NPC26 Reflection: Students, Riverwalk, and FAICP

Between meetings, sessions, and walks, NPC26 moved quickly. Some moments stayed.

Students

At the Friday evening reception, I happened to sit at a table with several Student Representative Council members. We had a really productive conversation about strengthening collaboration between the Council and the International Division.

The next morning, I met with the MIT SPURS assistant director to talk about ways to stay engaged with SPURS fellows after they complete their program. Right after that, I spoke with the student managing the Urban Planning Post, a division initiative, about how we might involve more students. Later in the afternoon, I learned that a friend who is FAICP was in his hotel room trying to finish his Master of Public Health dissertation.

Sunday morning at 6:30, I joined the Conversation with Planning Students in India. Half an hour later, I was at the International Division’s business meeting, where one of the main topics was engaging student members. Later that day, I met the Student Representative Council president at a reception.

Across these conversations, one theme kept coming back in different ways. We’re all students, and maybe we can do something interesting together.

A Message from Jaz Ampaw-Farr, the Keynote Speaker of NPC26.

Walk

The Detroit Riverwalk is wonderful. For five consecutive days, I started my mornings around 7:00, walking from Centennial Park to the conference hotel and center - about a 30-minute walk. Sunday was a bit earlier, at 6:00 AM. I usually walked back for another 30 minutes after the NPC “business” wrapped up for the day.

Along the way, I saw people fishing on the water, people fishing along the bank, construction workers, joggers, dogs, the Detroit Princess Riverboat, dancers—maybe TikTok dancers—and of course, planners. On Sunday around 7 PM, the park was full of kids playing in Centennial Park.

One afternoon, I walked with a friend for over an hour along the river. Somehow, we realized that when we were in elementary school, we both used to eat dumplings at the same restaurant near Nianjia Lake in Hunan Martyr’s Park in Changsha, China.

April 24, 2026 | 6:54 AM. Detroit Riverwalk near Centennial Park, looking east.

FAICP

Luckily—and happily—I’ve been inducted into the 2026 class of FAICP. I hugged my daughter on the evening of February 16, after a somewhat absent-minded tennis session that afternoon, still wondering whether I’d get it or not.

The work I’ve done with the International Division definitely helped my application. More importantly, serving as Chair has allowed me to meet and learn from people I wouldn’t normally have access to.

The fellowship feels like a kind of graduation—but what matters more is what comes next. That echoes the words Dr. Judith Green shared with me at the One World Reception on the 32nd floor of the Guardian Building.

As I shared at the fellows’ orientation, I hope to keep supporting knowledge exchange across borders, help planners engage communities more effectively through technology, and, not least, play more tennis with my daughter—before she runs away from me.

Jing Zhang, FAICP at NPC26, before the induction ceremony in Detroit.