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

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.

Explores methods beyond the conventional town-hall meeting to gather insights from communities on planning issues. Topics will include more traditional methods of qualitative research such as focus groups, interviews, charrettes, participatory action research, and scenario planning, as well as strategies like asset mapping, visual preference surveys, games, art-based visioning, participatory budgeting.

Applies quantitative skills to the planning process: analyzes decision situations and develops precise languages communicating the quantitative dimensions of planning problems. Includes lectures, case studies, and applied assignments addressing statistical methods, survey methods, census data analysis, program and plan evaluation, and emerging methods used by planners.

This course introduces the legal framework & major legal issues arising in land use & environmental planning. We focus on notable US Supreme Court decisions related to tools such as zoning, the comprehensive plan, & eminent domain, as well as controversies & cases surrounding federal environmental laws such as NEPA, the Clean Water & Air Acts, & the Endangered Species Act. Graduate course will have additional course requirements.

In this course students grapple with the dynamic tensions between planning and democracy, the various responses that have been proposed, and planning failures and successes. They explore the development of theories about how we ought to plan, why, and for whom.

Technology class introducing students to the fundamental applications of geographic information systems central to planning analysis and practice.