MA Urban Design student wins top Student Project Award

The Welsh School of Architecture and the School of Geography and Planning at Cardiff University are proud to announce that a student in their joint MA Urban Design programme has received the prestigious award for the best student project in the United Kingdom from the national Urban Design Group. 

The National Urban Design Awards aim to reflect the different types of work undertaken by practitioners in urban design from policies, urban design frameworks and masterplans through to built schemes, with criteria based on real-world design guidance/standards and statutory duties.

The Module Leader for the MAUD Urban Design Studio in Autumn 2020-2021 and former Director of MAUD, Professor Aseem Inam, said:

"This is a proud moment for He Wang and for the MA in Urban Design, especially his studio tutor, Lotte Hoeijmakers. The spirit of the programme, especially as embodied the 2020-2021 academic year design studios, is about helping our students transform the future of the field.  Grounded in the context of the Butetown area of Cardiff, He Wang's student project is an exemplar of such critical urban practice."

The project entitled 'The Green Loop' aims to create a new type of community that is not only economically but also environmentally sustainable through the economic means of community land trusts and flexible and innovative urban design. The project's starting point is to explore the relationship between the economics of the public realm and the type and mixes of land use. The analysis suggests a green loop between the two, in that a more mixed and diverse site allows for a more diverse range of people in the area and a greater tendency for people to walk and cycle to their destinations. This in turn promotes access to nearby public spaces. The increased vibrancy of the public spaces around the community will increase the economic value of the community and people's sense of belonging. The project is designed through a model site, including selecting an economic approach in line with the design vision, flexible and innovative layout principles and functional distribution to create a human community based on community participation. More information about both the winner He Wang and 'The Green Loop' project can be found on the Urban Design Group YouTube page.

Congratulations to He Wang and the entire MA Urban Design team at Cardiff University!