Second Semester Core Urban Planning Studio
The second semester core planning studio expands the topics and methodologies studied in the first semester core studio, GSD 1121, aiming to prepare students for the mix of analytical and creative problem-solving needed to address planning issues at the advanced level of the options studios. GSD 1122 centers around a single large-scale planning problem with a regional, intermunicipal scope. The studio addresses the following concerns, all of which are currently central to planning: the pattern and development nature of settlement form; the visual and scenic impact of development either at the fringe or in built-up areas; accessibility, walkability, and the relationship between transit and autos; the location and utility of open space, particularly with respect to development; and the respective roles of large-scale concepts (eg plans) vs. regulation in shaping the built environment. The site for the spring studio will be Aquidneck Island in the state of Rhode Island, which includes the towns of Portsmouth, Middletown, and Newport. The studio begins with two short exercises in Cambridge and Concord and concludes with students creating either a schematic site plan or an infill plan for a fringe or center-city site, respectively.