The Royal Institute of British Architecture, alongside Norman Foster, has announced the winner of their twelfth Travelling Scholarship. After receiving the highest number of entries of any year thus far, the annual, £7,000 prize has been awarded to Steven Hutt of University of Greenwich for his proposal, ‘East of Eden.’

Travelling to Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, South Korea and Japan, Steven will investigate how urban wildlife has adapted to the rapid rise of densely populated mega-cities in the far east of Asia. Some of the urban environments Hutt will be looking include the ‘Sanzhi Pod City’—a dilapidated city that has become a breeding ground for five new species of orchid—and the wider Pearl River Delta—a rapidly growing concrete jungle with conditions that has also allowed other species to thrive—among others.

Norman Foster, whose Foundation helps support the program, said: "In the end, we all felt the winning proposal dealt with a topic that was extremely relevant given the accelerating pace of urbanization in Asia and the rest of the world. The relationship between nature and the city will be a key aspect, as we seek to develop the sustainable cities of the future, and I look forward to seeing the findings of Steven Hutt’s research that he will carry out during his journey through China, South Korea and Japan.”