Capital District Future City Competition

Congratulations to all the local middle school students who participated in the Future City Competition Capital District Regional Finals on Saturday, January 12th at Sage College! MJ's Laura Fulford and Jenny Lippmann volunteered as judges for this annual event. In the Capital District region, there were 18 schools and organizations with a total of 23 teams who competed in the Future City Regional Finals. There were approximately 300 local students who participated in the competition this year. Our regional students join more than 40,000 middle school students from 1,350 schools in 40 regions around the country, all of whom are engaged in similar competitions.

This Year's Theme was Powering our Future. Natural disasters, earthquakes, tornadoes, or hurricanes pose serious threats to cities and citizens. The damage from these events can severely disrupt every aspect of life in an affected region. Especially now, in the wake of recent catastrophic events, engineers, architects, and city leaders face the critical task of creating resilient cities. The award-winning Future City Competition, now in its 26th year, is asked middle school students to respond to the issue of a resilient city by designing a city which adapts to challenges; it has connected systems and infrastructure in place that limit damage and help the city recover. Physical systems such as infrastructure and housing are built to withstand high winds or earthquakes, information systems such as zoning data and maps are designed to support relief efforts, and institutions such as city management or emergency response are developed to help with recovery. A resilient city ensures its residents are safe, their communities are stable and cared for, and the economy remains durable.