Design studios are the heart of the urban design program. Values, knowledge and skills acquired in other units and from previous experience are supplemented and enhanced, and applied creatively to both the investigation and development phases of design projects at an urban scale. Urban Design Studio: Urban Project is concerned with the design development for a local urban project that explores how a specific design intervention can be a catalyst to broader urban change. Projects are carefully chosen to explore complex local urban sites or groups of sites and to generate proposals for public and private building types, streets, spaces and transport infrastructure that are rigourously informed by design methodologies. Implementation through staging, development controls and guidelines will also be addressed. Inter-disciplinary group work is an essential part of the studio and integrates the broad range of backgrounds and skills of the students while mimicing the reality of practice. The central aim of this unit is to develop illustrative, writing and verbal skills which will enable students to carry out urban design projects such as the preparation of frameworks, master plans and public domain concepts in a professional manner. Students will be expected to demonstrate appropriate problem recognition, investigative, analytical, interpretative, design and presentation skills and abilities on projects of local urban scale. Assessment may also embrace abilities to prepare and interpret project briefs, program proposals and work in groups.