The School of City and Regional Planning organizes at least one international planning studio each year.
Puerto Rico Studio
Since 2019, students from the School of City and Regional Planning at Georgia Tech have been visiting Puerto Rico, an underrepresented territory within the United States that is highly vulnerable to climate change. Through the Puerto Rico Planning Studio, these students have collaborated with a wide range of local partners, including Proyecto ENLACE del Caño Martín Peña in San Juan, the Puerto Rico Planning Board and the Municipal government of Cataño, and the community-based Impacto Juventud in the community of Rucio, near Ponce. Studio projects have addressed issues related to post-hurricane recovery, census participation, energy transition, organizational capacity-building and community-level data collection. The Studio is offered every Spring semester. Studio outputs from past Puerto Rico studios are listed below:
Puerto Rico 2022: Augmenting the Impact of Community Organizations
Puerto Rico 2020: Making Cataño Count
Puerto Rico 2017: Disaster Mitigation and Recovery Studio
Tokyo Smart City Studio
The Tokyo Smart City Studio is an international collaboration between the Eco Urban Lab of Georgia Tech, the University of Tokyo, Keio University and the Global Carbon Project (GCP) since 2017. The Tokyo Smart City Studio explores how data-driven urban design and digital urban tools enable us to comprehend cities, urban space and architecture using data visualization, mapping, modeling, performance evaluation and new urban form making. Students from the MCRP program of the School of City and Regional Planning and MArch program of the School of Architecture at Georgia Tech work together in this studio. Their work created future visions and scenarios of redevelopment through creative design. The students conduct urban data analytics using big data and planning data of the city area. They use data visualization, 2D mapping to 3D modeling using tools in GIS and Rhino with a focus on ecological urban performance modeling and assessment for issues ranging from building energy, urban climate, and mobility. They coordinate a collaborative co-design process with our studio partners, University of Tokyo and Keio University, and jointly present final studio work to local stakeholders. The Studio is offered every Spring semester. Studio outputs from past Tokyo studios are listed below:
Tokyo Studio 2020: High Speed Rail Station Area Development in Shinagawa District
Tokyo Studio 2019: Urban Analytics in Kyojima District
Past Studio(s):
Varanasi Smart City Studio
The ancient city of Varanasi, India is one of the oldest and continuously inhabited cities in the world dating back thousands of years. The city is described as a place of temples and learning and is considered a cradle of Hindu faith. The city is home to an array of temples, shrines, and palaces along the banks of the river Ganges. It is also a commercial and industrial center famous for its silk fabrics, perfumes, ivory works, wooden toys, sculpture, and other handmade crafts. The Government of India’s “Smart Cities Mission” has initiated a massive $14 billion urban renewal and retrofitting program to develop 100 cities across the country, making them citizen friendly and sustainable in collaboration with candidate cities. Varanasi is one among them.
http://varanasistudio.design.gatech.edu/
