Planning the living spaces of tomorrow begins with work today. Henrik Weiberg, a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa junior in global environmental science had the opportunity to participate in UrbanPlan through a course he took in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. UrbanPlan is a hands on exercise where participants learn about the challenging issues, private and public sector roles, complex trade-offs and fundamental economics in play when proposing realistic land use solutions to vexing growth challenges.
The project goal for Weiberg and his team of UH Mānoa students was to prepare a proposal to revitalize a depressed neighborhood in a fictional city with specific parameters and opportunities. Weiberg served as the site planner for the team, with Lucian Anderson as financial analyst, Chika Kato as city and neighborhood liaison and Elizabeth Travis as marketing director.
The judges for the Honolulu competition included local public and private sector urban planners, architects and administrators.
“Presenting to the panel was difficult because you do not know what criteria they are using to judge the winning project,” he said. “I had hoped to gain a better understanding of what the planning process would be like. I was also excited to get creative with our plan and design the city the way I thought best.” Weiberg came up with the idea of designing their city blocks around a large park in the middle of the development.
Weiberg is in the Global Environmental Science and Master of Urban and Regional Planning Combined Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree Pathway (BAM), a program that encourages high achieving undergraduates to complete a bachelor’s and master’s degree in a shorter time frame by double-counting course work at the undergraduate tuition rate. In most cases, pathway students graduate with both degrees within five years.
- Read more about BAM pathways: Motivated undergrads get a head start on master’s program, October 23, 2019
Going forward, Weiberg hopes to use the skills and knowledge he gains through his work at UH to help people.
“[I want to] work wherever I can to help societies make proper decisions about how to live best with the environment that surrounds them,” he said. “Still figuring this one out!”
