MURP Students Earn American Planning Association Outstanding Project Award

A group of 14 Master of Urban and Regional Planning students, led by Louis A. Merlin, Ph.D., AICP, Assistant Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, were awarded the Outstanding Student Project Award from the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association. The award was presented at the Florida Planning Conference on September 3, 2021, for the team’s Plan for the Northwest Planning Area in Deerfield Beach, Florida. The Department of Urban and Regional Planning has achieved repeated recognition at the annual APA Florida conference, with a student earning an award nearly every year since 2013.

The students partnered with the City of Deerfield Beach to develop a small area plan for the northwestern portion of the city. Through a disciplined planning process, with extensive community outreach, students produced a detailed plan with recommendations grouped into four themes: Economic Development, Placemaking and Community Identity, Public Transportation and Connectivity, and Sustainability and Community Health. The plan provides the city a comprehensive framework to positively transform the study area into Deerfield Crossing, a new Town Center that bridges community divides and establishes a destination for the community to come together.

“The master’s students working on this project did an outstanding job. Their research was thorough, the community involvement was extensive, and the final project was of professional quality. I’m proud to be associated with the Northwest Area Plan,” remarks Assistant Professor, Merlin.

2021 American Planning Association Florida Student Project Awardees

Students also awarded: Jessica Kluttz, Malcolm Moyse, Noah Brown, Shane Szabo.