Reflection and Summary

This is my ninth month at Newcastle and the end of two semesters of study. This semester of the Masters programme has been an invaluable learning experience, especially through the task of writing a blog. I have benefited from the knowledge I have gained from this assignment, helping me to complete my public housing project for ACR8069 and making me feel that I have a deeper understanding of urban design.

Course Experience

This semester’s public housing project, ACR 8069, was a course I had never been exposed to before and it was very interesting. Because my undergraduate major, environmental design, was not exposed to construction-related possibilities, housing alternatives was an important topic that involved social, economic and personal dimensions. This course has left a lasting impression on me. It taught me how to build a complete urban living community from different perspectives.

Firstly, at the beginning of the project, I did not understand the essence of the course. So, repeatedly watching the course material given by the teacher and communicating with him made me understand the course better. In the early stages of the measures, my ideas were very one-sided and some of them did not fit here.As I got further into the design process, I understood that measures such as inclusive co-housing, security, green infrastructure and a resilient environment were key points in completing the project. I had to delve into the literature to find factors that would take these concepts and that could be applied to the environment here. Therefore, I started researching the literature, looking up and watching case studies and gathering information, and this phase made me progress a lot. So, there were new ideas about the objectives and solutions for this course.So, I wanted it to be an inclusive shared community with strong socio-economic links, and at the same time, to meet the needs of all ages for activities and housing environments, and to make improvements to the local flora to create a sustainable community.

Secondly, another project course, APL8014 Urban Design and the Use of Design Codes, is also underway. This course is where I learn about the normative policies towards improving urban planning and architecture, and it is a worthwhile in-depth course which indirectly helps me with the project ACR8069. For example, important directions for urban well-being and the specification of urban policies.

Summary

Although the course is now over, I am more excited about how much I have benefited from the expertise of the course, which has helped me to gain a quick knowledge of urban housing design projects, helped me to learn new skills and provided me with ideas for future projects. For the blog, I hope to develop good habits that will enable me to learn about different perspectives of expertise. And to discuss ideas with students from different disciplines. It makes it easier for me to think and be creative and develop my own ideas.