Become an UrbanPlan Volunteer!

What is UrbanPlan?

Student development teams respond to an “RFP” (request for proposals) for the redevelopment of a blighted site in a hypothetical community. Each team member assumes one of five roles: finance director, marketing director, city liaison, neighborhood liaison, or site planner. Through these roles, students develop a visceral understanding of the various market and nonmarket forces and stakeholders in the development process. They must reconcile the often-competing agendas to create a well-designed, market- responsive, and sustainable project.

Teams address challenging financial, market, social, political, and design issues; develop a pro forma and three-dimensional model of their plan; and present their proposal to a “city council” of ULI members that awards the development contract to the winning team.

What is the Mission?

The Mission of UrbanPlan is to create a more sophisticated level of discourse among local stakeholders involved in land use decisions through the education of tomorrow’s voters, neighbors, community leaders, public officials, and land use professionals so, together, we can create better communities.

Why Do We Need Volunteers?

At three points during the program, local land use professionals assist UrbanPlan by acting as:

“Facilitators”: Through Socratic interaction, volunteers challenge the students to think more critically about the UrbanPlan issues and the specific responsibilities of their “roles” (financial analyst, marketing director, site planner, city liaison, and neighborhood liaison).

“Guest Speakers”: Volunteers engage in interactive discussions with students about their own work projects or specific professional challenges. Through thoughtful questioning, the presenter helps students relate these issues and decisions to struggles the students are experiencing in UrbanPlan.

“City Council”: Volunteers hear student presentations, challenge the students proposals as would happen in an actual city council hearing, and award the development contract to the winning development team.

Where do we volunteer?

ULI OCIE currently has programs running at The Samueli Academy in Santa Ana and Laguna Beach High School.  The 2025 opportunities for both schools will take place February through March.

What is the Time Commitment?

Training to become an UrbanPlan volunteer can be done through a quick online session that should take no more than 1.5 hours. Once trained you’ll be added to the trained volunteer distribution list and will receive emails when volunteer opportunities are available.

Facilitations are generally 1-1.5 hours and the City Council is 4-5 hours. You can volunteer as much or as little as you like. We encourage you to attend at least one facilitation soon after training when the information is fresh! You will receive a UP Volunteer Manual prior to the session with all the key information you need along with suggestions of questions to ask.

Interested?

Please complete the New Volunteer Application to receive a link to the online training.

Questions? Contact us at [email protected]  or visit the official ULI website!