A series of one-credit short courses, whose topics vary from semester to semester.

Worldwide urbanization processes will increase in the next years reaching a rate of 75% until the middle of the century. Shrinkage, stagnation and rapid growth will be simultaneous phenomena and to achieve urban sustainability it will be important to innovate analytical methods and urban design frameworks. Discussions, lectures, and readings in combination with an urban design group project will introduce students to contemporary urban design methodologies.

The growth of the informal sector worldwide has led to a polarization between formal and informal practices. Although the informal economy and its multifarious related activities contribute significantly to cities' development, it is often stigmatized as an urban mistake, and little is known about how it works. This course will investigate the spatial, social, and economic dimensions of informal practices and their role in the resilience, governance, and spatial justice of cities and regions around the world.

Course examines the impacts of transportation systems on the environment from roadside air quality to global climate change, exploring sustainable transportation policy, multimodal transportation, environmental justice, resilience,and community-based solutions.Building on course readings and discussion, PhD students will propose and develop a research paper on a topic of their choosing within the overall theme of transportation and the environment.

This course introduces graduate and advanced undergraduate students to current issues in the field of transportation planning and policy. It addresses all modes of transportation (auto, walk, bike) and considers multiple scales (national, state, regional and local). Through the analysis of key topics such as congestion, air quality, social equity, and security, we will gain an understanding of how decisions about the transportation system

This course offers interdisciplinary inquiry into socio-environmental determinants of disaster and its global dimensions, policy domains, and community health impacts. Through critical analysis of disaster production, management, and response, students will explore disaster planning and resilience approaches and explore strategies to interrupt compounding catastrophe and cultivate post-crisis futures. Additional requirements for graduate level.

Individual study directed by a faculty member. Prerequisite: Planning faculty approval of topic.

A seminar exploring how racialized inequalities have shaped American cities North & South, past & present, and the influence of racialized urban structures on the idea & experience of race in America. Topics include the effects of segregation, redlining, urban planning, redevelopment, white flight, ghettoization & neoliberal development on the form & culture of American cities & structures of inequality in the US. Graduate level will have additional requirements.

Required first semester course that introduces students to spatial analysis and representation through selected computer-based applications. Emphasis on 2D analysis and representation, use of secondary data and development of visualization techniques, and ways to communicate data and alternatives to a public audience.

Examines sustainable communities through environmental, social, economic, political, and design lenses. Using case studies of cities, towns, and development projects from around the world, students will have the opportunity to reflect on principles of sustainability and innovative applications used by planners and designers from across the globe and that span multiple geographic scales.