Page 30 - RE-NJ

28 JANUARY 2026
LESSONS IN LAND USE
ULI’s acclaimed UrbanPlan program comes to Morris County
in new, condensed format to reach more students
O n day one, the teams learned
about the fi re-damaged town
of Elmwood. On day two, they
presented detailed proposals for
redeveloping it. Not bad for a group
of high school students.
The crash course in urban planning
at Morris County School of
Technology in Denville was courtesy
of the Urban Land Institute Northern
New Jersey, which debuted a shorter
version of its nationwide UrbanPlan
program over two days in December.
“One day they talk about the
mechanics and the process of the
tool … the next day they actually
sit down and go through the
development process,” said William
Lashbrook, a ULI volunteer and
retired commercial real estate
banker with PNC.
Under the program, students
respond to a “request for proposals”
to redevelop a neighborhood in
the fi ctional town of Elmwood.
Each student on a team takes on
a different role, such as fi nance
director, neighborhood liaison or site
planner, as they plan their proposals.
In Denville, students clustered at
tables with laptops and shared
screens, their Lego representations
of Elmwood in front of them. Their
slideshows explained their mission
By Marlaina Cockcroft
statement and site plan, detailing
elements like jobs created, amount
of open space, projected revenue,
amount of affordable housing,
environmental factors and input
from community groups.
Lashbrook said students need to
consider factors like what size
grocery store to include or where to
locate a homeless shelter. “There’s
no right answer.”
Hearing the proposals were
“Elmwood Mayor” Daniel Grant and
the city council, as portrayed by ULI
volunteers.
Grant, of ENV Architecture +
Design and incoming co-chair of
ULI NNJ, said the original version of
UrbanPlan is led by teachers, who
need time to familiarize themselves
with the concepts. The shorter
version is led by ULI volunteers.
“The real goal
is to drive an
alignment,
really, between
developers and
city offi cials
in real life and
bring them
Daniel Granttogether into
an environment
that is cornerstoned in education,”