Community Planning + Visualization Lab

In Spring 2026, students in Rowan University’s Undergraduate Planning Studio, offered through the Department of Geography, Planning, and Sustainability, are developing a vision plan to rehabilitate abandoned properties and revitalize Atlantic City’s Chelsea neighborhood. This diverse community faces layered natural and built-environment challenges, including vacant and abandoned properties, crime, blight, and coastal flooding. In partnership with the Rowan University Community Planning + Visualization Lab and with partial support from the Chelsea Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation (CEDC), students are creating an inventory of city-listed abandoned and other vacant properties while analyzing social conditions and environmental threats. Working collaboratively with CEDC, community residents, and other stakeholders, the studio is conceptualizing strategies to guide neighborhood revitalization and the rehabilitation of key abandoned structures.