ULI Hines Competition 2021

Synovial City is all about creating stronger and deeper connections within the study site and across Kansas City. Our solution to the “atrophying” nature of many downtown areas is to both honor the city’s rich cultural history and revitalize the site with programming to facilitate enhanced connections and equity in four main areas - transportation, economic, cultural, and environmental. Additionally, the development serves as a joint, or connection point, between the trendy neighborhoods to the west and the historically underserved areas to the east. A main transportation hub along 12th Street will bolster these connections through the MAX bus rapid transit system. A free public charter school, neighborhood health center, and affordable housing are implemented to boost economic security for individuals, families, and youth. Environmental connections are strengthened through educational programming and play structures harkening to local species of the Missouri region, green roofs and pollinator-friendly Tall Grass Prairie patches to honor this region’s ecological history, as well as an innovative stormwater management design which weaves through the site following the natural sinuosity of a river’s form. Through these major interventions, KCMO can truly become a smoothly functioning, lively, and interconnected Synovial City.