MURP's Featured Student

Lauren Dillon is February’s Featured Student.

Lauren Dillon is a first year Masters in Urban and Regional Planning student from Irmo, SC and received her Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Virginia Tech in 2008. “I was working on my thesis project I realized how fascinated I was with the city setting and how all these different elements work together to create a sense of place. Urban Planning seemed like a much more interdisciplinary way of approaching design issues that impact our cities and ultimately impact the people who inhabit these spaces.” Jesse Richardson says that “Lauren brings a unique perspective to the program and has been a joy to have as part of the first year class.”

Lauren will be completing the second year of her degree at the University College of Dublin in their Planning Program. This past summer the European Environmental Agency came out with a report stating how Dublin is the worst case scenario for city planning. Researchers are now studying how the city has developed to better understand the patterns of growth in the hopes of correcting the misguided planning for future growth. In addition, case studies are underway throughout the city in an attempt to understand how and why each area has specific growth patterns. “Dublin is such a historic city as well and it will be great to see how they address issues of historic preservation and how they have incorporated the history into the modern development of the city. The question of how form and function relate interests me as well as how spatial relations impact the individuals that use the spaces. My focus is on historic preservation and how cities benefit their future growth by holding onto elements of their past. The history of a place is something I feel should never be lost.”

Lauren was a captain of the Virginia Tech intercollegiate swim team while an undergraduate and now serves as a coach for the team, so time management is one of her strengths. She enjoys being active, loves the outdoors and really loves the area of Blacksburg area. She also loves to travel. Charleston, South Carolina is her favorite city so far. Lauren also enjoys working with clay and hopes to have a ceramics studio one day just for fun. She denies being related to Judge John Dillon of Iowa, but students in her land use law class strongly suspect that she is a direct lineal descendant.

Would you like communicate with Lauren regarding her work and activities with the Urban Affairs and Planning Program? Send her an e-mail: lmdill@vt.edu

This student profile was written by UAP Prof. Jesse Richardson

 

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