European Cities and Sustainable Urban Planning Practices

Caitlyn Lux

Education Abroad

My Step Project involved studying abroad in European Cities and Sustainable Urban Planning Practices. We visited the cities of Copenhagen, Denmark, Malmö, Sweden, Berlin, Germany, Weimar Germany, and Barcelona Spain. We specifically focused on what makes these cities so successful in terms of urban planning and development.

During my education abroad, I definitely noticed a transformation and growth in my independence. Dr. Lara definitely encouraged us to go out in groups and explore the cities separate from our class case studies. I went from being nervous about public transportation to being very comfortable taking public transportation in all of the cities. For example, in Berlin, there are so many forms of public transportation that run through the city. By the time we left I was able to navigate from our location to the hotel very easily. In addition, I also noticed that I became very comfortable overcoming a language barrier and being able to adapt to situations when people couldn’t understand our language or customs. For example, towards the end of being in Copenhagen, I was able to have an exchange with a cashier without speaking English because I picked up on basic Danish words.

One event that led me to become independent was our firm visit in Copenhagen. We visited a bike infrastructure planning group called Copenhagenize. At the visit, we were given a presentation on the importance of bike infrastructure. I was intimidated by this major company, but once talking face to face with the presenter in such an intimate way, I began to feel more comfortable in the setting. By the end of the presentation I was asking intuitive questions that related to my major and personal studies. I felt very empowered and independent because I could tell the presenter appreciated my questions and mindfully answered them.

A second experience that led me to feel more independent was once free day in Barcelona. A group of us decided to not waste a whole day in a beautiful city. We planned our activities the night before and decided to tour the gothic district in Barcelona. We relied on a book to take us around this area and saw some very interesting and old buildings. I really loved this, being an architecture major. I felt very independent, being able to navigate a city on our own seeing major historical landmarks all on our own.

A third experience that led me to become more independent was when we rented bikes in Berlin. It is such a large expansive city, so I was pretty intimidated to explore the city on our own once Dr. Lara took us to major sites. However, once we were given time to explore on our own, we successfully navigated around the city, seeing amazing buildings and neighborhoods. We were able to see so much more of the city with our bikes. I wouldn’t have been able to do so if I held myself back. Instead, I chose to become independent and overcome being uncomfortable by riding through a bustling city.

This change in becoming more independent while on the trip has benefited me immensely. Because I was able to go out and explore on my own, I got to see amazing buildings and structures that complimented my studies in architecture. Not everyone on the trip wanted to see these buildings, so I am glad that I was confident enough to navigate around the cities in order to see the things I wanted to. This helped me to advance my educational studies on my major because I could visit these sites, sketch them, take pictures and relate what I had learned in class to first hand experiences. It honestly was amazing to learn about some of these amazing buildings and then see first-hand how these structures influence the city and space they inhabit. My growing independence truly allowed me to go out and experience the world in a way that I never thought was possible.

One thought on “European Cities and Sustainable Urban Planning Practices

  1. Thank you for sharing. It sounds like Dr. Lara instilled a great sense of exploration with your group so that you could also get some independent experiences.

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