Middle Schoolers Plan the 'Future City'

Tatiana Sanchez provides a dispatch from the Northern California Future City competition, where "40 teams of middle school students from across the Bay Area and beyond who showcased their 'future cities' on large tabletop models."

According to Sanchez, Future City "challenges students to imagine, design and build the cities of their dreams." This year's competition focused on the challenges of the "The Age-Friendly City," asking students "to create cities that would be accommodating of older generations."

Sanzhez notes that Future City's mission is to introduce careers in the sciences and engineering to students of all demographic backgrounds—previous competitions focusing on stormwater management, urban agriculture, public spaces, and green energy show that the competition cultivates an early interest and knowledge of the many forms of planning is inherent in the process.

Regional competition winners from around the country will meet in Washington, D.C. this February to determine a national winner.