Congratulations to Washington University in St. Louis on their Merit Award in the Analysis, Planning, and Urban Design Category for their Accessible Anacostia project in Washington DC.

This project focuses on the Poplar Point site along the Anacostia River. It is a site that has long been underused, in a neighborhood underserved by grocery stores, restaurants, and safe access to green spaces.

The plan proposes a new mix-use neighborhood that takes advantage of the river by dedicating half of the land area to agriculture, creating a closed-loop food production system to provide a stable food source for the neighborhood.

These fields would also be water adaptable allowing for intermittent flooding with no risk to the adjacent neighborhood.

Roads and buildings are oriented to seamlessly integrate to the existing neighborhood to the south while also taking advantage of views to the river and Capital dome to the north. The team applied principals of urban planning, urban design, and landscape architecture to plan a healthy, vibrant vison for Poplar Point and its future residents.