ASU students impact Arizona communities through design innovations

A more sustainable park system in Chandler, Arizona.

A Main Street revitalization in the town of Miami, Arizona.

An upgraded and more user-friendly canal in central Phoenix.   

These projects all come from a single class at Arizona State University, and they’re all being recognized for their community impact.

Students connected to ASU’s Master of Urban and Environmental Planning (MUEP) program are the recipients of three local and national awards for their socially embedded projects, with the two most recent honors awarded Thursday. The projects were part of the students’ capstone experience in the program, Planning Workshop.

“By assessing each situation and considering planning best practices, our students are able to not only propose ideas for what ‘should be,’ but vet those ideas through conversations with the local community as a whole,” said Meagan Ehlenz, an associate professor in ASU’s School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, who teaches the semesterlong course. “They understand it’s not enough to recommend future changes, but they must also foster community ownership of that change.”

These graduate students focused their capstone MUEP experience on solving real-world planning challenges with community partners in Arizona during the spring 2024 semester. Three teamsThe Chandler team included ASU students Quinton Burden, Breanna Fulton, Logan Lowery and Noah Bulson. The town of Miami Team included ASU students Michael Wright, Alyssa Siebers and Joseph Haggerty. City of Phoenix team members included ASU students Grace Doerhing, Hannah Johnson, Komal Macwan and Jheng Wu. won awards for their contributions to urban and environmental planning. They are:

• The Western Planner Award for Best Student Project: Chandler team. Awarded Aug. 8 in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
• American Planning Association, Arizona chapter, for Student Planning Project: town of Miami team. This and the following were awarded Thursday in Tucson.
• American Planning Association, Arizona chapter, Honorable Mention for Student Planning Project: Phoenix team.

These awards represent the graduate program's commitment to providing real-world, hands-on learning opportunities, while simultaneously positively impacting local communities; the student work is going beyond the classroom to help shape a more sustainable future for Arizona.

Two of the three projects represent the continuation of partnerships between ASU and local communities through Project Cities, a program of the Sustainable Cities Network in ASU’s Global Futures Laboratory. Project Cities connects community partners facing sustainability challenges to ASU faculty to develop solutions through project-based learning with their students. Project Cities was awarded the ASU President’s Medal for Social Embeddedness in 2022 and has facilitated more than 110 projects with communities across Arizona.

“Project Cities provides a ‘win-win-win’ approach for community partners, faculty and students to advance impact in local communities,” said Julia Davis, senior program manager for Project Cities. “I was inspired by the dedication and commitment of the MUEP Planning Workshop students to the processes and outcomes of the planning projects with the town of Miami and city of Chandler. 

“The student teams went above and beyond the demands of a typical course project, resulting in tangible and actionable recommendations for their community partners, embodying ASU’s commitment to social embeddedness and use-inspired research.”

Project Cities has been partnering with the town of Miami since spring 2023. This project represents the culmination of a series of student projects focused on community development and revitalization. The result is the town’s first-ever design guidelines and principles for downtown revitalization.

“This group of students bring opportunity to the town of Miami by helping us to create a better future,” said Alexis Rivera, who has been the town’s manager since 2002. “It’s a blessing to get a perspective from a new generation because their plan includes preserving our heritage while offering new elements to the town that will be a benefit to everyone.”

This project creates a playbook for the revitalization of Main Street, starting from the Bullion Plaza Cultural Center and Museum at the west end of Main Street and ending at the YMCA building at the east end. It includes a convention hotel geared toward the mining industry; an enhanced pedestrian walking experience; light poles, benches and signage; a local brewery; a swimming pool, public basketball courts and a public park.

Master’s student Michael Wright, who was assigned to the Miami team, was thrilled the municipality was taking their ideas.

“When you sign up for a capstone project like this, you’re not sure what ideas they might take or actually use,” said Wright, who is an architect principal in ASU's Office of the University Architect. “I love that the town of Miami will use this plan to advance the condition of their city and elevate it to a place like perhaps Virginia City, Nevada, or Jerome, Arizona, one day.”

Project Cities has been partnering with the city of Chandler since fall 2023. This capstone project represents the continuation of a previous project focused on park equity, now extending to developing citywide strategies for sustainable landscape management across the Chandler parks system, which comprises 69 parks over approximately 1,500 acres.

The system is a high priority for residents and city leadership alike, said John Sefton, director of Chandler’s community services.

“This project afforded us the opportunity to examine today’s trends and best practices for landscape design and maintenance operations,” Sefton said. “The ASU MUEP team has developed the city’s first Internal Guide for Sustainable Parks Maintenance and Development by focusing on park usage, landscape assessments and assessing water consumption. This research and assemblage of resources will serve as foundational change as we move forward with our city’s water conservation and park services.”

Master's student Quinton Burden said he put on his game face as soon as he signed up for the workshop.

“I come from a competitive running background, so when an opportunity presents itself, I don’t see a reason to tell myself I can’t succeed,” said Burden, who has a landscape architecture degree from the University of Georgia. “If we’re building a real-world project and I’m putting my name on it, I want it to be the best it can possibly be.”

The third award-winning project is the result of a continuing partnership with the city of Phoenix and the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning. Joshua Bednarek, city of Phoenix planning and development director, is an alum of the MUEP program. He values the ongoing collaboration to provide hands-on opportunities for graduate students while also providing fresh ideas for the city.

“The students were vital in creating strategies to transform an underutilized canal front into a safer, greener, more inviting community space within the metro district TOC (transit oriented community) area,” Bednarek said. “Their work, blending technical reviews and community input ... to improve accessibility, enhance public safety and boost economic vitality, was well received and will support ongoing conversations with the city of Phoenix and key stakeholders for the area.”

Master's student Grace Doehring believes her team successfully struck that balance.

“The challenge was presented to our team, and they definitely gave us free rein to explore our approach how to make this an active transportation network,” said Doehring, who lives in Maine. “We wanted to make the canal a pedestrian-friendly place where people could exercise, relax and feel safe.”

Some of the team’s recommendations included creating multiuse pathways, shade structures, seating, trash and recycle bins, and lighting for night activity and safety.