Summary
Uses urban planning as a grand engineering challenge — how do you design a city that has clean water, energy, waste removal, transportation, and housing — showing that city systems are deeply interconnected.
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All ages
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Discussion
- What systems does a city need to function? List five.
- How does a city's water system connect to its waste system?
- What happens to a city if one system (e.g., electricity) fails? Which other systems are affected?
- What is one feature you would design into a new city to make it more sustainable?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: urban planning, infrastructure, system, interconnected, sustainable, zoning.
Try it: On graph paper, design your ideal city for 10,000 people. Mark where housing, schools, parks, water treatment, power, and transportation go. Draw at least two connections between systems (e.g., water pipes running alongside roads).