Letting Kids Design the Cities of the Future

The Box City event held in Denver recently educated children on the process of planning by letting them create their own version of a city.

1 minute read

April 25, 2016, 6:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Future City

Fabrice Florin / Flickr

Yesenia Robles provides a dispatch from this year's Box City event in Denver, where volunteer urban planners "helped children learn about how a city is created."

Robles quotes Ken Schroeppel, co-chair of the Box City committee, to describe the value of the event and the children's approach to the activity.

According to Robles, the "Box City event is put on by different organizations throughout the country, but had not been held in Denver for a few years. This year the event was sponsored by the Denver Architectural Foundation with help from the city and the American Institute of Architects."

So what kind of a city do the youth of Denver design when given a chance? "The city that kids built Saturday included a cat shelter, a castle, skyscrapers, a sushi tower, convenience stores and a mall," writes Robles.

Saturday, April 23, 2016 in The Denver Post

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Concrete Brutalism building with slanted walls and light visible through an atrium.

What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities

How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.

February 28, 2025 - Justin Hollander

Complete Street

‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge

Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.

February 27, 2025 - Streetsblog USA

Green electric Volkswagen van against a beach backdrop.

The VW Bus is Back — Now as an Electric Minivan

Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz reimagines its iconic Bus as a fully electric minivan, blending retro design with modern technology, a 231-mile range, and practical versatility to offer a stylish yet functional EV for the future.

March 3, 2025 - ABC 7 Eyewitness News

Multicolored tulips in Descanso Gardens, Los Angeles, CA.

Spring Spectacle: Thousands of Tulips Bloom at One of LA’s Top Gardens

Descanso Gardens, one of Los Angeles County’s most beloved botanical destinations, is welcoming spring with 35,000 tulips in bloom, creating a breathtaking seasonal display expected to peak in late March.

16 minutes ago - NBC 4

Power lines and towers at dusk.

Ratepayers Could Be on the Hook for Data Centers’ Energy Use

Without regulatory changes, data centers’ high demand for energy would be subsidized by taxpayers, according to a new study.

1 hour ago - Governing

Yellow bird with black head sitting on power line.

City Nature Challenge: Explore, Document, and Protect Urban Biodiversity

The City Nature Challenge is a global community science event where participants use the iNaturalist app to document urban biodiversity, contributing valuable data to support conservation and scientific research.

2 hours ago - City Nature Challenge