Reflection on First Semester Blog Writing Experience: Focusing on Sustainable Transportation and Design Codes

In the first semester, I explored “Sustainable Transportation and Design Codes in Urban Design” through blogging, which really helped me understand the field better and turned into a personal journey of challenge and growth. This task highlighted the importance of learning independently and connecting theory to real-world applications, which made the whole experience really valuable.

Self-Organization and Writing Discipline: Integrating Theory into Practice

Having the freedom to write my own blog really let me pick topics that I care about and connect them to my interests. When I was planning each blog topic, I frequently went back to relevant case studies. In one of my posts, I looked into the concept of Dutch bicycle-first design. The ability to choose my own topics really helped me concentrate on my learning, but it also made me realize I needed to improve my time management skills. Even though keeping a writing routine was beneficial for staying focused, I found it tough at first because of the stress from my other classes. One time, I had to stay up late to finish an article about pedestrian-friendly community design because I was trying to meet the deadline. I spent a lot of time researching and organizing my thoughts. This experience showed me how crucial it is to manage my time well when learning on my own.

Results and Achievements

The main benefit I got from blogging was being able to express my ideas and work through issues by writing. While exploring how Design Codes can enhance sustainable transportation, I found that the writing process involved not just sharing what I know but also gaining a deeper understanding of the topic. In a blog post about “Shared Mobility and Urban Design,” I looked into how Singapore’s traffic Design Codes help decrease car dependency by improving regulations. During this process, I found that I was able to apply theory more flexibly to analyse real-world cases and suggest possible improvements through writing. This approach of “Theory—Case—Reflection” really helped me improve my critical thinking and systematic analysis skills.

Challenges and Shortcomings

Even though blogging has a lot of advantages, I faced a few difficulties. For example, when working with more technical Design Codes, I occasionally felt that my understanding was lacking. I realised that having knowledge from different fields is really important when talking about urban design. Also, not having enough inspiration was another issue, particularly after spending weeks looking into similar themes, which made me feel like my writing was missing something new.

Personal Growth and Areas for Improvement

This semester’s writing helped me understand “how Design Codes shape sustainable transportation” better, and I also improved my personal skills. I figured out how to get clear directions in open-ended tasks and use writing to boost creativity and tackle problems. In the future, I want to enhance my time management skills by dividing the weekly writing tasks into phases such as choosing a topic, conducting research, and draughting to be more efficient. I plan to broaden my reading to look into more innovative cases and think about the context of Newcastle. I’m really excited to try out visual tools like charts and sketches to make my blog posts more engaging.

By reading and commenting on other people’s blogs, I really understood how important it is to have different viewpoints for broadening our thinking. While watching how others apply Design Codes to investigate sustainable transportation, I picked up several new analysis techniques and noticed some details I hadn’t seen before. For example, one article looked into how “micro-mobility hubs” and “multimodal transport integration” can be effectively linked through the Transport Planning Framework, which made me think about the design of walking and cycling in terms of spatial efficiency. I found that when I comment on other people’s blogs, it’s important to give constructive feedback and also to express my own thoughts through conversation. This interaction was really helpful.

The first semester of blog writing was both a learning experience and a journey of self-exploration in the professional field. By concentrating on sustainable transport and Design Codes, I kept thinking about how design can influence the creation of more livable future communities. Even though it was tough, every attempt helped me get a bit closer to figuring it out. In the future, I want to keep exploring this field with an open and efficient mindset, using creativity to enhance my learning and practice.