SUD student group wins C40 Cities' Students Reinventing Cities competition 2021

In December 2020, the international association C40 invited students around the globe to participate in the Students Reinventing Cities competition. The challenge was to develop sustainable, resilient and inclusive urban concepts and propose concrete action plans for pilot neighbourhoods of 18 different cities around the world.

When ten students from the Sustainable Urban Development Master's programme at TU Darmstadt and one student from TU Dortmund University got together to plan their participation in this competition at the end of February, it was the beginning of an intense but also enriching work period. On September 28th, the group was rewarded for their efforts – The Barrio Catalysts won this year's challenge of the City of Madrid with their plan for the Gran San Blas Sur neighbourhood.

Based on five interlinked focus areas – citizen participation, mobility, economic revitalisation, greener and safer public spaces and energy-efficient buildings – the team developed a holistic recommendation plan for local authorities and citizens.