How Cities Work

Are you interested in learning how cities and regions work to serve their inhabitants? Join this project week to explore the intersections of architecture, urban planning, design and public services through the lenses of environmental sustainability, social justice, politics, and engineering. We'll take an interdisciplinary approach to meet with experts across industries to learn how cities work and why they work the way they do. You'll learn there's usually a reason for why things are designed the way they are, thought that reason may not always be what you think.

Join us on a variety of field trips to see how cities work, from the people who make decisions about infrastructure to the politicians who raise the funds to the construction workers who build the structures to the activists who fight the projects. Be an active participant in your city, region and state and gain an understanding of what makes our cities function.

A typical day will include a field trip to meet with local experts, bagged lunch or lunch out, time at Overlake working on reflection project, and some travel time on both busses and public transportation. You'll leave this project week with a much better, real-life understanding of how decisions are made in your city and region that impact you every day.