This paper outlines a pedagogical experiment conducted between the University of Arizona College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture (CAPLA); GLHN Architects and Engineers; the City of Tucson; and Pima County.  This academic, public, private partnership projected a vision for Downtown Tucson in 2050 as a regenerative community, able to meet future growth and livability standards within carbon and water neutral bounds.  In a time when sustainability is a primary focus of city planning, this paper offers a pedagogical pathway for academia to engage with public and private entities to seek bold solutions to some of our largest urban challenges.   

The study established a baseline for Downtown Tucson informed by existing energy, water, and waste data from City buildings and national averages.  Next, students designed a set of prototypical pieces of Tucson’s future natural, built, social, and economic sustainable urban environments.  Each of these pieces was tagged with energy use, water use, and waste production intensities used to model future resource demand and infrastructure needs.  District energy, localized waste water treatment, and carbon neutral transportation were all elements of the final product.  Last, using population projections and livability standards, the prototypical pieces and infrastructure were assembled over the existing baseline to envision a sustainable Downtown Tucson in 2050 by hard numbers and visual rendering. The energy and innovation of students was leveraged with the expertise of professionals and local government to develop a vision that was beyond the normal site line of a standard city plan.  The students engaged in a unique, reality based experience that expanded their skill set, enabling them to bridge their academic present with their future in practice.  The academic, public, private partnership collaboratively created a vision for a sustainable downtown while offering unique benefit to each