![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nueva-map-v3-1-1024x597.png\")
This map shows the scope of the Nueva Nueva project, highlighted in red.<\/p>\nThe University of Texas at San Antonio\u00a0is\u00a0exploring\u00a0how\u00a0innovation, research and community collaboration can make downtown streets more comfortable,\u00a0walkable\u00a0and connected.<\/p>\n
Through\u00a0the\u00a0Nueva\u00a0Nueva\u00a0initiative,\u00a0the university is reimagining Nueva Street in Downtown San Antonio. By examining nature-based solutions and innovative active cooling measures, the study seeks to transform Nueva Street into a more inviting and comfortable pedestrian corridor, elevating its role as a key connection between the Downtown Campus, San Pedro I and II, and\u00a0Hemisfair\u00a0Park.<\/p>\n
Funded through a $1.21 million award\u00a0from the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (AAMPO), the\u00a0initiative\u00a0aligns with the agency\u2019s mission to guide regional transportation planning and support the area\u2019s long-term growth and mobility needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe\u00a0Nueva\u00a0Nueva\u00a0initiative\u00a0reflects UT San Antonio\u2019s commitment to helping shape a\u00a0vibrant, connected and resilient downtown,\u201d said\u00a0Joshua Gerken, associate vice president\u00a0of\u00a0asset\u00a0management. \u201cBy bringing together research, innovation and community engagement, we\u2019re exploring how our downtown footprint can serve as a catalyst for improving quality of life, strengthening mobility and creating public spaces that better serve students, residents and visitors for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
The scope of the initiative\u00a0includes\u00a0outdoor\u00a0comfort and economic impact analysis,\u00a0transit\u00a0planning\u00a0and\u00a0a feasibility study.\u00a0Community engagement will help inform and support the project,\u00a0while\u00a0faculty and student research\u00a0will contribute to the study\u2019s eventual\u00a0recommendations.<\/p>\n
This map shows the scope of the Nueva Nueva project, highlighted in red.<\/p>\n
A key area of focus is heat resiliency. UT San Antonio faculty with\u00a0expertise\u00a0in extreme heat and urban heat island effects will help integrate those considerations into transit planning and project recommendations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is especially exciting is how the project brings research, education and practice together,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Farzad Hashemi, PhD, assistant professor of architecture and coordinator of the Graduate Certificate in High-Performance Design and Sustainability (HPD&S).\u00a0\u201cOur faculty and students\u00a0are combining\u00a0spatial mapping, thermal and environmental monitoring, traffic\u00a0analysis\u00a0and microclimate modeling to understand existing conditions\u00a0and test where cooling strategies can have the greatest impact.\u00a0The lessons from Nueva Street can help inform more walkable,\u00a0healthy\u00a0and heat-resilient public spaces across San Antonio.\u201d<\/p>\n
This research opens opportunities to explore\u00a0strategies to create more comfortable outdoor environments through cooling technologies, green\u00a0infrastructure\u00a0and other climate-responsive design approaches.\u00a0Together, these strategies could help position Nueva as a model for climate-responsive urban development.<\/p>\n
\u201cProjects like Nueva\u00a0Nueva\u00a0reflect how an urban-serving university can partner with the community to better understand extreme heat and support informed planning that helps San Antonio prepare for a hotter future,\u201d said\u00a0Esteban A. L\u00f3pez Ochoa,\u00a0PhD,\u00a0associate professor and program lead of Urban and Regional Planning and associate director of the Sustainable\u00a0Pervasive\u00a0Urban Resilience Center.<\/p>\n
Hands-on learning opportunities<\/p>\n
Hashemi,\u00a0L\u00f3pez\u00a0Ochoa\u00a0and other faculty are incorporating the initiative into the classroom, giving students a unique experiential learning opportunity.\u00a0Through coursework and capstone projects, students from engineering, urban planning,\u00a0architecture\u00a0and related disciplines are contributing\u00a0research, design concepts and prototype technologies that address urban heat and public-space challenges.<\/p>\n
One\u00a0example of\u00a0student-driven innovation<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0a cooling\u00a0bench\u00a0designed to reduce surface temperatures\u00a0through a circulating water system, helping make outdoor spaces more\u00a0comfortable in extreme heat.\u00a0Developed by The\u00a0Munavella\u00a0Group Engineers team, the project earned first place in the Design I category at the\u00a0Klesse College Tech Symposium<\/a>.\u00a0Although developed separately from the Nueva\u00a0Nueva\u00a0initiative, the bench illustrates the type of practical, research-based innovation that can help address urban heat and climate\u00a0resilience.<\/p>\n \u201cAddressing extreme heat requires solutions that draw from multiple disciplines,\u201d said\u00a0Lani May,\u00a0PhD,\u00a0director of\u00a0sustainability. \u201cWhether it\u2019s an engineering team creating an active-cooling bench or urban planning students reimagining the corridor\u2019s design, this work demonstrates how academic research can contribute to real-world challenges facing our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n While still in its\u00a0early stages, Nueva\u00a0Nueva\u00a0represents\u00a0an opportunity to connect research and real-world impact, creating a living laboratory where students, faculty and community partners can collaborate on solutions that support a more sustainable and vibrant downtown San Antonio.<\/p>\n The university\u00a0anticipates\u00a0the study to be\u00a0completed\u00a0by December 2027.\u00a0The\u00a0goal is for the AAMPO to\u00a0then\u00a0include the study recommendations in\u00a0its Transportation Improvement Program, which implements\u00a0transportation\u00a0planning initiatives through federal,\u00a0state\u00a0and local\u00a0funding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The University of Texas at San Antonio\u00a0is\u00a0exploring\u00a0how\u00a0innovation, research and community collaboration can make downtown streets more comfortable,\u00a0walkable\u00a0and connected.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":438724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[11037,82,84,83],"class_list":["post-438723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-downtown-development","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Visitors](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/tech-symposium-2026-cooling-bench-demo-1-1024x597.jpg\")
The Munavella Group Engineers Team showcases the cooling bench they designed for the Tech Symposium.<\/p>\n