Master's of Regional Planning Program (MRP)

Environmental Design

A broad survey of the history of the designed human environment.

Attitudes toward and approaches to understanding land; use of natural factors such as land form, soils, vegetation, climate and hydrology in land planning, design, and management; advanced professional techniques and current environmental issues. Extensive and varied list of reserve readings. Some recommended book purchases.

Brief history of land and resource use, development of communities and urbanization. Introduction to problems of cities and metropolitan areas including population, land use, economic base, housing, transportation, municipal government, growth control, and capital budgets.

Exploration of current debates about causes of today's urban crises and strategies for solving them. Topics include housing, disinvestment, urban-suburban relationships, poverty, discrimination, social policies and art.

This course in applied landscape ecology will explore the structure, function and dynamic processes of landscapes, at multiple scales, and in diverse contexts. This exploration will be aimed at the theoretical, technical and strategic knowledge that influences landscape planning and management decisions - in support of the globally accepted concept of sustainability.

Regional Planning

Examination of natural resource policy formation and the planning process at the local, state and regional levels: the role of Congress, the bureaucracy and citizen's interest in policy formation; the interplay among forces of economics, technology, ecology and design in the determination of policy goals and planning horizons.

Alternative administrative arrangements for dealing with problems of environmental management and control at various levels of government. Topics include forest management, wetlands planning, and soil management.

The fundamental background in legal doctrines and issues relating to zoning law, eminent domain, wetlands and floodplain protection, growth management and due process.

This course centers on a common yet extremely difficult and complex problem in urban and regional planning - given a community and a number of indicators describing it, how do you identify other communities that are most similar to it.

An overview of the implications of information technology both in terms of new kinds of needs and problems that must be addressed, and how this technology will change how they are addressed. Prior experience with the Internet is a prerequisite.

The overall goal of this studio is to teach students how to plan and implement open space protection at a landscape scale. This will rquire the ability to synthesize information about natural feathures, cultural resources, and development patterns to create a greenway network that addresses the unique problems and opportunities of the study area.

Foundation course in statistical and other quantitative methods primarily for professional Master's degree candidates in regional planning. Descriptive, inferential, and explanatory statistics including probability theory, estimation and hypothesis testing, contingency tables, and correlation and regression.

This course focuses on the theory and application of methods used in development, implementation and analysis of economic and social policies and programs. The scope of the course is designed to have maximum relevance to students pursuing a Master's degree in regional planning. The course consists of four interrelated subject strands: demographics and social indicator analysis, regional and urban economic analysis, municipal finance and budgeting and methods of policy analysis and resource allocation.

An examination of the role of policy in guiding optimal growth. Examination of controversies regarding growth management practices, constitutional issues, methods and techniques used in designing growth management strategies, and current innovations and future trends facing growth management activities across the country.

Planning as a decision-making process, the attributes of the political and administrative environment within which planning takes place, and the implications of this environment for the planning process and the planner.

Practical information, specific tools, regulatory processes, and analytic methods useful in the practice of public sector planning at the local level.

The law of land use control as expressed in major judicial decisions in the United States. Creations, expansion and powers of municipal corporations; use of legal planning tools such as zoning, abatement of nuisance, eminent domain, etc.

The first in a sequence of workshop-type courses integrating skills and knowledge from other courses and applying them to representative planning problems. The instructional goals of this workshop are to develop the skills and techniques for collecting, analyzing, synthesizing and presenting of spatial and non-spatial data: and to develop a sense of judgment about the comprehensiveness and reliability of the data and its utility for planning decisions.

The second in a sequence of workshop courses integrating skills and knowledge from other courses and applying them to "real-life" planning problems. Preparation of regional development models and plans based upon an interdisciplinary approach to the analysis and evaluation of regional problems and potentials. Plan development, public participation, and plan implementation.

The role of political decision making in the development, control, and execution of resource policy decisions. The emphasis in the course is upon gaining an understanding of the influence of politics in resource planning.

The design and use of computerized geographic information systems for land planning and design decisions. Examination of the role of G.I.S. in the planning function and process. Information and its role in defining planning problems and shaping public discussion.

Critical analyses of the historical, political, sociocultural and economic aspects of housing policy, leading to an understanding of the development, implementation and impact of current policies at the local, state and federal levels, as well as issues of housing discrimination.

The focus is upon means and methods to insure the optimal use of resources in our agricultural and non-urban areas. Topics focus on the development of an understanding of rural trends and how the planner can react.

The goal of this course is to explore the appropriate methods required for determining the optimal location, enhancement and expansion of the industrial base of communities. Topics focus upon industrial policy, land use, infrastructure, labor needs, the role of the environment, financial requirement, industrial innovation and the influence of world trend on our industrial base.

RP 691R People and the Environment Credit 3

Environmental psychology is an interdisciplinary field which studies the relationshp between the physical environment and human behavior. The premise is that people's behavior (e.g. wellbeing, emotions, productivity, and even personal relationships) is affected by the physical environments where they live, work and play. This graduate seminar is designed to introduce environment behavior research to landscape architecture and regional planning students.

Transportation and infrastructure facilities such as roads and water systems, influence the quality of our lives in a profound and complex way. The purpose of this course is to understand the functions and impacts of transportation and infrastructure facilities and to analyze the role of the planner in setting public policies related to the construction and maintenance of such facilities.

Principles, practices and institutions of state and local public finance. Emphasis on application of theory and methods to policy problems and options facing states and their municipalities.

A seminar on urban and regional land use and physical planning. Drawing mainly on articles and planning documents from the past five years, the course focuses on critically analyzing current hot topics in the field. Although concentrating on the situation in the United States, it compares this with systems in Europe, Asia, Australia and elsewhere in North America.

Structuring planning research. A seminar to assist advanced students in preparing proposals for Master's theses or projects.

Examination of the regional economy including the major markets, social institutions, and businesses and households in the community. This framework is used to analyze the process of regional economic growth and change, and possible intervention points for planners.

Explores the social, cultural and political underpinnings and implications of planning practice and theory. The course focuses on appropriate planning for different social groups, the relation of planning and policy to social change and research methodologies.

RP 696 Independent Study Credit 1-6

RP 697A Special Topics - Planning Project Cr 1 (F)

RP 698 A-Z Master's Project Credit 5

Allows student to work on an actual or demonstration project to explore various aspects of regional planning.

RP 699 Master's Thesis Credit 8

Preparation of a research paper in an emerging or state-of-the-art area of regional planning. A full graduate committee and calendar due dates must be met, as outline in the Graduate School Handbook.

Degree Requirements Up to Home Page