With over half of the world’s population now living in urban areas, the challenge of creating and maintaining urban places as high quality, healthy, vital places for people has never been more important. Our expectation is that recipients of the graduate degrees and certificates offered by the Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning will be in the forefront of those efforts, contributing professional leadership and new knowledge in support of this first “urban century”.
M.U.R.P.
The Master of Urban and Regional Planning program provides diversified preparation for professional planning practice. Graduates of the program will acquire skills suiting them for employment in public agencies and private firms involved in the urban development process. The program offers five fields of specialization to allow the graduate either to enhance previous work experience or to enter the job market with a more focused area of expertise. These are: transportation, land use, community development, environment, and economic development. One field of specialization is required as part of the program leading to the degree. This degree is fully accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board.
Course Requirements
Planning sequence
| USP 540 | History and Theory of Planning | 4 |
| USP 541 | Dynamics of Planning Practice | 3 |
and one of the following:
| USP 594 | Planning in the Pacific Northwest | 3 |
| USP 595 | Reshaping the Metropolis | 3 |
| USP 549 | Regional Planning and Metropolitan Growth Management | 3 |
Methods sequence
| USP 531 | Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Planners | 4 |
| USP 533 | Planning Methods I | 4 |
| USP 535 | Planning Methods II | 4 |
| USP 584 | Negotiation in the Public Sector | 4 |
Analytical methods
| USP 515 | Economics: Applications in Urban Studies | 4 |
| USP 525 | Design Analysis in Planning | 2 |
| USP 553 | Legal Processes in Urban Planning | 1 |
Workshops
| USP 558 | Planning Workshop | 3-6 |
| USP 559 | Internship Seminar | 1 |
| | Specializations and Electives | 28 |
Total Credit Hours: 72
Field paper/project
Students may choose to prepare an original research paper or project in their field of specialization. The research paper or project is meant to demonstrate a student’s ability to integrate and apply material from his or her coursework and is designed in consultation with faculty.