Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Sheri L. Smith / The Kansas City Design Center (KCDC) Interdisciplinary Urban Design Studio is one of a myriad of design studios throughout the country, which seek to bring students of differing educational backgrounds together in an urban environment. In this setting they collaborate with each other, faculty, and outside professionals in an effort to stem many of the problems associated with urban America today. While these design studios have made their goals and objectives clear to the public and their studio participants, what are they offering in terms of a quality interdisciplinary educational experience? How interdisciplinary are these urban design studios? Are students receiving the same educational experiences? The above questions can only be answered by documenting the processes involved as well as looking to the students for their insight and feelings of their own individual educational experiences while taking part in the studio. The Kansas City Design center builds its educational endeavors around its interdisciplinary design studio. The goal of this studio is to “strengthen the educational experiences of future planning and design practitioners by engaging university faculty and students with real world issues facing Kansas City’s built environment.” Through this studio, faculty and students are able to work closely with local client groups working towards improving the built environment in Kansas City. If Kansas State University and the University of Kansas continue to send students to KCDC to study each year, it only seems appropriate that their faculty and potential students understand what is taking place at this particular studio. Therefore, the goal of this research paper is to describe the projects undertaken during the inaugural Kansas City Design Center Urban Design Studio and to analyze the interdisciplinary environment of the studio.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional and Community Planning / Jason Brody / From start to finish, implementing large public infrastructure projects, like a park, can be challenging. Funding shortages, public opposition, and physical limitations are all potential problems that can halt a project’s development. This study explores the complexities of implementation by using a proposed park designed by the Kansas City Design Center as a case study for examination. The visioning process, or first stage of implementation, is explored by examining the factors that influenced the design. Through interviews, this report then examines how the actors and processes of project implementation work together or against each other in project development. Applying the learned knowledge of implementation to the proposed park of the Kansas City Design Center presented multiple challenges, as well as opportunities for the park. After understanding implementation and its application to the Rail Park, three main strategies are proposed to move the Kansas City Design Center’s proposed park past the visioning stage. The three strategies are: to collaborate between actors, garner public support, and project phasing. General conclusions about implementation in this study found that there will be challenges and not all can be anticipated, but it is important to plan for those that can be. Being flexible and persistent to move a project forward is necessary in order to accommodate stakeholders’ concerns and unforeseen problems. Knowledge of implementation and its complexities will assist actors, developers, and students to advance visions into reality.