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.

Topical offerings in planning.

This course is an introduction to the basic legal frameworks for regulating land use in the United States.  Topics to be covered include zoning & comprehensive planning; the constitutional & statutory rights of landowners & developers to challenge government action; the rights of neighbors; legal constraints on zoning changes by local governments; public financing of local land use development; discriminatory land use controls; eminent domain; and state & federal housing & homebuilding programs.

Topical offerings in 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. Graduate course will have additional requirements.

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.

Analyzes methods used in quantitative and qualitative investigations of urban and regional settings for planning purposes.

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.

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.