Block Street & Building — the annual magazine published by Arkansas Times featuring the best of New Urbanism in Arkansas — invites you to take part in a unique competition applying the principles of New Urbanism to your hometown or an Arkansas town you love.

WHAT IS NEW URBANISM? LEARN MORE HERE! 

Pick a vacant street corner, an old building or a neighborhood street and give us your vision of how you would transform it into a walkable, livable downtown space that would integrate with other commercial and residential spaces. We want you to imagine a place that lets people live where they work, a place that encourages human interaction and community. Pick a real town and a real place and give us a rendering of how you would bring New Urbanism to that space.

The top ten entries will be featured in the June edition of Block Street & Building and will be featured during the 90th Arkansas Municipal League Convention held June 12-14, 2024, at the Statehouse Convention Center.

See last year’s winners here!

Block, Street & Building circulates to all Arkansas members of the American Institute of Architects, all members of the Building Owners and Managers Association, commercial real estate developers and to the 499 mayors, city managers and city administrators whose municipalities are members of the Arkansas Municipal League. Council members, city planners and other city personnel of all municipalities in Arkansas receive this publication, too.

HERE ARE THE DETAILS:

TIMELINE:

Registration
Register with Becca@arktimes.com

Submission Deadline
April 15, 2024

Winner Notification
Winners will be notified by June 3 and announced in the June issue of Block, Street and Building.

AR Municipal League Presentation
June 12-14
Winners will be featured during a session at the Arkansas Municipal League’s 90th Convention.

HOW TO REGISTER:

Please register so we know to expect your entry. You will be assigned an entrant number upon registration. Please attach your entrant number to your digital submission. Do not put your name or your firm’s name on the entry itself, as they will be judged anonymously.

Register HERE.

ENTRY INFO:

Entrants should submit their digital entry to becca@arktimes.com by the deadline, April 15. 

In email, the subject line:
MUST INCLUDE: ( BSB Entry # XX)

Submissions should also include:

  • 2 images (send link to dropbox/sharefile/wetransfer)
  • Horizontal: (Primary perspective: hero shot/overall shot of space)
  • Vertical: vignette of space
  • Title/Subtitle
  • Copy no more than 400 words.
  • Main image will be 8”x4”
  • Vignette will be 4”x5.5”

Example of magazine layout:

JURY INFO:

Jurors will be made up by members of the Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri chapters of the American Planning Association, as well as the Arkansas chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Jurors will be evaluating designs on the basis of how well they apply the principles of New Urbanism to a local, real world design challenge. Consideration will be given to ensuring awarded projects represent all corners of Arkansas.

JUDGES RUBRIC:

  • Visual Quality – 25 pts (Quality of the images submitted and visual quality of the design)
  • Project Description – 15 pts (Quality of the written description’s ability to tell the story of the proposed design)
  • Relationship to Surroundings – 10 pts (How the design relates the site or place to its surroundings to make it part of the place in which its located)
  • Consideration of Walkability – 10 pts (How the design considers human-scale mobility by creating visual interest to pedestrians or accommodates active transportation)
  • Enhancement to Public Realm – 20 pts (How the design contributes to the public realm by creating places for people at a human scale. How does the design’s landscape and engagement with the street and walking corridors enhance the experience?)
  • Project Support/Constructability – 10 pts (How realistic is the proposal? Has the applicant garnered support from local leaders or elected officials? Can it be accomplished?)
  • Geographic Area – 10 pts (Does the project represent an area outside of one of Arkansas’ major metro areas? Is this project in an area not represented by numerous other applications?)