Community Building Activities (CBAs)

Urban Living Solutions occasionally hosts, organizes or funds projects that are directly related to our core work. The aim of these, which we refer to as “Community Building Activities” is to further community in the Kingdom. This may take the form of education programs and workshops, funding a sports team, or providing resources to traditional Khmer culture activities. If you have an idea or proposal, please let us know by submitting your idea to: hello@urbanlivingsolutions.com

Housing Workshop & Competition

Following “Reinvent the Shophouse” (2017), ULS recently completed its second architecture competition, the first aimed at students and also containing a significant educational component. Titled Housing – Designing Accessible Solutions for the New Phnom Penh – this five-week architecture workshop and competition addressed the topic of Accessible Housing in High-Density Areas, focusing on Phnom Penh. Geared towards young Cambodian architects, urban planners, and designers, the program aimed to increase students’ critical understanding of the housing challenges faced by urban spaces, and to enable them to find strategic solutions for those by following a structured design process.

Between September and October 2019, 22 students from Cambodian universities joined this extensive hands-on learning experience featuring face-to-face lectures, international speakers, open conferences and exhibitions. The entire program was led by Spanish architects César Cabanas and Gustavo Contepomi, both based in Beijing. Practical sessions and conferences (in person or through video conferencing) were offered by renowned architects and urban planning professionals such as David Sim, from Gehl (Denmark); David Cole, from Building Trust International and Cole Architects (UK); Martin Aerne, from Aerne Architect & Associates (Switzerland) and Professor Stefan Tkac from the American University of Phnom Penh (Czech Republic).

The program concluded with a competition with the students presenting their final projects in front of a multi-disciplinary jury, formed by Leang Kean (developer and ULS Managing Director), architects Hun Chansan and David Cole, entrepreneur Zoë Ng and civil engineer Seng Sona. The top 3 teams received a total of $3,500 in prizes and ULS is reviewing all the projects in detail for feasibility. ULS looks to learn from this year’s experience and hopes to repeat a similar workshop annually, expanding the number of participants and content.

For more information visit: www.housingphnompenh.com

Summer Soccer Camp with Elite Soccer Coaching

ULS has helped to sponsor for its second year Elite Soccer Coaching’s youth football team. Founded by Christopher Grant, a British citizen who grew up in Cambodia, the organization is the Kingdom’s leading soccer program since 2009.

Providing options for both educational institutions and youth learning to play on their own, Elite offers options for for boys and girls as young as 18 months to adult classes. The organization promotes a soccer game that is fun, safe, and creates an educational environment that helps young people to develop into responsible adults.

Sponsorship funds are put towards uniforms, equipment, field rentals, training and all other operational components of running the organization.

For more information visit: www.elitesoccer-coaching.com