Built Environment Rx: Healing Urban Systems through Design, Policy, and Practice

Web Series Overview

Built Environment, Rx was a five-part webinar series (June–November 2025) and publication invitation that brought together researchers, planners, designers, engineers, Extension professionals, and community leaders to explore how living systems (such as water, vegetation, and soil) can shape a more resilient and equitable urban future.

Each monthly session highlighted interdisciplinary approaches to green infrastructure and urban design, bridging science and practice through case studies, applied research, and community-engaged strategies. Topics included bioretention systems, building-integrated agriculture, climate-ready infrastructure, policy innovation, participatory design, and digital planning tools.

This series also served as a structured inquiry: How well are our built systems functioning? What barriers persist? And how can we work across sectors to co-create structural and policy solutions?

Project Flow

The series was designed to move participants through a collaborative process:

• Diagnose the current state of the built environment
• Interrogate system effectiveness across disciplines
• Find consensus through shared dialogue
• Co-create a framework for innovation and change
• Publish a synthesis for broad use

Figure 1. Project Flow diagram. This diagram illustrates each component of the process along with the outputs of a ‘webinar series and publication’ which will serve as an opportunity for co-authorship along with an invited lecture. 

Goals

• Offer Invited Lectures & a Publication Opportunity to Faculty, Researchers, and Practitioners
• Diagnose urban system function and infrastructure performance across diverse contexts
• Interrogate built environment strategies through multidisciplinary and community lenses
• Build shared understanding around complex, intersectional challenges
• Co-create actionable frameworks for structural and policy transformation

Learning Objectives

By the end of the series, participants will:

• Identify key indicators of resilient, equitable urban systems
• Surface persistent implementation and policy gaps
• Highlight promising practices and case-based insights
• Foster interdisciplinary dialogue and cross-sector collaboration
• Contribute to a culminating publication:
  Urban Systems, Shared Futures: Building Consensus for Structural and Policy Change in the Built Environment