Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning Master's Degree Requirements

Program | Faculty | Master's | Doctoral | Courses

Landscape Architecture Program (M.L.A. Degree)

The M.L.A. program is based on the concept that landscape architecture is a social art, which is: 1) drawn from both the visual arts and the physical and natural sciences; 2) realized through a variety of materials, processes, and techniques; and 3) shaped by a tradition.

Curriculum

The Landscape Architecture master's program, a professional degree program accredited by the American Society of Landscape Architects, is designed to serve three groups of people. The first are those who have discovered an interest in landscape architecture after earning a college degree in another field. These individuals take a year of preparatory courses and then an additional 48 credits toward their master's degree.

The second group are those who have earned a college degree in a strongly related field such as environmental design or architecture. These students enter into the second year, but often need to take several of the core requirements of the first year preparatory curriculum in lieu of second- and third-year electives.

The third group already have degrees in landscape architecture. These students usually enter the master's program to expand their knowledge in a special area of individual concentration.

Areas of Individual Concentration

To encourage and support students interested in, and qualified for, advanced work, the faculty have identified the following areas of concentration based on faculty research and professional expertise. Advanced students with appropriate background experience may substitute for certain courses others which support the area of concentration selected.

The four areas of concentration are:

1. Ecological Landscape Planning and Design. This concentration engages ecological pattern and its associated processes across a range of spatial scales. It addresses current environmental and ecological issues such as greenway planning, water resource planning, biodiversity, and brownfields.

2. Design and Management of Cultural Landscapes. This concentration engages the history and theory of the built environment and its role in contemporary design. It addresses current issues in landscape preservation and design such as varying treatments of cultural landscapes, and ecological and cultural revelatory design philosophies.

3. Urban Planning, Policy and Design. This concentration engages the economic, social, and cultural aspects of the urban experience. It addresses the roles of policy makers, planners, designers, and citizens in shaping the urban fabric in small to medium-sized cities.

4. Applications of Information Technology to Planning and Design. This concentration engages the ways in which the planning and design professions are being transformed by information technology. It addresses the integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Computer Aided Design (CAD), and multimedia into the design process.

Regional Planning Program (M.R.P. Degree)

The M.R.P. degree program provides the theoretical and applied knowledge necessary to enter a career in urban and regional planning. The curriculum integrates studies of the physical, environmental, social, cultural, economic, and political facets of planning at all scales: urban, suburban, and rural. Studios in which students undertake projects for clients are a central part of the program.

There are no prerequisites for the program. Students come from a wide variety of educational and professional backgrounds, including the arts, natural sciences, social sciences, design, and the humanities. The program is designed to balance core requirements with individual interests.

The Curriculum

The M.R.P. is a two-year program. Students take a set of core courses, guided electives within their area of concentration, and additional electives of their choice. These are described below.

Core Requirements

Core requirements prepare students for more advanced planning classes. They provide basic knowledge in the following areas:

1. Planning concepts, theories, philosophies and history.

2. Techniques associated with planning; quantitative, qualitative, GIS, CAD, cartographic, and methods.

3. The built environment: recognition of opportunities and constraints, and understanding the environmental consequences of land use activities.

4. The political, legal, institutional, and administrative setting of planning.

5. The economic and fiscal implications of planning.

6. The social, cultural, and psychological implications of planning.

7. "Plan-making" through studio reports, theses, and terminal projects.

Concentrations

In addition to the core courses, all students take at least three courses within an area of concentration. This enables each student to have one or more areas of specialization within the larger interdisciplinary planning program and ensures that everyone has sufficient background to undertake advanced research on a final project or thesis. In special cases, students may create a concentration of their own with the approval of the program director. The four areas of concentration are:

1. Urban and Regional Land Use Planning. The focus of this concentration is understanding the forces affecting the built environment, the interrelationships between land use and social conditions, and ways to support and regulate development to b est achieve community goals. Important skills for this concentration include comprehensive planing, urban and regional design, community participation methods, and applications of planning theory.

2. Housing, Social and Community Planning. This concentration, focusing on social, political, and cultural analyses of the built environment, explores different social and cultural responses to the built environment, analyzing policy, planning, and design criteria for building more responsible urban forms, and intervening in discriminatory practices. Topics of study include domestic and international analyses of housing policy, urban development, land use, urban form, urban design, spatial relations, and social change.

3. Landscape and Environmental Planning. This concentration focuses on environmental policy and planning as it relates to preserving and protecting environmental quality and habitat in the face of new development. Important skills for this concentration include landscape assessment, plan formulation, and evaluation of landscape units ranging from the local to watershed scale, using Geographic Information Systems as a planning tool.

4. Economic Development Planning. This concentration focuses on understanding the economic and social pressures facing communities, and strategies for building local and regional economies. It explores such issues as how towns, cities, and regions will survive in a globalizing economy, and how towns and cities build communities in periods of boom and decline. Topics of study include industrial planning, regional analysis, social planning and social impact assessment, public and private finance, land-use planning, and spatial analysis. The Center for Economic Development provides opportunities for applied research.