This is a two-year degree program and is fully accredited
by the Planning Accreditation Board, a joint undertaking of the American
Institute of Certified Planners and the Association of Collegiate Schools
of Planning. Approximately 65 new students enroll in the program each
fall.
Core courses, knowledge common to all areas of planning, are required
of all M.A. students. Students are also expected to select one of the
following areas of concentration by the end of their first term.
Regional
and International Development is concerned with the interrelated
problems of territorial or area development in both highly industrialized
and developing countries. Industrialization, urbanization, patterns
of regional economic growth and decline, rural and resource-based
development, and the problems of marginalized populations are major
focal points.
Design
and Development . This AOC teaches how private
market forces drive development along with how public forces shape
and channel it, and how we can build in smarter, more sustainable
ways, which are respectful of varying cultural needs and practices
and are essential to an inclusive and just city. The goal is to equip
urban planners aspiring to enter the public sector with tools to craft
rules and regulations that meet public goals, and to train planners
wishing to work for the private or nonprofit development sectors with
the skills necessary to work with neighbors, community and the public
sector in the entitlement and development of complex projects. Urban
designers and physical planners must be constantly aware of the complex
interactions between the physical and socio-economic components of
urban life. The process of physical development must acknowledge all
city dwellers and be sensitive to their different needs. The specialization's
success will eventually be measured by how our local and state land
use rules and urban design and policy strategies are crafted and written
for a better built environment, and how our design ideas would help
develop new modes of professional intervention around the world.
The natural environment is both the context within which all human activities
take place and a social product of those activities. Environmental planning
begins with analysis of the physical, biotic, socio-economic and cultural
context in which environmental conflicts occur. An array of analytic
tools ranging from cultural to socio-economic and ecological approaches
are then applied to specific questions. Some of these are locality specific,
but many also involve larger scale regional process and social movements.
Our multidisciplinary program engages resources within the program and
the university to address the urgent question inherent in environment
and development. We encourage broad training and use of the resources
of many disciplines.
Community
Development and HousingThis area of concentration deals with social and economic forces
affecting communities. Within this area, students can choose one of
two streams: housing policies and development, or community economic
development. Both streams highlight linkages to social, economic,
political, and spatial justice; inequality; built form/physical environment;
and applied research.
Transportation
Policy and Planning comprises the whole context of economic,
social, and political actions that determine the distribution of development,
goods, and services. Economic development planning, environmental
planning, housing and community development, and urban design are
all linked by travel and transportation systems. Transportation access
significantly affects quality of life, and differences in opportunities
between rich and poor, men and women, young and old, and people of
different racial, ethnic and social origins. Thus, the analysis of
transportation policy includes questions of production and distribution
- how efficiently are services provided, who pays, and who benefits.
Such transportation questions in turn lead to more fundamental ones
about the functions of planning and public policy.
Master's students must complete a minimum of 72 units (18 courses).
Students generally take 12 units in each of 6 terms, completing the
program in two years.
Upon entering the program, all students must pass examinations indicating
competence in basic mathematics and microeconomics before enrolling
in required core courses.
Fieldwork:
Master's students who enter without substantial prior experience in
planning are required to complete up to eight units (300 total hours)
of fieldwork. Click
here to see a list of internship employers.
Students are also required to complete either a thesis or one of
two comprehensive examination plans:
The Master's Thesis
is intended to provide the opportunity for independent scholarly
research and should be the length and quality of a publishable
journal article.
The Comprehensive Examination Plan A, applied
research project or group comprehensive project,
is recommended for students who are more interested in the practical
application of what they have learned in their coursework than
in scholarly research.
Comprehensive Examination Plan B is a two week
examination, which typically takes the form of a simulated client-oriented
project under tight time constraints.
