Future City Competition

Last updated

Future City Competition
Most recent season or competition:
Above The Current
Future City Competition logo.png
Sport Design competition
FoundedDiscoverE
First season1992
CommissionerAshley Wirtz
Maddy Faraco
Motto"The Ultimate STEM Competition"
No. of teams1,800+ (2024) [1]
Countries
5 countries and regions [2]
Most recent
champion(s)		Downingtown (Middle School)
Fulton Science Academy (High School)
(2025)
Most titlesWarwick (Middle School)
(3 championships)

The Future City Competition is an international engineering competition that focuses on improving students' math, engineering, and science skills. The program is open to middle school students who attend a public, private or home school, and to those attending high school. Each year, teams of five along with a mentor and a coach work to design a futuristic city aiming to mitigate the issues presented by that year's theme. Teams write an essay, develop an either real or virtual 3D model based on the competition type, and present their city to a panel of judges. The theme changes annually, with teams beginning city designs in September.

Contents

A program of the DiscoverE organization, Future City has been operating since 1992 and ran its 34th championship in 2025. Over 1,800 teams participated from 5 countries, encompassing more than 70,000 students. The 2025 season included regional competitions, with 46 Middle School teams and 20 High School teams advancing to the championships in Washington, D.C. [3]

History

Future City was founded in 1992 in five cities and 200 students with the aim to provide an "exciting educational engineering program" for sixth, seventh and eighth grade students, combining a stimulating engineering challenge with an inquiry-based application to present their vision of a city of the future. The inaugural 1992 championships were held under Future City national director Carol Rieg during National Engineers Week in February, with inaugural winners Tilden Middle School going on to win a grant of $1,000 and meeting the President of the United States. [4]

National championships have been held in the U.S. annually since 1992 and expanded to Egypt in 2008, [4] China in 2015, [5] Canada in 2016, [6] and Nigeria in 2021. [7] Future City also established pilot programs in Sweden and Japan.

In 2024, Future City expanded to high school students and ran its inaugural high school championships in 2025 with 20 teams. [8]

Competition

As a competition, Future City has aligned itself with STEM-related national and state educational standards. There are two levels: regional competitions and the national finals for regional winners, the goal being to able to design a futuristic city and discuss its important elements: urban planning, zoning, transportation, energy, economy, environment, and education.

Components

Team members represent their ideas and proposals in several ways: [9]

Awards and prizes

For middle school students, the prizes are as follows:

For high school students, the prizes are as follows: [10]

Media exposure

The Future City competition has been covered by multiple media publications, including Voice of America, the Washington Post, and ABC News. In 2008, total TV viewership peaked at 8 million, with Future City accounting for half of all publicity generated for Engineers' Week. [4]

In 2024, a movie narrated by John Krasinski, "Cities of the Future," was released in theaters and centered around one Future City team. [11]

Games

YearThemeMiddle School champion [12] High School champion
1992/1993Energy EfficiencyTilden Middle School, MarylandN/A
2006/2007Fuel CellsSt. Thomas More School, LouisianaN/A
2007/2008Urban DisastersHeritage Middle School, OhioN/A
2008/2009WaterBexley Middle School, OhioN/A
2009/2010Green LivingDavidson IB Middle School, North CarolinaN/A
2010/2011Reliable HealthcareOur Lady Help of Christians School, PennsylvaniaN/A
2011/2012Fuel the FutureBlackhawk Middle School, MinnesotaN/A
2012/2013Rethink RunoffValley Middle School, New JerseyN/A
2013/2014Tomorrow's TransitSt. John Lutheran School, MichiganN/A
2014/2015Feeding Future CitiesSt. John Lutheran School, MichiganN/A
2015/2016Waste Not, Want NotAcademy for Science and Foreign Language, AlabamaN/A
2016/2017The Power of Public SpaceWest Ridge Middle School, TexasN/A
2017/2018Age Friendly CitiesEdlin School, VirginiaN/A
2018/2019Powering Our FuturesWarwick Middle School, PennsylvaniaN/A
2019/2020Clean Water: Tap into TomorrowGratton School, CaliforniaN/A
2020/2021Living on the MoonFarnsworth Middle School, New YorkN/A
2021/2022A Waste-Free FutureWarwick Middle School, PennsylvaniaN/A
2022/2023Powering Our FutureWarwick Middle School, PennsylvaniaN/A
2023/2024Electrify Your CityFarnsworth Middle School, New York Westlake High School, Texas
2024/2025Above The CurrentDowningtown Middle School, PennsylvaniaFulton Science Academy, Georgia
2025/2026Farm To TableTBDTBD

References

  1. ↑ "Award-Winning Future City Competition Announces Theme for 2023-24: Electrify Your City". Future City. Retrieved February 9, 2025.
  2. ↑ McGrath, Kaitlyn (February 21, 2023). "The 'Future City' finals are taking over Capitol Hill". WUSA9 . Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Our Impact | Future City Competition".
  4. 1 2 3 McCanes, Chris (March 1, 2008). "Future City Competition Draws on Rich History to Inspire Students and Enhance Public Awareness of Engineering". Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers . Archived from the original on July 3, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  5. ↑ Paulsen, Christine (August 1, 2016). "Future City Evaluation: 2015-16 Report". Informal Science. National Society of Professional Engineers . Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  6. ↑ Ford, Shelley (January 12, 2018). "2018 Future City competitions kick off as students build age-friendly cities". Engineers Canada. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  7. ↑ Sayles, Carina (April 13, 2021). "29th Annual Future City Competition". AIME . Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  8. ↑ Stokes, Emma (December 5, 2024). "Future City Competition expands to high school students and invites judges to shape next generation of engineers". EdTech Innovation Hub. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  9. ↑ Steering Committee (December 29, 2014). "Future City Competition". STEM Forward. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  10. ↑ "Future City High School Finals". Future City. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  11. ↑ "Cities of the Future". Cradle of Aviation Museum . February 23, 2024. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Future City Competition". futurecity.org. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
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