students pursuing graduate degrees in planning to participate. The competition helps develop the next generation of urban planners and designers by focusing on a significant development site or an area in the National Planning Conference host city and asking them to consider all the steps planners and designers need to take when developing plans and recommendations. Finalists present their proposals to a jury at a public session of the National Planning Conference.
By advocating excellence in planning, promoting education, and citizen empowerment, APA hopes to provide our students with the tools and support necessary to meet the challenges of growth and change.
2026: Ninth Annual Student Planning and Design Competition - Davison-Schoolcraft and the Joe Louis Greenway
The 2026 Student Planning and Design Competition centered on the Davison-Schoolcraft neighborhood along the Joe Louis Greenway, a 47-acre site in Detroit and host location of the 2026 National Planning Conference. Situated northwest of downtown, the competition site was bisected by a newly completed section of the Joe Louis Greenway and featured diverse land uses ranging from light industrial facilities to vacant school buildings, with established neighborhoods in between.
Students created plans that acknowledged the area’s industrial past while meeting current needs and exploring new opportunities. The site presented an opportunity to explore sensitive and strategic infill solutions that complemented existing neighborhoods while facilitating job growth through the rebirth of light manufacturing. Following the conference, representatives from the three student finalist teams and members of the final jury discussed the student work and the broader response to reimagining the industrial past.
The APA Urban Design and Preservation Division, Divisions Council, and Student Representatives Council co-sponsor the competition.
1st Place: Terminus — Georgia Institute of Technology
- Meryl Pawlick
- Maria Del Valle
- Emma Uppelschoten
- Nick Lucovsky
- Andrew Sarphie
2nd Place: Team Joe Cool — University of Michigan
- Alisa Sehgal
- Renee Magyar
- Irene Nguyen
- Jeremy Kailing
- Kristin Hollenbeck
3rd Place: Make/Mend — Harvard University
- Emma Fairfield
- Kendal Eastwood
- Micah Weese
- Sierra Foster
- Noah Johnson
Sign-Up for the Webinar May 7, 2026
