“What if living in a city was a safe, healthy, beautiful experience that enriched both the community and the environment?” Re:Vision asks this question as they challenge people to think of the urban experience they truly want.

Their mission is based on the understanding that nature has provided us everything we need to exist in a healthy way on this planet. All we need to do is envision different kinds of communities and create them.

“From energy to transportation to commerce to community, we believe that by finding innovative, healthy, and sustainable ideas to help revitalize one urban block, we can create a blueprint for better cities everywhere.”

These innovative ideas will stem from competitions open to the general public, which challenge the visionary thinkers out there to help create a “model sustainable urban space”. These competitions include Re:Volt for urban development, Re:Route for urban transportation, and Re:Connect for urban planning for people and place. Information on all their contests can be found on their web site.

They also recently launched a poster competition called Envision 2050, asking students grades 6 through 12 to convey their vision for the world of 2050 with scholarships and public viewings to be awarded to students and educators. Information for this contest can be viewed here.

This is an interview with the Stacey Frost, Founder of Urban Re:Vision:

How did Re-Vision start?

Urban Re:Vision was born out of the belief that each of us has a unique perspective along with a wealth of ideas, energy and resources. With issues such as climate crisis and urban decay demanding immediate attention, we recognized the importance of providing a platform for not only industry professionals but concerned citizens to explore possible solutions. Our mission is to renovate an entire city block into a wholly sustainable urban community. By viewing the block as a cell, we can address individual components such as energy, transportation, commerce, community and sustainable design to create a system that intrinsically links together.

The response to the Urban Re:Vision competition has been extraordinary and we have received amazingly innovative design proposals from around the world. We are confident that once the project is completed, we will have created a template that can be implemented in cities throughout the nation. In essence, we are asking people to consider “What If” so we can create “What Is.”

Have you begun creating your model sustainable urban space?

We are currently in the midst of the six-part competition and will begin the creation of the model upon its conclusion. While the competition is open to the general public, the final phase, scheduled for the Winter of 2008, will ask design professionals to create the final blueprint for the project. We have already heard from top architects and city planners who are anxious to take part as they see the value of creating an implementable template.

Will you be using any of the contest ideas for that model space?

Our goal is to incorporate the appropriate, winning contest ideas into the final project and will ask the design professionals to consider these in their proposals. As we are looking at the city block as a complete system, each component will need to support the other. However, given the nature of what we’ve seen so far, we anticipate a seamless melding of ideas to create an urban environment that highlights the financial, societal and environmental benefits of sustainability.

Learn more about Re:Vision