We are reviewing the City Centre Sustainable Housing Competition and planning what’s next. So far we have had the following feedback:

• Students enjoyed the competition and found it very useful to see what others have done.
• Sponsors were very positive about the competition and have had good feedback from stakeholders.
• Lecturers confirmed the competition worked well and found it useful to see how the different schools tackled the exercise.
• Government and city officials found the array of solutions interesting and useful for prompting new thinking.
• Researchers indicated that the entries provided a useful body of material for research and it would be interesting in future to look a how lectures on specific subjects could influence approaches.
• The competition generated significant positive social media coverage for everyone involved and posting winners with commentary as well as snapshots of the prize-giving event worked well.
• The lecture series was very useful in prompting greater depth and investigation into inner cities, housing and sustainability.
• The physical exhibition and prize-giving event with refreshments were enjoyed.
• The A1 size worked well and was sufficient, even though a few schools asked for more space.
• In general, entry presentations were strong, although sometimes key information was left out.
• Entries did not set out their conceptual approach well and show how this generated designs.
• Technical detail was limited and entries did not provide much innovation or detail on sustainable systems for energy, water, food, work etc.
• Entries were not ‘African’ enough and did not reflect local cultures.
• Existing urban fabric and buildings were generally not addressed adequately.

We are beginning to think about the next steps and how a future competition may be shaped. This includes addressing:

• How should the brief be changed?
• Should there be a site in a different part of the city / a different city / a smaller rural town?
• Should the competition be open to all years?
• Should a more multi-disciplinary approach be encouraged? For instance, could teams include engineering, landscaping, quantity surveying, human settlement practitioners, anthropology, psychology, environmental sciences etc, students?
• Should there be more involvement from industry, government and municipalities?
• Do entry submissions need to be more prescriptive ie ask for certain elements to be provided?

If you have ideas, or suggestions for improvement, or would like to sponsor, host the exhibition, provide a lecture, be a judge or volunteer to help on the next one, please get in touch!