Analyzes community and environmental planning in the United States; the planning process; and sustainable communities.

Digital technology for representing and analyzing planning data will include photo-editing, web page design, geographic information system mapping, spreadsheet modeling, and document layout and production. The major emphasis will be on two- and three- dimensional representation of spaces common to planning: streetscape, neighborhoods, communities and regions. Representation of the past, the present and prospective futures to both professional and citizen audiences will receive critical attention.

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.

This course introduces the legal framework and major legal issues arising in land use and environmental planning. We focus on notable US Supreme Court decisions related to tools such as zoning, the comprehensive plan, and eminent domain, as well as controversies and cases surrounding federal environmental laws such as NEPA, the Clean Water and Air Acts, and the Endangered Species Act. No previous legal knowledge or coursework necessary.

Urban analytics draws upon statistics, visualization, and computation to better understand and ultimately to shape cities. This course emphasizes geospatial data, familiarizes students with statistical computing using R, and introduces principles and techniques of machine learning. Students will also learn to explain and to critique the results of visualization, analysis, and predictive modeling. Graduate course will have additional requirements.

Examines the role of planning in government decision-making. Focuses on local government, but intergovernmental aspects of planning that influence local decisions are also stressed. Studies planning processes, such as transportation, community development, and social planning.

Urban analytics draws upon statistics, visualization, and computation to better understand and ultimately to shape cities. This course emphasizes geospatial data, familiarizes students with statistical computing using R, and introduces principles and techniques of machine learning. Students will also learn to explain and to critique the results of visualization, analysis, and predictive modeling.

This course will provide students with an interdisciplinary learning process related to real estate development including finance, branding, design, planning, land use, site planning permitting, adaptive reuse among others. Situated in an actual case, students will have the opportunity to work with a multi-disciplinary team on a real-world development project. Graduate course will have additional course requirement

Detailed exploration of the normative debate surrounding environmental issues. Focus on the foundations of environmental economics, questions about the value of endangered species, concerns of future generations, appropriateness of a sustainable society, notions of stewardship, and obligations toward equity. Graduate course will have additional course requirements

Structured internship experience and reporting as a reflective practitioner for ten weeks or 200 hours of experience.

This course provides a framework for the completion of a Distinguished Major Thesis, a treatise containing an exposition of a chosen urban and environmental planning topic. A faculty advisor guides a student through the beginning phases of the process of research and writing. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Distinguished Major Program.

Elective courses offered at the request of faculty or students to provide an opportunity for internships, fieldwork, and independent study.

Finance is a critical element in determining whether a real estate development project goes forward and whether the project actually looks and performs in accordance with the original design and social/economic objectives. In this course, students will learn the fundamental analyses of real estate finance and develop an understanding of the ways finance impacts upon project completion and architectural and community outcomes.

This course is an introduction to construction techniques and methods. This course covers project delivery methods, estimating, plan reading, and scheduling.

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.

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.

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.

Required second semester technology class introducing students to the fundamental applications of geographic information systems central to planning analysis and practice.

This course will provide students with an interdisciplinary learning process related to real estate development including finance, branding, design, planning, land use, site planning permitting, adaptive reuse among others. Situated in an actual case, students will have the opportunity to work with a multi-disciplinary team on a real-world development project. Graduate course will have additional course requirement

Detailed exploration of the normative debate surrounding environmental issues. Focus on the foundations of environmental economics, questions about the value of endangered species, concerns of future generations, appropriateness of a sustainable society, notions of stewardship, and obligations toward equity. Graduate course will have additional course requirements.

Advanced work on independent research topics by individual students. Departmental approval of the topic is required.

Preparation and completion of a thesis.

A thesis is optional for the Master of Urban and Environmental Planning degree. Students should begin early to explore topics and to identify potential committee members. A guideline document is available.