Course Descriptions

Environmental Design

• Ed/RP 543 History and Theory Credit 3 (S)
  A broad survey of the history of the designed human environment.
  
• LA 547 Landscape Pattern and Process Credit 3 (F)
  Natural and cultural processes which influence landscape planning and site design; Investigations of climate, geology, land form, soils, hydrology, vegetation visual qualities; and planning and design process/models.
  
• ED/RP 574 City Planning Credit 3 (F)
  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
  
• ED/RP 577 Urban Policies Credit 3 (S)
  Exploration of current debates about causes of today's urban situations and strategies for solving them. Topics include housing, disinvestment, urban-suburban relationships, inequality, discrimination, social policies and art. This class tends to have a community service learning component.

Regional Planning

• RP 553 Resource Policy and Planning (Sustainable Development) Credit 3 (F)
  Examination of natural resource policy formation and the planning process at the local, state and regional levels. The course investigates the interrelationships between resource policies, the built environment, and environmental impacts and identifies a range of current best-practices for improving that relationship.
  
• RP 558 Issues in Environmental Management Credit 3 (S)
  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.
  
• RP 609 Landscape Planning Studio II Credit 3 (F)
  The overall goal of this studio is to teach students how to plan and implement open space protection at a landscape scale. This will require the ability to synthesize information about natural features, cultural resources, and development patterns to create a greenway network that addresses the unique problems and opportunities of the study area.
  
• RP 625 Quantitative Methods in Planning Credit 3 (F)
  Foundation course in quantitative planning methods for Master's degree candidates
  in regional planning. The course focuses on information systems and data sources routinely used by professional planners. Scope of the course includes sampling theory, survey design, exploratory data analysis, correlation and regression analysis. Spreadsheet and statistical computer applications are employed in conjunction with assignments in applied problem solving and data analysis.
  
• RP 643 Economic and Social Planning Analysis Credit 3 (S)
  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.
  
• RP 645 Growth Management Credit 3 (F)
  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.
  
• RP 651 Planning History and Theory Credit 3 (F)
  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.
  
• RP 652 Regulatory Tools in Planning Credit 3 (S)
  Practical information, specific tools, regulatory processes, and analytic methods useful in the practice of public sector planning at the local level.
  
  
• RP 656 Judicial Planning Law Credit 3 (F)
  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.
  
• RP 675 Regional Planning Studio I Credit 4 (S)
  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: <br>and to develop a sense of judgment about the comprehensiveness and reliability of the data and its utility for planning decisions.
  
  
• RP 681 Regional Planning Studio II Credit 5 (F)
  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.
  
  
• RP 691E Geographic Information Systems for Planning and Design Credit 3 (S)
  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.
  
• RP 691F Research Issues for Landscape Architecture
  and Regional Planning Credit 3 (S)
  Survey of research issues and methods in landscape architecture and regional planning. This course is designed to assist students preparing their research on their theses and Master’s projects. Cross listed as LA691F.
  
  
• RP 691H Housing Policy Credit 3 (S)
  Critical analyses of the historical, political, socio-cultural 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.
  
  
• RP 691M Planning for Industrial Development Credit 3 (S)
  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 2-3 (F)
  Environmental psychology is an interdisciplinary field which studies the relationship between the physical environment and human behavior. The premise is that people’s behavior (e.g., well-being, 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.
  
  
• RP 692B Seminar in Transportation and Infrastructure Planning Credit 3
  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.
  
• RP 692M State and Local Public Finance Credit 3 (F)
  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.
  
  
• RP 693S Planning with Multiple Publics Credit 3 (F)
  Explores the social, cultural and political underpinnings and implications of planning practice and theory. The course focuses on appropriate planning with different social groups, the relation of planning and policy to social change and research methodologies.
  
  
• RP 696 Independent Study Credit 1-3
  
  
• RP 697A Special Topics - Planning Project Credit 1 (F)
  
  
• RP 698A Master's Project Credit 6
  Allows students 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 outlined in the Graduate School Handbook.
  

Regional Planning Studios

An important part of your planning education is participation in two regional planning studios. In the studios, students divide into teams of between 3-5 students each and work on a ‘real’ project with a client. Contracts between the client and the studio team are signed as a means of providing a ‘real- life’ studio experience.

The objective of the regional planning studio experience is to provide settings in which students can learn the practical skills required in the planning process. Through the studios, students will gain knowledge and expertise in the processes of planning, including: how to comprehend a planning problem, quantify and analyze its dimensions, formulate planning alternatives, and organize a work plan and planning process that may lead to the implementation of solutions. Students will also gain experience in working with the client and the public, and in the presenting of their work in oral, written and graphic form. Students will thereby gain the ‘seasoning’ that goes with experience in all these planning process skills.

The studio format has the following features:

1. Two 14-week studios (spring semester of the first year; fall semester of the second year).

2. Multiple and substantively diverse projects each semester (usually 4-6) providing for smaller student teams and greater student choice of studio topics.

3. Instruction by faculty and outside professionals on key topics needed to carry out studio projects, including work planning, public presentations and report preparation.

4. Selection of ‘real’ projects and clients, including the signing of a contract between client and studio group that sets out a ‘scope of services’.

5. Selection of first year topics that are relatively simple and well defined, and second year topics that are more complex. In the first year studio, tasks will involve mostly data collection, analysis, and development of plan alternatives. In the second year studio, tasks will involve primarily plan development, public participation, and plan implementation.