cultivated urbanism

a high speed rail city that keeps its farms

merced, ca
fall 2026

cultivated urbanism: the spine. The team’s framework on real aerials, from the station (HSR) to UC Merced.

course: ENVDES 201 Advanced Urban Design Studio
team: Miguel Cruz, Yimei Zheng, Yun-Ying Chiu
my role: Station and agrihood maps, density study, title collage, storyboard
tools: Photoshop, Illustrator, Esri and NAIP aerials

planning brief / 02

California’s high speed rail will stop in Merced. How can the city grow around a station without spreading over the farmland that defines it?

methods + data

The state’s draft 2026 rail business plan and the Legislative Analyst’s Office review
Routing from the platform to Downtown 2.0 on real roads
A framework drawn on a one hectare grid over USDA NAIP aerials
A density comparison: one acre each of a Merced tract, our agrihood and Barcelona

what we found

01The draft plan moves the station south onto unincorporated land at Highway 99 and Mission Avenue.
02From the platform to Downtown 2.0 is 2.2 miles by road.
03The relocated station would not serve ACE or San Joaquins (Gold Runner) trains; those riders would transfer at Madera.
04Our agrihood reaches about 13 homes an acre, more than double a typical Merced tract (5), and keeps its orchard.

what we recommend

01Concentrate growth on one spine from the station to UC Merced instead of letting it spread.
02Build small agrihoods along the spine: apartments and townhouses on the edges, working farmland in the middle.
03Run transit, bike paths and farm stands along the spine so the station, downtown and campus connect.
04Treat the missing ACE and San Joaquins connection as the station’s biggest gap and plan for it early.

02.1

the spine

California’s high speed rail will stop in Merced, a Central Valley farm town of about 90,000.

Instead of letting growth spread over farmland, our team drew one spine from the new station to UC Merced and packed new homes into small ‘agrihoods’ along it.

fig 02.1athe spine. The team’s framework on real aerials, from the station (HSR) to UC Merced.

fig 02.1bareas of interest. Sites for agrihoods along the spine; north is to the right.

02.2

station to field

The station sits outside the framework, so I traced the route from the platform to Downtown 2.0 on real roads: 2.2 miles.

The title image breaks today’s aerial into the team’s one hectare cells.

my role: Station map, title collage

fig 02.2astation map. From the HSR platform to Downtown 2.0 on real roads.

fig 02.2btitle collage. Photo to pixel: the aerial dissolves into the team’s land use cells.

02.3

the first agrihood

Four hectares north of Downtown 2.0. The orchard stays; apartments and townhouses line the edges and the middle stays in crops.

About 13 homes an acre: denser than a Merced tract (5), nowhere near Barcelona (60).

my role: Agrihood plan, density study

fig 02.3aagrihood plan. Four hectares; the orchard stays.

fig 02.3bhow dense? One acre each of a Merced tract, our agrihood and Barcelona, and where people gather.

02.4

a tomato, 70 days

One tomato’s trip through the framework, drawn as a comic: planted in an agrihood, grown by Hmong farmers, picked with UC Merced students, hauled up the spine by Tilly the Tractor, eaten on campus and back to the soil.

my role: Story and layout for the team midterm

fig 02.4astoryboard. A tomato, 70 days. Places are faded photographs of Merced; the tomato carries the color.

next / 03

the fence line

san francisco · summer 2026

planning brief / 02

California’s high speed rail will stop in Merced. How can the city grow around a station without spreading over the farmland that defines it?

methods + data

The state’s draft 2026 rail business plan and the Legislative Analyst’s Office review

Routing from the platform to Downtown 2.0 on real roads

A framework drawn on a one hectare grid over USDA NAIP aerials

A density comparison: one acre each of a Merced tract, our agrihood and Barcelona