‘Amazing Race’-styled contest tests urban planning knowledge

On Saturday, April 28, Texas A&M urban planning students are staging the “ [Urban Plan-it Challenge] (http://planning.tamu.edu/challenge) ,” a fun-filled, campuswide fund-raising competition based on the popular television series, “The Amazing Race.”

In the event, hosted by the Association of Student Planners Texas A&M Student Chapter, contestants will vie for prizes while engaging in a series mental and physical tasks related to challenges confronting the shrinking planet.

“The race aims to introduce the public to the field of urban planning in an exhilarating way, while providing a new perspective on the urban environment and related problems, such as rapid urbanization, population growth and loss of natural resources,” said Nick Oyler, ASP chapter president.

Though revealing too many of details about the challenge in advance might give some teams an unfair advantage, he said athletes and brainiacs alike can expect surprises as well as rewards for thinking on the run.

Clues will lead teams to 15 challenge checkpoints on or near campus where they will be quizzed on trivia or tasked to solve riddles or problems. The teams will be free to proceed clue-by-clue, checkpoint-by-checkpoint, or to solve all the clues at the beginning and proceed from there.

[Registration] (http://planning.tamu.edu/registration) for the Urban Plan-it Challenge, $20 for students and $35 for nonstudents, is available with competition details at the ASP [website] (http://planning.tamu.edu/challenge) through April 15.