At the end of the October, seniors in Economics will stand before a panel of judges to defend their vision of the future of the fictitious neighborhood of Elmwood.

“I adopted Urban Plan four years ago with the goal of having a project-based learning task that engaged students in a real world simulation around land,” economics teacher Gabrielle Kashani said.

According to their website, Urban Plan, a program run by the Urban Land Institute, has a stated mission of creating better communities through education of local stakeholders. A standard curriculum is used by Economics teachers to educate students on urban land use through hands-on experience.

Senior Leslie Zhang, a member of a self-described “competitive” team, said, “Students learn really quickly when working on [Urban Plan] that satisfying demand while working with a restricted budget is very difficult.”

Student teams work as private development firms, each team creating a vision for the future of the blighted urban neighborhood of Elmwood in fictitious Yorktown. At the end of the project, teams present their proposals to a mock City Council composed of land use professionals.

“The teams have to keep in mind you’re not just building for revenue, you have to please [the City Council] and make sure you meet other demands. So you have to think beyond the [metrics], and consider things like how traffic will work and building shadows will fall in order make your residents happy. The trick is to remember there is no correct solution.” Andrew Budge, a winner of the Spring 2013 Urban Plan, said.

According to Kashani, the plans that make the most money do not always address the needs of the city and its people.

New this year is a revision to the curriculum that addresses green building. Though not a major component of the project, the revision serves to educate students on the expense of green building.

Within a group of five, each member adopts a specific role with specified duties. Aspects of the challenge include financial analysis, a 3D model made of Lego’s that demonstrates different buildings and interaction with land use professionals who volunteer for the Urban Land Institute.

“It isn’t possible for one or two people to carry the whole team, and the strongest teams are actually the balanced teams,” Kashani said.

Unlike typical classroom activities, Urban Plan has no correct solution. Judges are looking for justification for a team’s decisions, according to Kashani.

“The purpose of the project is, yes to make money, but you have to balance that out with the non-market forces like people who live in the neighborhood, how are you going to get people who want to live there, how are you going to get businesses that want to relocate there, how are you going to get people to shop there,” Kashani said.

A panel of land use professionals select the best proposal from each semester of Economics. The winners receive Mulberry’s gift cards.

“The competition can be a little bit surprising to students, but brings out the best in some students, giving them a chance to really shine if they want to,”  Kashani said.