Existing forms of urbanism, born largely in modernism, are proving to be inefficient, wasteful and a significant part of the carbon problem on the planet. Their segregated development patterns and dispersed density has created gridlock in our transportation system and polluted our environment.  The agenda for the Sustainable Urbanism Studio is to explore how humanity can establish a more balanced development pattern in the context of the current challenges and in contrast to those that put us in this predicament.

Sustainable Urbanism is the theme of this studio at the graduate level at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln's College of Architecture. The Urban Sustainability Studio, using China as its laboratory, is committed to exploring ways cities can pursue more sustainable forms of urbanism. Started in 2009, projects have been pursued in partnership with Tianjin University (Professor LIU Conghong), XiAn Jiaotong University (Professor CHEN Yang) and Chongqing University (Professor GU Hongnan). These efforts have involved mixed groups of Chinese and American students along both exclusively Chinese students and American students.