UrbanPlan is a hands-on, experiential learning experience that teaches participants – high school students, college students, and community stakeholders – the fundamental forces at play in land use and real estate development. The UrbanPlan curriculum was originally launched in 2002 and has recently been updated to be more reflective of current social and market conditions. With these improvements, UrbanPlan will give participants even more access to the trade-offs facing those making land use decisions now and into the future.

There have been several key changes made to the curriculum. The content has been updated with slightly modified team roles (including an Environment & Equity Director who will guide their teams to meet the fictional City of Yorktown’s new EcoDistrict requirement), an expanded history of the fictional Elmwood neighborhood to provide important context, additional affordable housing considerations, added diversity, equity, inclusion and sustainability criteria, and updated development standards which address realistic, infill development constraints such as mixed-use buildings and underground parking. Lastly, the updated financial model has been streamlined and is much easier to use (just trust us on that one).

The new and refreshed curriculum was piloted in select ULI San Francisco UrbanPlan classrooms in Fall 2021 and is being rolled out in most classrooms our program beginning Spring 2022 including at Piedmont High School, Berkeley High School, East Side Union Preparatory School, Lowell High School, and Palo Alto High School! Starting in summer 2022, the old UrbanPlan curriculum will officially be retired, and all schools and community workshops will transition to the new curriculum.

If you’re an existing UrbanPlan volunteer, you must complete an updated curriculum training to volunteer in classrooms and community workshops using the new curriculum. This training is available as a 1.5-to-2 hour on-demand, self-guided online course. For instructions on how to access the module, please reach out to Pooja Sharma, ULI SF Associate, at [email protected].

ULI SF is also pleased to announce that we’ll be hosting a live updated curriculum training via Zoom on Friday, March 11, 2022, from 9:30-11:30am! This live training can be done in lieu of the on-demand, self-guided training. For more information on the live new curriculum training session and to sign up, please click here.

If you’ve never been trained in UrbanPlan, you can apply to join an upcoming new volunteer training here. New volunteer trainings are held virtually and in-person several  times each year. The next training is virtual and planned for March 24-25, 2022, from 9:30am-1:30pm each day.

We hope you will get trained in the new curriculum and join us in the classrooms or workshops as a volunteer. The UrbanPlan program wouldn’t be possible without the generous help of our volunteers!