Each year, Urban Design Forum selects a diverse cohort of emerging leaders to investigate how design can address a social or political challenge facing New York City. We are proud to announce that this year’s interdisciplinary cohort includes our very own Project Designer, Veronica Rivas Plaza!
Made up of designers, community planners, environmental justice advocates, policy experts, and developers, the class of Fellows is already shaping the future of New York City: organizing community composting sites, designing multi-family housing projects, reimagining canal infrastructure, and more. The 2022 class will explore new approaches to waste and re-envision how we keep our city clean.

Veronica has a background in architecture, urban design, and sustainable city-making. She holds a degree in architecture from The City College of New York and a master of science in the Urbanism Studies Programme at KTH, Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. She believes that design should be informed by the social, ecological, and cultural environments that shape our lives and advocates for creating more walkable communities to improve quality of life for all.
Learn more about the program here.


