2008 NCARB Prize Winner:
University of Arkansas and Washington University in St. Louis
"Visioning Rail Transit in Northwest Arkansas"

Northwest Arkansas (NWA) is the nation’s sixth fastest growing region. This area of
300,000 is expected to double its population within 15 years, and grow to more than one million by 2050. The studio’s objective is to mobilize public and political support for development of a regional rail transit system within an existing 32-mile rail corridor as a smart growth platform for NWA. The challenge is to facilitate the public’s understanding of public transit policy and design issues in a region without strong planning traditions.

Successful rail transit systems built over the last 30 years have generated accessible land development patterns characterized by high densities, mixeduses, and walkable urban environments around their transit stations. Known as Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), this type of development capitalizes on the presence of new user densities created by public transit. Studio proposals focused primarily on optimization of underutilized historic downtowns, providing smart-growth alternatives to suburban development. Using scenario planning strategies and a policy primer assembled for the studio, students from two schools of architecture, and faculty from four schools developed TOD proposals for NWA communities.

Student interns and faculty over the subsequent year produced a book: Visioning Rail Transit in Northwest Arkansas (winner of 2008 AIA Honors Award for Regional and Urban Design) to leverage funding for a $1.5 million transit feasibility study. The goal is to qualify NWA for candidacy in the Federal Transit Administration’s “New Start” program for rail development assistance. Project partners now include Arkansas River Connection Project (a statewide consortium of economic and tourism development interests), the NWA Light Rail Transit Steering Committee, Sustainable NWA, NWA Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, NWA Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, Arkansas Chapter of the American Planning Association, and area chambers of commerce.

Project Abstract

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