Urban Systems Theory & Design

The senior Urban Design Studio produced two projects for the Community Design Team (CDT) program during fall semester 2019. The first project was the preparation of the Helper City Plan, which addressed the region, districts and neighborhoods of the city. Helper is a small, diverse community with a strong historic identity and an arts-based economy. Project two was the Riverton 2050 Plan, which established a future vision for the transformation of the Riverton downtown. During a period of rapid growth in recent years, most of the historic character of Riverton was lost.

Project #1: Helper City Plan

Helper City and the American Institute of Architects prepared an SDAT (Sustainable Design Assessment Team) Report in 2017. Building on the SDAT recommendations, the students formed four teams that addressed an array of issues at the regional, district, neighborhood and site scale. Accommodating growth, improving community character, clarifying public access, wayfinding design, and economic development are at the heart of the Helper City Plan, anchored by the city’s history, arts, recreation, authenticity and creative vision.

The four student teams worked collaboratively to address the identified urban design goals. The Helper Overall team prepared analysis and design recommendations at the city and regional scale for the arts, recreation, growth, infill, housing types, regional transit and more. The North Main Street team focused on a new visitors’ center, arrival and wayfinding, site design for infill housing and street character. The Main Street team developed streetscape, park, hotel, and plaza design concepts for the historic downtown, and the Price River and 100 West team designed a new arts district along 100 W, designed improved pedestrian and vehicular access, and envisioned new public open space and river edge uses.

Project #2: Riverton 2050 Plan

In Riverton, five student teams prepared urban design concepts for the five neighborhoods surrounding the Old Dome Meeting Hall and Riverton City Park. The Riverton 2050 Plan is a vision for new public facilities, mixed-use development, walkable streets, public gardens, an interconnected trail system, and a mix of housing typologies connected through greenway design and pedestrian access. The vision of the plan is to create a walkable, mixed-use urban center that accommodates growth and re-creates an identifiable downtown.

The Riverton 2050 Plan is a tool for informed public discussion as the lands surrounding the park and old dome transition over time. Adding public facilities like a new library, a museum with a center for the arts, a swim facility for all ages, and an urban village oriented to food education and production, strengthen the public core of the new downtown. Proposed retail, office and housing uses, with a range of affordability, oriented to a broad demographic and built around public open space anchor the vision of the plan.

The learning embedded in the Helper City Plan and the Riverton 2050 Plan adds to student preparation as they graduate into an urban-oriented market. Through these projects the students served two communities in need and helped to fund the student ASLA through the CDT program. The Helper City Plan and the Riverton 2050 Plan will be added to the LAEP Library, and support future studio and thesis research.