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Urban Planning Dissertation Topics Ideas and Examples

Published by Owen Ingram at January 5th, 2023 , Revised On March 24, 2023

Urban planning is an essential tool in creating vibrant and healthy communities. It is the practice of balancing the needs of a society with limited resources to ensure equitable development and long-term sustainability. Urban planners work at all scales, from local communities to global initiatives, helping to shape cities, regions and even entire countries.

At its core, urban planning focuses on improving the quality of life through efficient use of land, transportation networks and public services such as education and healthcare facilities.

Planning can be a powerful tool in tackling social issues like poverty, inequality and environmental degradation by finding smart solutions that meet people’s needs while preserving natural resources.

This can include everything from designing walkable neighbourhoods that promote physical activity to creating green spaces that clean air pollutants out of the atmosphere.

Conducting research on urban planning topics is essential for students writing dissertations because it allows them to understand the field better while developing critical thinking skills.

Researching urban planning topics gives students insight into life within various cities and towns worldwide. Knowing how different areas have developed over time can help inform future decisions shaping our society.

Research projects give students hands-on experience conducting surveys and collecting data, which can then be used to formulate opinions about current issues facing cities and regions today.

How to Choose the Best Urban Planning Dissertation Topic

Choosing a dissertation topic for urban planning can be one of the most challenging and rewarding. It’s essential for students to take the time to carefully research and assess different topics, as this will form the basis for their entire dissertation project.

The following tips will help students choose a dissertation topic that connects with their interests while also contributing something new and exciting to urban planning literature.

  • First, students must consider what topics they are passionate about within urban planning.
  • Doing so may reveal potential research gaps or intersections, which could become their project’s focus.
  • Identifying any specific industry trends or current debates in this area is also beneficial and could provide an impetus for conducting original research.

List of Urban Planning Dissertation Topics

  • Chinese urban planning at fifty: an assessment of the planning theory literature
  • Shifting approaches to planning theory: Global North and South
  •  Disintegrated development at the rural-urban fringe: Re-connecting spatial planning theory and practice
  • Computer-supported participation in urban planning from the viewpoint of “Communicative Planning Theory.”
  • Jaqueline Tyrwhitt: a transnational life in urban planning and design
  • A serious Digital game for urban planning: “B3—Design your marketplace!”
  • The value of community informatics to participatory urban planning and design: a case study in Helsinki
  • Urban planning and development in Tehran
  • Application of system dynamics model as a decision-making tool in urban planning process toward stabilising carbon dioxide emissions from cities
  • Property, politics, and urban planning: a history of Australian city planning, 1890-1990
  • The making of urban America: a history of city planning in the United States
  • Slope instability in static and dynamic conditions for urban planning: the ‘Oltre Po Pavese’case history (Regione Lombardia–Italy)
  • The impact of sanitary reform upon American urban planning, 1840-1890
  •  The capital of Europe: Architecture and urban planning for the European Union
  • Settlement history and urban planning at Zincirli Höyük, southern Turkey
  • Urban transportation planning in the United States: history, policy, and practice
  • Beyond the colonial city: Re-evaluating the urban history of India, ca. 1920–1970
  • Shadows of planning: on landscape/planning history and inherited landscape ambiguities at the urban fringe
  • White cities, linguistic turns, and Disneylands: The new paradigms of urban history
  • Analysis of problems in urban green space system planning in China
  • Lagos (Nigeria) flooding and influence of urban planning
  • Reusing organic solid waste in urban farming in African cities: A challenge for urban planners
  • An assessment of public participation GIS and Web 2.0 technologies in urban planning practice in Canela, Brazil
  • City of change and challenge: Urban planning and regeneration in Liverpool
  • Urban planning in Russia: towards the market

What is the Importance of Choosing the Correct Urban Planning Research Topic

Urban planning is a very important topic for students to study, as it helps them understand the complexities of city life and its many related disciplines. When researching an urban planning dissertation topic, students should carefully consider their approach and the structure of their research project.

An excellent urban planning dissertation topic can help students better understand the issues, provide insight into potential solutions, and even develop new ideas for further investigation.

When selecting an urban planning dissertation topic, it is important for students to consider their interests in the subject matter. Choosing a topic that aligns with students’ interests will often result in more meaningful results and may lead to exciting discoveries.

Students should also be aware of current events or trends relevant to their chosen field, as these can provide invaluable insights into urban planning topics.

How Can ResearchProspect Help?

ResearchProspect writers can send several custom topic ideas to your email address. Once you have chosen a topic that suits your needs and interests, you can order for our dissertation outline service which will include a brief introduction to the topic, research questions , literature review , methodology , expected results , and conclusion . The dissertation outline will enable you to review the quality of our work before placing the order for our full dissertation writing service!

FAQ’s About Urban Planning Dissertation Ideas

When to choose the urban planning dissertation topic.

In terms of choosing a topic for the dissertation, students should take into account the time of their academic year. Having enough time for research is important. In case you do not have time to write your dissertation, visit our website and see our services .

How do I choose the most appropriate urban planning dissertation topic?

The best way to choose an appropriate topic is by doing research on various topics related to urban planning. Consider what research you want to do and how much time you have to write your dissertation.

Examining journals and publications that explore urban planning issues can give you ideas about potential topics for your dissertation. Additionally, attending conferences or seminars related to urban planning can provide insight into current research in this field.

Can I use these topics for my dissertation?

The topics listed here can be used for your dissertation. There are a variety of topics you can use depending on the type of research project you are doing.

Have other students used these topics already?

These dissertation topics may have already been used by other students. You can order unique dissertation topics on our website if you need topics that have never been used before.

Can ResearchProspect provide unique and customised urban planning dissertation topics?

Yes, ResearchProspect provide unique and customised Urban Planning dissertation topics.

Can you make a research proposal on my selected topic?

Yes, we can develop a research proposal for your chosen topic. On our website, you can order research proposal topics or learn more about our proposal writing services .

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Doctoral Theses in Urban and Regional Planning

A chronological checklist.

The following are doctoral theses completed by individual students in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Please see Find Dissertations for more details about locating doctoral theses in general.  Check the online catalog for doctoral theses not listed here.

Most call numbers and locations are given after each entry; if not available, search the online catalog under author or title. Call numbers are linked to the entry in the online catalog or IDEALS when available.

Yu, Chenxi. Three papers in urban and regional economic and development/ by Chenxi Yu. Dissertation (Ph.D.) – University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign , 2015. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library Regional Planning/    Found in IDEALS

Kashem, Md Shakil Bin. Moving towards disaster: examining the changing patterns of social vulnerability in a multi-hazard urban environment/ by Md Shakil Bin Kashem. Dissertation (Ph.D.) – University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign , 2015. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library Regional Planning/    Found in IDEALS

Lee, Sungwon. The role of urban spatial structure in reducing VMT and GHG emissions/ by Sungwon Lee. Dissertation (Ph.D.) – University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 2015. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library Regional Planning/   Found in IDEALS

Vincentelo Lupa, Claudia Mariella . Planning in cyberenvironments: an analysis of the impacts of open data in Chicago / by Claudia Mariella Vincentelo Lupa. Dissertation (Ph.D.)—University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 2015. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library Regional Planning/    Found in IDEALS

Figueroa, Carlos. Wage equations and the regional economics in Guatemala/ by Carlos Figueroa. Dissertation (Ph.D.)—University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 2014. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library Regional Planning/    Found in IDEALS

Green, Timothy. Cluster Planning and Cluster Strategy in Regional Economic Development Organizations/ by Timothy Green. Thesis (Ph.D.)—University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 2014. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /   Found in IDEALS

Irawan, Andi. Regional Income Disparities in Indonesia: Measurements, Convergence Process, and Decentralization/ by Andi Irawan. Thesis (Ph.D.)—University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 2014. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /   Found in IDEALS

Allred, Dustin. Examining the Effectiveness of Voluntary Coordination among Local Governments: Evidence from a Regional Land Use Planning Process/ by Dustin Allred. Thesis (Ph.D.)—University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 2013. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /   Found in IDEALS

Boyer, Robert. Transitioning to Sustainable Urban Development: A Niche-Based Approach / by Robert Boyer. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2013. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /   Found in IDEALS

Rahe, Mallory. Building Prosperous Communities: The Effects of Social Capital, Financial Capital, and Place / by Mallory Rahe. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2013. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /   Found in IDEALS

Honey-Roses, Jordi. Ecosystem Services in Planning Practice for Urban and Technologically Advanced Landscapes / by Jordi Honey-Roses. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2012. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /  Found in IDEALS

Nesse, Kate. How Do We Know? Determining School District Fiscal and Administrative Policy in Rural Hispanic Boomtowns in the Midwest / by Kate Nesse. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2012. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /  Found in IDEALS

Sarraf, Saket. Three essays on Social Dynamics and Landuse Change: Framework, Model, and Estimator / by Saket Sarraf. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2012. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /  Found in IDEALS

Borich, Genevieve. The Broader Social Network of Community Planning: A Diagnostic Tool for Communities to Assess Their Planning Capacity / by Genevieve Borich. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2011. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /   Found in IDEALS

Wan, Jun. Three Papers in Regional Economics: Energy Productivity Convergence, Water Resource Planning, and Workforce Occupation-Industry Dynamics / by Jun Wan. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2011. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /   Found in IDEALS

Araj, Fidaa I. Planning Under Deep Political Conflict: The Relationship Between Afforestation Planning and the Struggle Over Space in the Palestinian Territories / by Fidaa Ibrahim Mustafa Araj. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /   Found in IDEALS

Brody, Jason. Constructing Professional Knowledge   :  The Neighborhood Unit Concept and the Community Builders Handbook / by Jason Brody. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning   /    Found in IDEALS

Budhathoki, Nama R. Participants’ Motivations to Contribute Geographic Information in an Online Community / by Nama Raj Budhathoki. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning   /    Found in IDEALS

Chandrasekhar, Divya. Understanding Stakeholder Participation in Post-Disaster Recovery (Case Study: Nagapattinam, India) / by Divya Chandrasekhar   .  Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning   /    Found in IDEALS

Dringo, Marina V. Why Use Agent-Based Models To Explore Social Issues? The Case Of Intimate Partner Violence and Social Support Systems / by Marina V. Dringo. 2010.   Found in IDEALS

Gamal, Ahmad. Appropriating decentralization: how urban poverty project triggers advocacy / by Ahmad Gamal. 2010.   Found in IDEALS

Ganning, Joanna P. Growth Effects of Urban-Rural and Intra-Regional Linkages on Non-Metropolitan Counties and Communities in the U.S. / by Joanna Paulson Ganning. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning   /    Found in IDEALS

Iuchi, Kanako. Redefining a Place to Live: Decisions, Planning Processes, and Outcomes of Resettlement after Disasters / by Kanako Iuchi. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /   Found in IDEALS

Kim, Jae H. Land Use, Spatial Structure, and Regional Economic Performance: Assessing the Economic Effects of Land Use Planning and Regulation / by Jae Hong Kim. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /   Found in IDEALS

Robles, Johanna D. The FDI and regional development in Chile / by Johanna D. Robles. 2010.  Found in IDEALS

Finn, Donovan. Our Uncertain Future: Can Good Planning Create Sustainable Communities? / by Donovan Flinn. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. iv, 203 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 192-202). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /   Q. 338.927 F497o

Li, Jinghuan. Developing a Markup Language for Encoding Graphic Content in Plan Documents / by Jinghuan Li. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /  Found in IDEALS

Sandiford, Glenn. Transforming an Exotic Species: Nineteenth-Century narratives about Introduction of Carp in America / by Glenn Sandiford. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. xiv, 320 leaves, bound ; 29 cm. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /  Q. 639.37483 Sa568t

Zapata, Marisa. Planning Across Differences: Collaborative Planning in the California Central Valley / by Marisa Zapata. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /  Found in IDEALS

Ha, Soo J. Integrated Assessment of Structural Change and Sustainability in the Chicago Region / by Soo Jung Ha. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. v, 117 leaves, bound : ill., maps ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-111). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /  Q. 354.34 B433r

Kang, Sangjun. Spatial Distribution of Best Management Practices for Stormwater Management / by Sangjun Kang. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. v, 113 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-99). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /   Q. 628.1 K131s

Kaza, Nikhil. Reasoning With Plans: Inference of Semantic Relationships among Plans about Urban Development / by Nikhil Kaza. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. xiv, 181 leaves, bound : ill., maps (some col.) ; 29 cm. + cdrom. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-175). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning / Q. 711.4 K189r ; Found in IDEALS

Koschinsky, Julia. Modeling Spatial Spillover Effects from Rental to Owner Housing: The Case of Seattle / by Julia Koschinsky. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. ix, 172 leaves, bound : ill., maps (some col. ) ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-114). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning / Q. 307.76097977 K846m

Warren, Drake Edward. The regional economic effects of commercial passenger air service at small airports / by Drake Edward Warren. viii, 414 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 398-413). Q. 338.1 Tbp08w

Wildermuth, Todd A. Yesterday’s city of tomorrow : the Minnesota Experimental City and green urbanism / by Todd A. Wildermuth. v, 278 leaves, bound ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 271-276). Q. 630 Tbp08w

Xiao, Yu. Local Labor Market Adjustment and Economic Impacts after a Major Disaster: Evidence from the 1993 Midwest Flood / by Yu Xiao. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. xii, 219 leaves, bound : ill., maps ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 197-205). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning / Q. 363.34097738 X4l

Bendor, Todd K. Redistribution effects of wetland mitigation over space and time / by Todd K. Bendor. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. v, 117 leaves, bound : ill., maps ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-111). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /  Q. 354.34 B433r

Lim, Jaewon. Interregional Migration and Regional Economic Structure / by Jaewon Lim. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. xiii, 143 leaves, bound : ill., maps ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-134). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /  Q. 304.81 L628i

Lufin Varas, Marcelo Leonardo. Essays in social space : applications to Chilean communities on inter-sector social linkages, social capital, and social justice / by Marcelo Leonardo Lufin Varas. v, 254 leaves, bound : ill. (some col.) ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-173).  Q. 711.40983 L967e

Maeng, Da-Mi. Information and Communications Technologies and Urban Environment: Empirical Analysis of the Washington DC Metropolitan Region / by Da-Mi Maeng. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. x, 119 leaves, bound : ill., maps ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-115). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /  Q. 711.4 M268i

Silva, Carlos E. Three Essays on Regional Economics / by Carlos Eduardo Silva. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. iv, 112 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-111). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /  Q. 330.9 Si382t

Sorensen, Janni. Challenges of Unequal Power Distribution in University-Community Partnerships / by Janni Sorensen. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. ix, 212 leaves, bound : ill., maps ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 175-189). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /  Q. 711.58 So684c

Varas, Marcelo L. Essays in Social Space: Applications to Chilean Communities on Inter-Sector Social Linkages, Social Capital, and Social Justice / by Marcelo Leonardo Lufin Varas.Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. v, 254 leaves, bound : ill. (some col.) ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-173). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /  Q. 711.40983 L967e

Wang, Yun. Predicting long-term impacts of urbanization in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area on regional emissions of air pollutants from residential fuel combustion : a dynamic geographic information systems approach / by Yun Wang. viii, 142 leaves, bound : ill., maps ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-69).  Q. 711.40977866 W184p

Aldegheishem, Abdulaziz J. Geospatial sharing as an effective governance tool for policy decision : comparative analysis and implication to Saudi Arabia / by Abdulaziz J. Aldegheishem.  Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. xiv, 221 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 204-220). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /  Q. 910.28509538 Al21g

Shammin, Md Rumi. Opportunity and challenges for sustainability in urban planning and the energy sprawl / by Md Rumi Shammin. xvi, 211 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-145).  Q. 630 Tbp06s

Sofhani, Tubagus Furqon. Toward empowered participatory planning: the role of planners in the local planning paradigm change in Indonesia / by Tubagus Furqon Sofhani. xii, 173 leaves, bound ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-167).  Q. 307.1216 So232t

Vial, Jose Fernando. Interlinking interregional economic models with infrastructure networks : three essays / by Jose Fernando Vial. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. ix, 184 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 175-182). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /  Q. 330.9 V651i

Bonet, Jaime Alfred. Decentralization, structural change and regional disparities in Colombia / by Jaime Alfred Bonet. x, 128 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-113).  Q. 986.1063 B641d

Guo, Dong. Structure and structural change in China’s economy / by Dong Guo. 2005. xi, 130 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-125). Theses –UIUC –2005 –Urban and Regional Planning. Printout. Vita. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /  Q. 338.951 G959s

Jang, Sung-Gheel. Interoperable multimodal travel guide system : modeling and implementation – a canonical model approach / by Sung-Gheel Jang. 2005. xi, 132 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-128). Theses –UIUC –2005 –Regional Planning. Printout. Vita. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.  Q. 388.0285 J254i

Lee, Jong Sung. Developing spatio-temporal models for retrofit and reconstruction strategy under unscheduled events / by Jong Sung Lee. 2005. x, 102 leaves, bound : ill., maps ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-98). Theses –UIUC –2005 –Regional Planning. Printout. Vita. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library City Planning /  Q. 353.9 L517d

Prasai, Sagar R. Transnational migration-development nexus and the capability approach : reframing the linkages/ by Sagar R. Prasai. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005. vii, 145 leaves, bound ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-140). Theses –UIUC –2005 –Regional Planning. Printout. Vita. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning. /  Q. 331.544 P886t

Balta, Nazmiye. Climate change policy in an enlarged European Union : institutions, efficiency, and equity / by Nazmiye Balta. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2004. xvii, 285 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 279-284). Theses–UIUC–2004–Urban and Regional Planning. Printout. Vita. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning. /  Q. 363.7 B216c

Kim, Jungik. An assessment of the discommodity effects of swine production on rural property values : a spatial analysis / by Jungik Kim. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2004. xi, 186 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 177-185). Theses–UIUC–2004–Regional Planning. Printout. Vita. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.   Q. 333.3352 K56a

Plotnikova, Maria. Determinants of household housing privatization decision in Russia / by Maria Plotnikova. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2004. vii, 98 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-97). Theses–UIUC–2004 –Urban and Regional Planning. Printout. Vita. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.   Q. 363.50947 P724d

Sumadi, Pungky. Governance in a democratic transition : the case of the Urban Poverty Project in Cirebon / by Pungky Sumadi. 2004. xv, 225 leaves, bound ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 204-218). Theses –UIUC –2004 –Urban and Regional Planning. Printout.  Q. 320.85095982 Su61g

Budthimedhee, Kanjanee. Effective visualization interfaces for planning support systems / by Kanjanee Budthimedhee. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2003. vi, 158 leaves, bound : ill. (some col.) ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 152-156). Theses–UIUC–2003–Regional Planning. Printout. Vita. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning. /    Q. 005.118 B859e

Deal, Brian Michael. Sustainable land-use planning: the integration of process and technology / by Brian Michael Deal. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2003. viii, 115 leaves, bound : ill. (some col.) ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-85). Theses–UIUC–2003–Urban and Regional Planning. Printout. Vita. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning. /    Q. 307.1216 D342s

Haddad, Monica Amaral. Human development and regional inequalities: spatial analysis across Brazilian municipalities / by Monica Amaral Haddad. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2003. xiv, 144 leaves, bound : ill. (some col.) maps ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-140). Theses–UIUC–2003–Regional Planning. Printout. Vita. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning. /  Q. 307.140981 H117h

Nazara, Suahasil. An exploration of interaction effects in Indonesian regional economic development / by Suahasil Nazara. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2003. xiii, 156 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 149-155). Theses–UIUC–2003–Regional Planning. Printout. Vita. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning./   Q. 330.9598 N236e

Henne, Lisa Jean. Power and science in participatory watershed planning: a case study from rural Mexico / by Lisa Jean Henne. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2002. ix, 170 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 157-166). Theses–UIUC–2002–Regional Planning.Printout. Vita. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning. /  Q. 333.730972 H391s

Song, Yan. Valuing the impacts of new urbanism on prices of single-family homes: a case study of Portland, Oregon / by Yan Song Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2002. xvi, 137 leaves, bound : ill., maps. ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 130-136). Theses–UIUC–2002–Urban and Regional Planning. Printout. Vita. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning. /  Q. 728.370979549 So581v

Wu, Yueming. Seismic risk analysis for Mid-America communities / by Yueming Wu Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2002. ix, 208 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 203-207). Theses–UIUC–2002–Urban and Regional Planning. Printout. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning. /  Q. 551.220287 W950s

Kumar, Sandeep. Role of information in design review : a case study / by Sandeep Kumar. 2001. ix, 189 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Printout. Vita. Theses–UIUC–2001–Regional Planning. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2001.  Q. 711.40973 K96r

Tyler, Elizabeth Holl. Development of an environmental values typology / by Elizabeth Holl Tyler. xi, 256 leaves, bound ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-146).  Q. 363.7 T971d

Matier, Debra Anne. A cross-national study of policy entrepreneurship on the part of technical-professional bureaucrats in national environmental agencies : the case of household waste reduction policy in Germany, France and the United States / by Debra Anne Matier. 2000. vii, 269 leaves, bound ; 29 cm. Theses–UIUC–2000–Regional Planning. /  Q. 658.421

Tyler, Elizabeth Holl. Development of an environmental values typology / by Elizabeth Holl Tyler. 2001. xi, 256 leaves, bound ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-146). Theses –UIUC –2001 –Regional Planning. Printout. Vita. Available on microfilm from Bell & Howell Information and Learning.  Q. 363.7 T971d

You, Jinsoo. Development of a hybrid travel time forecasting model with GIS : design and implementation issues / by Jinsoo You. 2000. xv, 171 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Printout. Vita. Theses–UIUC–2000– Regional Planning. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2000. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 161-167).  Q. 388.10113 Y83d

Alvares, Lucia Maria Capanema. Classifying intermediary non-governmental organizations according to their strategies to empower local grassroots groups / by Lucia Maria Capanema Alvares. c1999. xiv, 443 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm. Printout. Vita. Data for this research was collected in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms International. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1999. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 427-440). 1. Non-governmental organizations–Case studies. 2. Community development–Brazil–Belo Horizonte–Case studies. I. Title. Other: Theses–UIUC–1999–Regional Planning.   361.763 Al86c

Carvajal N., Ana Maria . Evaluating the impact of rail-trail conversion projects on property values : empirical evidence from the Illinois Prairie Path / by Ana Maria Caraval N. 1999. vi, 37 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 34-37).   796.509773 C253e

Hanley, Paul Francis, 1965- Simulating land developers’, sewer providers’, and land owners’ behavior to assess sewer expansion policies / by Paul Francis Hanley. 1999. viii, 89 leaves : ill., maps ; 28 cm. Printout. Vita. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms International. “The research design uses a stochastic simulation model of development behavior to capture alternative explanations of sewer provider and developer behaviors. The input data and model parameters are based on 26 years of historical data for a 12 square mile study area in Washington County, Oregon…”–p.2. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Ilinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1999. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-80) 1. Sewage disposal–Mathematical models. 2. Stochastic processes. 3. Sewerage–Oregon–Washington County–Mathematical models. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1999–Regional Planning.   363.7284 H194s

Okuyama, Yasuhide. Analyses of structural change : input-output approaches / by Yasuhide Okuyama. 1999. xii, 141 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Printout. Vita. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1999. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-136). Analyzes structural change in the Chicago economy between 1980 and 1997 and the effects of the 1998 earthquake in the Hanshin region of Japan. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms International. 1. Input-output analysis. 2. Chicago (Ill.)–Economic conditions. 3. Hanshin region (Japan)–Economic conditions. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1999–Regional Planning.   339.23 Ok7a

Ellis, Christopher D. The effectiveness of qualitative spatial representation in supporting spatial awareness and spatial decision making / by Christopher D. Ellis. 1998. xii, 154 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Printout. Vita. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1998. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 148-151). Available on microfilm from University Microfilms International. 1. Space perception– Case studies. 2. Qualitative reasoning–Case studies. 3. Geographic information systems. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1998–Regional Planning.  Q.910.285El59e

Larsen, Larissa Susan. A comparison of Chicago’s scattered site and aggregate public housing residents’ psychological self-evaluations / by Larissa Susan Larsen. c1998. viii, 171 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Printout. Vita. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1998. Includes bibliographical records (leaves 144-152). Available on microfilm from University Microfilms International. 1. Public housing– Resident satisfaction. 2. Public housing–Illinois–Chicago–Case studies. 3. Human ecology–Case studies. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1998– Regional Planning.  Q.363.58509773L329c

Lindsey, Timothy Craig. Promoting the adoption of pollution prevention innovations with the assistance of publicly owned treatment works / by Timothy Craig Lindsey. c1998. x, 220 leaves, bound ; 28 cm. Printout. Vita. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1998. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 209-212). Available on microfilm from University Microfilms International. 1. Sewage–Purification. 2. Membrane separation. 3. Pollution prevention–Case studies. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1998–Regional Planning.  Q. 628.50286 L645p

Brodjonegro, Bambang. The econometric input-output model of Jakarta, Indonesia, and its application for economic impact analysis / by Bambang Brodjonegoro. 1997. viii, 142 leaves, bound: ill.; 28 cm. Printout. Vita. Thesis (Ph.D.) — University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1997. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-141). 1. Econometric models–Indonesia–Jakarta. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1997–Regional Planning.   Q.330.015195 B784

Guo, Jiemen. Comparative study of economic structure of Chinese regional economies using new input-output techniques / by Jiemen Guo. x, 139 leaves, bound ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-135).   Q. 338.951 G957c

Kim, Sung-Ho. Modeling resident satisfaction : comparison of the Francescato and Fishbein-Ajzen TRA models / by Sung-Ho Kim. 1997. xiii, 180 leaves, bound: ill.; 28 cm. Printout. Vita. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1997. 1. Action theory–Research. 2. Housing– Resident satisfaction. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1997–Regional Planning.   Q.155.945 K56m, cop.2

Knowles-Yanez, Kimberley Lynne. Contested land use planning: a case study of a grassroots neighborhood organization, a medical complex, and a city / by Kimberley Lynne Knowles-Yanez. xiv, 178 leaves, bound ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-144).   Q. 333.77 K764c

Miller, Claire Ellen. Managing local sustainability : a game theoretic analysis of natural resource conservation / by Claire Ellen Miller. 1997. vii, 195 leaves, bound: ill.; 28 cm. Printout. Thesis (Ph.D.) — University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1997. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 161-175). 1. Conservation of natural resources–United States. 2. Habitat conservation–United States–Planning. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1997–Regional Planning.   Q.333.72M612m

Montagu, Allen Simon. Natural resource management in Papua New Guinea : an analysis of the forestry sector / Allen Simon Montagu. xiii, 308 leaves, bound ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 284-304).   Q. 337.75 M76n

Chin, Yoihee. Multi-stage and multi-objective allocation procedures of urban parks using location decision support system (UPLDSS). vi, 129 leaves, bound : ill. ; 28 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-103).   Q. 711.5580113 C441M ;   Found in IDEALS

Ding, Chengri. Managing urban growth for efficiency in infrastructure provision : dynamic capital expansion and urban growth boundary models / by Chengri Ding. 1996. x, 118 leaves, bound : ill. ; 28 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-117). Infrastructure (Economics). Capital –Management. Urban economics –Management. Theses –UIUC –1996 –Regional Planning. Printout. Vita. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms International.   Q. 658.152 D613M ;   Found in IDEALS

Moore, Alan Wesley. An investigation of a collaborative meeting room supporting small group planning and decision making / by Alan Wesley Moore. x, 163 leaves, bound : ill. ; 28 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 157-162).   Q. 658.4030285 M781I ;   Found in IDEALS

Mukherjee, Jaideep. Environment and development : a study of north-south conflict / by Jaideep Mukherjee. 1996. xvii, 274 leaves, bound : ill. ; 28 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 264-268).  Theses –UIUC –1996 –Regional Planning. Printout.   Q. 333.70285 M896E ;  Found in IDEALS

Ortiz, Alexandra. Economic analysis of a land value capture system used to finance road infrastructure : the case of Bogota, Colombia / by Alexandra Ortiz. 1996. viii, 109 leaves, bound : ill. ; 28 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-91). Theses –UIUC –1996 –Regional Planning. Printout.   Q. 333.332 Or8e ;   Found in IDEALS

Schintler, Laurie A. Managing pavement in a busy urban highway network / by Laurie Shintler. 1996. iii, 103 leaves, bound ; 28 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-99).   Q. 388.411 Sch34m ;   Found in IDEALS

Vos, Jacobus Johannes . Environmental perceptions and participation in environmental decision-making among blacks : a study of environmental justice and solid waste management planning in two Illinois counties / by Jacobus Johannes Vos. 1996. xii, 142 leaves, bound : map ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-118).   Q. 363.72850977 V92E ;   Found in IDEALS

Westervelt, James Dahl. Simulating mobile objects in dynamic landscape processes / by James Dahl Westervelt. 1996. ix, 144 leaves, bound : ill., maps ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-114).  Digital computer simulation. Landscape –Computer simulation. Theses –UIUC –1996 –Regional Planning. Printout. Vita. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms International.   Q. 003.3 W525S ;   Found in IDEALS

Al-Kodmany, M. Kheir Al-Din. Cultural change and urban design: women’s privacy in traditional and modern Damascus / by M. Kheir Al-Din Kodmany 1995. viii, 199 leaves, bound: ill.,maps; 28 cm. Includes bibliographic references (leaves 172-196). 1. Neighborhood–Syria–Damascus. 2. Community development–Syria–Damascus. 3. City planning–Syria–Damascus. 4. Women in Islam–Syria–Damascus. 5. Women and city planning–Syria–Damascus 6.Theses–UIUC–1995–Regional Planning. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms International. Vita. City Planning Call Number:   Q. 307.09569101 ;   Found in IDEALS

Dickson, Bruce C. Ecorestoration of riparian forests for nonpoint source pollution control : policy and ecological considerations in Illinois agroecosystem watersheds / by Bruce Cameron Dickson. 1995. vii, 119 leaves, bound : ill., maps ; 28 cm. Printout. Vita. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1995. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms International. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-117). 1. Environmental policy–Illinois. 2. Ecosystem management–Illinois. 3. Water–Pollution–Illinois. 4. Riparian forests–Illinois. 5. Riparian ecology–Illinois. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1995–Regional Planning.   Q.363.73946D55E ;   Found in IDEALS

Kim, Hyong-Bok. Capacity expansion modeling of water supply in a planning support system for urban growth management / by Hyong-Bok Kim. 1995. xiv, 216 leaves, bound : ill. ; 28 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 206-215). Water-supply –Mathematical models. Urbanization –Water-supply. Water resources development –Mathematical models. Theses –UIUC –1995 –Regional Planning. Printout. Vita. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms International.   Q. 363.61011 K56C ,   Found in IDEALS

McGurty, Eileen Maura. The construction of environmental justice : Warren County North Carolina / by Eileen Maura McGurty. 1995. ix, 220 leaves, bound : maps ; 28 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 206-220). Environmental responsibility –North Carolina –Warren County. Hazardous waste sites –North Carolina –Warren County. Sanitary landfills –North Carolina –Warren County. Land use –North Carolina –Warren County. NIMBY syndrome –North Carolina –Warren County. Environmental ethics –North Carolina –Warren County.  Theses –UIUC –1995 –Regional Planning. Printout. Vita.    Q. 363.7009756 M179C ;   Found in IDEALS

Simon, Allison. Sequencing infrastructure development in the barrios marginales of Quito, Ecuador : policy findings of a hedonic price model. 1995. ix, 104 leaves, bound : col. maps ; 28 cm. Includes bibliographical references.   Q. 307.1409866 SI53S ; Found in IDEALS

Douglas, Judy Carol. Aesthetic-based conflict in highway planning : Federal Highway Administration putting planners at risk / by Judy Carol Douglas. 1994. xiii, 223 leaves ; ill. ; 30 cm. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms International. Printout. Vita. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1994. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 210-219). 1. Highway planning–United States. 2. Roads–United States–Design and construction. 3. Highway law–United States. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1994–Regional Planning.   Q.625.725D746A ;   Found in IDEALS

Lee, Insung. Development of procedural expertise to support multiattribute spatial decision making / by Insung Lee. 1994. xi, 153 leaves ; 29 cm. Vita. Printout. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms International. Thesis ( Ph. D. )–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1994. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-151). 1. City planning–Computer programs 2. City planning I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1994–Regional Planning.   Q.307.1L521D ;   Found in IDEALS

Choi, Keechoo. The implementation of an integrated transportation planning model with GIS and expert systems for interactive transportation planning / by Keechoo Choi. 1993. xviii, 217 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Printout. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1993. Bibliography: leaves 198-216. 1. Transportation–Planning. 2. Geographic information systems. 3. Information storage and retrieval systems–Transportation 4. Expert systems. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1993–Regional Planning.   Q.388.0285C452I ;   Found in IDEALS

Edwards, Hazel Ruth. The role of the residential environment in defining quality of life / by Hazel Ruth Edwards. 1993. xix, 402 leaves, bound : maps ; 29 cm. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms. Printout. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1993. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 368-394) 1. Quality of life 2. Housing–Resident satisfaction I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1993–Regional Planning.   Q.155.945ED96R ;   Found in IDEALS

Mitchell, Martin D. Changes in landscape forms and functions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, 1920-1993 / by Martin D. Mitchell. xii, 329 leaves, bound : maps ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 297-328).   Q. 333.7153 M6946C

El-Kholei, Ahmed Osman. The role of the government in housing in developing countries : the case of Egypt / by Ahmed Osman El-Kholei. 1992. xviii, 181 leaves, bound : ill., map ; 29 cm. Printout. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1992. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-169). 1. Housing–Developing countries. 2. Housing–Egypt. 3. Housing–Economic aspects–Egypt. 4. Housing policy–Egypt. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1992–Regional Planning.   Q.363.5EL52R ;   Found in IDEALS

Fields, Deborah Lynn. The application of computer-aided expert decision support systems to developing countries : a case of rural development in Kenya / by Deborah Lynn Fields. 1992. xiii, 283 leaves, bound: 29 cm. Printout. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms. Vita. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1992. Includes bibliographic references (leaves 267-281). 1. Rural development–Kenya–Decision making. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1992–Regional Planning.   Q.307.1412F46A ;   Found in IDEALS

Shiffer, Michael Joseph. A hypermedia implementation of a collaborative planning system / by Michael Joseph Shiffer. 1992. ix, 188 leaves, bound : ill. (some col.) ; 29 cm. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms. Printout. Vita. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1992. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 180-184) 1. Hypermedia systems. 2. User interfaces (Computer systems) 3. City planning I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1992–Regional Planning.   Q.307.120285SH61H ;   Found in IDEALS

Almansouri, Majdi Ahmed. The role of the Friday mosque (Al-Jami) in Islamic cities / by Majdi Ahmed Almansouri. 1991. xv, 301 leaves, bound : ill. (some col.) ; 29 cm. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms. Printout. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1991. Includes bibliographic refernces (leaves 248-291) 1. Architecture, Islamic–Middle East 2. Cities and towns, Islamic–Middle East–Planning–History. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1991–Regional Planning.   Q.711.40956AL62R ;   Found in IDEALS

Sen, Siddhartha. Role of Indian NGO’s in housing and development : a critical appraisal / by Siddhartha Sen. 1991. vii, 204 leaves, bound ; 29 cm. Printout. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1991. Includes bibliographic references (leaves 187-198) 1. Poor–Housing–India. 2. Non-governmental organizations– India. 3. Community development, Urban–India. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1991–Regional Planning.   Q.363.596942SE55R ;   Found in IDEALS

Tazik, David J. Proactive management of an endangered species on army lands : the black-capped vireo on the lands of Fort Hood, Texas / by David John Tazik. 1991. x, 247 leaves, bound : ill., maps (some col.) ; 29 cm. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms. Printout. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1991. Includes bibliographic references (leaves 218-226) 1. Birds, Protection of–Texas–Fort Hood. 2. Black-capped vireo–Texas–Fort Hood. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1991–Regional Planning.   Q.333.954816T219P ;   Found in IDEALS

Chin, Yangkyo. Resident housing satisfaction in multi-family housing environments in Korea / by Yangkyo Chin. 1990. x, 222 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Vita. Printout. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1990. Bibiliography: leaves 118-130. 1. Housing–Resident satisfaction–Korea. 2. Apartment houses– Korea. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1990–Regional Planning.   Q.155.94509519C441R ;   Found in IDEALS

Doak, Jill Ann. Regional economic development marketing : process, preparation and organization / by Jill Ann Doak. 1990. v, 83 leaves, bound ; 29 cm. Printout. Thesis (MUP)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1990. Bibliography: leaves 79-83. 1. Regional planning–Illinois–Economic aspects. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1990–Urban Planning.  Q.338.9773D65R

Han, Sang-Yun. The application of computer-based information systems to urban planning and public policy making / by Sang-Yun Han. 1990. xvi, 206 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Vita. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms. Printout. Thesis (Ph. D)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1990. Includes bibliographic references (leaves 188-205) 1. City planning–Decision making–Automation. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1990–Regional Planning.   Q.307.120285H19A ;   Found in IDEALS

Lai, Shih-Kung. A comparison of multiattribute decision making techniques using an iterative procedure to derive a convergent criterion / by Shih-Kung Lai. 1990. viii, 144 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Printout. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1990. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-141) 1. Multiple criteria decision making. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1990–Regional Planning.   Q.658.4035L14C ;   Found in IDEALS

Lee, Man-Hyung. Chinese housing policy : socio-historical analysis and policy evaluation / by Man-Hyung Lee. 1990. xi, 229 leaves, bound ; 29 cm. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms. Printout. Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1990. Includes bibliographic references (leaves 187-218) 1. Housing policy–China–History. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1990–Regional Planning.   Q.363.50951L514C ;   Found in IDEALS

Glosser, Deanna Simmons. Differing perceptions and the resulting uncertainty of public policy : an examination of the Clean Water Act’s Section 404 regulatory program / by Deanna Simmons Glosser. 1989. viii, 165 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Vita. Printout. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1989. Includes bibliographical references. 1. Regional planning–Decision making. 2. Water–Pollution–Law and legislation–United States. 3. Policy sciences I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1989–Regional Planning.   Q.307.12068G516D ;   Found in IDEALS

Suh, Sunduck. Implementation and evaluation of nonlinear bilevel programming model of equilibrium network design problem / by Sunduck Suh. 1989. xiii, 179 leaves, bound : ill., maps ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references.   Q. 388.3140113 SU36I;     Found in IDEALS

Rho, Jeong Hyun. Implementation and evaluation of a nonlinear three dimensional urban activity model / by Jeong Hyun Rho. 1988. xii, 164 leaves, bound : ill. ; 29 cm. Vita. Printout. Available on microfilm from University Microfilms. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1988. Includes bibliographical references. 1. Traffic congestion–Mathematical models. 2. City traffic– Illinois–Chicago. 3. Land use, Urban–Mathematical models. I. Title. Other: 1. Theses–UIUC–1988–Regional Planning.  Q.388.41310151R346I ;  Found in IDEALS

Briassoulis, Helen. An integrated modeling approach for the study of the impacts of acid deposition control regulations / by Helen Briassoulis. 1985. vii, 178 leaves ; 29 cm. Bibliography: leaves 171-177.   FILM 1985 B762 ;   Found in IDEALS

Planning Tank

Urban Planning Thesis/ Research Topic Suggestions (Part 1)

Introduction.

In the field of Planning, each student is required to undertake a research project (thesis) as per his/ her interest subjects relevant to the field in the final semester. It basically gives an opportunity to the students to put their learning of previous semesters together. It also gives an opportunity to synthesize the knowledge and skills acquired by applying it for strategy formulation for a live planning challenge.

Each student is allocated individual thesis supervisor or a guide along with a co-guide who guide the students through this thesis semester. During this period, the thesis is monitored continuously and periodically through internal marked reviews to check the consistency of the work. The final output is in the form of submission of a detailed report along with drawing/ visuals presented on sheets which is presented to an external jury panel consisting of experts from the relevant field.

Urban Planning

Urban Planning is a technical and political process concerned with development of open land or greenfield sites as well as revitalization of existing parts of the city. Primary concern of urban planning is public welfare.

  • Impact of government policies and initiatives (most recent) on urban land use
  • Quality of life assessment in residential areas
  • Role of urban local bodies (ULBs) in urban governance
  • Socio-economic impact assessment of metro rail
  • Evolving a mechanism for public participation in urban planning and implementation
  • Impact of urbanization on land use in the rural-urban fringe
  • Implications of airport expansion on the surrounding areas
  • Role of International aid in urban poverty alleviation
  • Planning implications of highway corridor on settlement pattern
  • Impact of urban expansion on small towns
  • Assessing linkage between the parent city and satellite town
  • Changes in building bye-laws and its implications on urban development
  • Planning for sustainable neighbourhood
  • Assessing the liveability in the residential areas of IT parks
  • Impact of urban sprawl on provision of public services

GIS in urban planning enables spatial analysis, modelling and data visualization which can contribute to a variety of important urban planning tasks. These tasks include land suitability analysis, site selection, land use and transport modelling, impact assessments etc.

  • GIS modelling of Land Information System
  • Urban Growth Modelling in GIS
  • Urban Sprawl Pattern analysis using GIS
  • Role of GIS in revenue improvement
  • Municipal Information System using GIS in Property Tax Management
  • Application of GIS for property tax
  • Geo-Spatial Information System Based Model for Micro-Level Planning
  • Integration of land records to GIS, a model for municipal application
  • Application of GIS Technology in Watershed management
  • Use of the Geo-Informatics in land suitability analysis for Industrial Development
  • Integrated public transportation systems using GIS

Cities and tourist movement have both historical and dynamic relationship. Urban places often act as major attractions and serve as gateways to or staging areas for tourism. Tourism is at the heart of many cities’ development projects. Tourism is a major driving force in the development and stimulator of a new urbanity in metropolises and cities.

  • Tourism Potentiality of pilgrim centres
  • Impact of tourism on district development
  • Eco-Tourism development strategies for Coastal Town
  • Impact of Ecotourism on Local Community
  • Impact of tourism on the development of Local Areas
  • Planning for tourism circuit
  • Potential of Urban Wetlands for Ecotourism Development
  • Impact of Religious Tourism in Regional Development
  • Tourism Development Plan for Inter State Border Conflict areas
  • Spatiotemporal movement patterns of international tourists
  • Water tourism: An Exploration of the Role of Inland Water Transport in Tourism Development
  • Potential of Community based Ecotourism
  • Strategies for Heritage Tourism Development
  • Strategies for Ecotourism Development
  • Impact of Tourism on Rural Livelihood

Urban Finance

Cities are growing at a remarkable rate and will continue to expand more. Planning urbanization in advance in conjunction with urban finance for implementation will help cities avoid unplanned and informal growth. When investment in cities is guided by good planning principles, it unlocks the potential for growth making sustainable development attainable.

  • Municipal Bonds – An alternate source of Funding Infrastructure Projects
  • Evaluation Study of Methods for Property Tax Assessment
  • Revenue mobilization for urban local bodies through Asset Management
  • Evaluation of Economic value and funding mechanisms of Parks
  • Financial Appraisal of property development and advertisement of Metro rail
  • Sustainable Financial strategy for implementation of the General Town Planning Scheme
  • Assessment of Property Tax Management System
  • Using Public Land as a tool to generate Municipal Finance
  • Infrastructure Financing through Tax increment Financing

Environment Planning

Environmental issues arise and exist in almost all sectors where development is involved. Environmental Planning helps in making decisions about the natural environment, public health and the built environment.

  • Environmental issues in the transformation of urban fringe
  • Environmental implications of Solid waste management in hilly areas
  • Conflict of drivers of ecosystem change on wetlands
  • Impact of urban flood vulnerability on the mobility of the urban poor
  • Adaptation of neighbourhood planning for climate change
  • Potential for green and blue infrastructure towards climate responsive planning
  • Planning for a low carbon neighbourhood
  • Community based disaster management
  • Vulnerability and risk assessment of settlements prone to tropical cyclone
  • Impact of spatial expansion of city over urban green spaces
  • Estimating the economic cost of environmental degradation of an industrial area
  • Impact of sea level rise on development in metropolitan regions

Since the Industrial Revolution, cities and industries have evolved together. There exist various industrial towns which have grown around factories and expanding industries.

  • Impact of industries on a fringe town
  • Role of Agro-based industries in regional development
  • Impact of industrialization on Tribal areas
  • Development implications of SEZ: An evaluation of policies and programs
  • Eco industrial Estate Planning
  • Industrialization and Unplanned development
  • Industry-led regional transformation
  • Industrial development and intra-regional disparities
  • Industrial Development induced displacement and resettlement strategies
  • Socio-economic impacts of Industrial Development
  • Impact of Industrial Development in a Backward region
  • Planning interventions to address industrial disparity
  • Impact of Micro, small and medium scale enterprises on regional development
  • Potential of resource-based industry in the regional economic development
  • Development constraints of an Industrial cluster in a city

Informal Sector

Cities with rapid urbanization usually face a problem with the informal sector. Businesses that the informal sector comprises of generally operate on the streets and public places and are often seen as eye-sores. So, conflicts arise between urban authorities who try to keep their cities clean and the urban informal sector operators who need space for their activities.

  • Planning for Spatial integration of the street vendor activities around the temple area
  • Informal sector and its implications in the structure of the city and economy
  • Creating Public spaces through Placemaking by street vending as a tool
  • Evaluation of the national policy on urban street vendors
  • Assessment of participatory approaches for Planning of Hawker’s Space
  • Assessing impact of pedestrians on the livelihood of Street Vendors
  • Integrating working and living space of street vendors

Slum/ Informal settlements

Existence of informal settlements in the urban areas is a challenging issue in urban planning. It is short-sighted and unsustainable to ignore the challenge of slums considering the large scale of slums and the number of people they house.

  • Security and slum vulnerability towards eviction
  • Transfer of Development rights as a tool for Rehabilitation of slums
  • Prioritization model for slum performance assessment
  • Tackling large agglomerations of slum areas
  • Imageability assessment of slums
  • Evaluation of weaker sections housing programs in urban areas
  • An evaluation of the Slum Improvement Project
  • Re-Development strategies for slums
  • Forward and Backward linkages of Migrants
  • Composite Vulnerability assessment of slums
  • The vulnerability of slums to livelihood security
  • Impact of residential relocation on livelihood of slum dwellers
  • Formulation of Methodology for delisting of slums
  • Street led approach for development of slums
  • Impact of perceived tenure security on slum consolidation

Housing and Real Estate

Housing is considered to be a basic human requirement of any civilized society. In order to ensure planned development of urban areas and create an enabling environment, it is important to provide affordable housing.

  • Foreign Direct Investment in real estates of suburban
  • Role of private builders in housing
  • An exploratory study of residential satisfaction and acceptance levels in public housing schemes
  • Influence of development policies on real estate market in metro areas
  • Housing preferences of IT industries: Affordability and Proximity
  • Global financial crisis and its impact on the housing sector
  • Critical evaluation of affordable housing and assessment of public and private sector agencies
  • Role of real estate agencies in urban housing development
  • Role of NGOs in urban Housing for the poor
  • Self-built housing for urban poor
  • Impact of multinational companies on real estate
  • Assessment of real estate regulatory bill for housing design
  • Role of community in financing housing infrastructure in informal settlement
  • The changing pattern of real estate in periphery areas

Inclusive Planning

Inclusive planning implies involving a fair representation of citizens providing meaningful and educated input where planners advocate for greater equity in public policies that address multiple objectives of urban planning.

  • Evaluation of pedestrian accessibility measures in neighbourhoods for the elderly
  • Inclusive neighbourhood for children
  • Planning and designing accessible public spaces for differently abled
  • Appropriateness of functionality of public spaces for the elderly
  • Integrating child-friendly cities concept into urban planning

Transport Planning

Transport Planning is required for the operation, provision and management of facilities and services for the modes of transport. It is the process of preparing policies, goals and spatial planning designs to prepare for the future needs.

  • Effect of passenger information system (PIS) on public transit ridership
  • Planning for pedestrianization of the core area
  • Concept of BRT-Strategies for Indian cities
  • Impact of IT services on public transportation
  • Traffic management plan for railway station area
  • Study of major traffic bottlenecks
  • Planning for vehicular parking in city central area
  • Role of cycle rickshaw as a feeder system to MRTS
  • Job-Housing balance as a tool to tackle traffic congestion
  • Improving the road freight movement through route optimization
  • Exploring the use of tramways as a parallel mode of public transportation
  • Urban Planning Thesis/ Research Topic Suggestions (Part 2)
  • Getting started with Thesis Writing
  • ‘Preferable’ Thesis Tenure Working for Students of ‘Bachelor of Planning’
  • Thesis Statement | Meaning, Importance, Steps and Types
  • Difference between a research paper, dissertation & thesis
  • Tips for Writing a Thesis

About The Author

phd thesis topics in urban planning

Nancy Grover

  • Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Research areas and topics

Supervision is by leading academics across the discipline and is supported by a rigorous programme of training. Here are some of the PhD topics we are keen to explore with you.

Two academics sat down having a conversation

We welcome research proposals addressing topics from across the broad range of urban studies and planning and related disciplines such as geography, sociology, international development and politics.

We are interested in innovative social research methods, and can offer supervision across a wide range of methodological and theoretical approaches. We welcome students wanting to use both qualitative and quantitative methods in their studies.

We are particularly keen to supervise PhD topics which align with our research priorities - details of potential projects are provided below. We encourage you to treat these projects as starting points for a conversation with us.  

If you find one or more project which excites you then we invite you to contact us – either direct to the proposed supervisor or through the Director of Postgraduate Research, Ryan Powell .

PhD research areas and suggested projects

  • Environment, infrastructure and sustainability
  • Housing and real estate
  • Planning, people and place
  • Urban inequalities and social justice

Related information

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PhD in City & Regional Planning

phd thesis topics in urban planning

The program

Berkeley's PhD in City & Regional Planning provides training in urban and planning theory, advanced research, and the practice of planning. Established in 1968, the program has granted more than 160 doctorates. Alums of the program have established national and international reputations as planning educators, social science researchers and theorists, policy makers, and practitioners. Today, the program is served by nearly 20 city and regional planning faculty with expertise in community and economic development, transportation planning, urban design, international development, environmental planning, and global urbanism. With close ties to numerous research centers and initiatives, the program encourages its students to develop specializations within the field of urban studies and planning and to expand their intellectual horizons through training in the related fields of architecture, landscape architecture and environmental planning, civil engineering, anthropology, geography, sociology, public policy, public health, and political science.

Completing a PhD in City & Regional Planning at UC Berkeley usually takes five years. The university requires all doctoral students to fulfill a minimum residency requirement of two years and 48 units of coursework. Full-time students are expected to take four courses, or 12 units, per semester. For the PhD in City & Regional Planning, students must complete various program requirements, including courses in planning and urban theory; research methods courses; and preparation and completion of two fields of specialization. They must also successfully complete an oral qualifying examination, which allows them to advance to candidacy and undertake dissertation research. A PhD is awarded upon completion of a written dissertation approved by the faculty supervisors of the dissertation.

The PhD program encourages its students to build intellectual community and to participate in national and international venues of scholarship. Doctoral candidates regularly present their research at the annual conferences of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, Association of American Geographers, Association of European Schools of Planning, World Planning Schools Congress, Urban Affairs Association, and American Anthropological Association. They organize and participate in a weekly research colloquium and manage the Berkeley Planning Journal , a peer-reviewed academic publication. Such activities utilize the incredible intellectual resources available to doctoral students at UC Berkeley, both within their departments and programs and across the campus.

Financial Aid + Admissions

Admission to the PhD program is highly competitive. Applicants are required to have completed a master's degree in planning or a related field. They are expected to demonstrate capacity for advanced research and to present a compelling research topic as part of their application. Once admitted to the program, students are eligible to compete for various university fellowships, including the Berkeley Fellowship, Cota-Robles Fellowship, and the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship. Students of the program have also been successful in securing funding for dissertation research from the National Science Foundation, Social Science Research Council, and the Fulbright scholarships.

The Department of City & Regional Planning and UC Berkeley offer multiple types of financial support to its graduate students.

Please note that admission decisions are not made by individual faculty, but rather an admissions committee. Our PhD admissions process begins with three initial reviews of your application: the two faculty members you list as preferred advisors and one member of the PhD admission committee. The admission committee then meets to review all applications as a cohort and make admission/denial decisions. More information can be found on the department admissions page .

The principal admission requirements to the doctoral program in City & Regional Planning are overall excellence in past academic work and research, demonstrated creativity and intellectual leadership in professional activity, and the strong promise of sustained intellectual achievement, originality, and scholarship. The emphasis in the doctoral program is upon scholarship and research. At the same time, because the doctorate is offered in the context of a professional school, doctoral students are challenged to undertake applied research relevant to city and regional planning and policy problems. If you do not want to teach in planning or a related field, or to do advanced research, please reconsider applying to this program. Most doctoral students enter the program with a master’s degree in planning or a related field. The Master of City Planning is regarded as a terminal professional degree, and is not comparable to mid-study Master of Arts or Master of Science degrees offered in anticipation of the doctorate.

Admission to the doctoral program is very competitive. Only six to eight students are admitted each year, sometimes from a pool of as many as 80 applicants. For all applicants to the doctoral program (even those required to take an English-language competency exam (TOEFL, TOEFL CBT, iBT TOEFL, or IELTS) the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is optional; although prospective students who choose to take the GRE should do so before December to ensure timely receipt of scores. Applicants must also secure at least three letters of recommendation that can explicitly evaluate their intellectual capability and past research and academic work.

Please note that admission decisions are not made by individual faculty, but rather an admissions committee. DCRP’s PhD admissions process begins with three initial reviews of your application: the two faculty members you list as preferred advisors and one member of the PhD admission committee. The admission committee then meets to review all applications as a cohort and make admission/denial decisions.

Many PhD students choose to pursue one or more of the designated emphases (DEs) offered through programs across campus. These DEs are unrelated to the outside field required by the City & Regional Planning PhD, and can be thought of instead as elective “minors” which provide opportunities for focused interdisciplinary work, mentorship, conference funding, research fellowships and an extra credential along with the doctoral degree. Common DEs pursued by DCRP PhD students include:

  • Global Metropolitan Studies (GMS)
  • Science and Technology Studies (STS)
  • Development Engineering (DevEng)
  • Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGS)
  • Political Economy
  • Film & Media
  • Critical Theory

For more information on the PhD in City & Regional Planning program, contact [email protected] .

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Home > School, College, or Department > CUPA > USP > Dissertations and Theses

Urban Studies and Planning Dissertations and Theses

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

E Hui me ke Kaiāulu: To Connect with the Community , Heather Kayleen Bartlett (Thesis)

The Affective Discourses of Eviction: Right to Counsel in New York City , Hadley Savana Bates (Thesis)

A Just Futures Framework: Insurgent Roller-Skating in Portland, Oregon , Célia Camile Beauchamp (Thesis)

Factors Affecting Community Rating System Participation in the National Flood Insurance Program: A Case Study of Texas , Ryan David Eddings (Dissertation)

LEED Buildings and Green Gentrification: Portland as a Case Study , Jordan Macintosh (Thesis)

Wasted Space , Ryan Martyn (Thesis)

The Use and Influence of Health Indicators in Municipal Transportation Plans , Kelly Christine Rodgers (Dissertation)

Uncovering the Nuance and Complexity of Gentrification in Asian Immigrant Communities: A Case Study of Koreatown, Los Angeles , Seyoung Sung (Dissertation)

Defining Dementia-Friendly Communities From the Perspective of Those Affected , Iris Alexandra Wernher (Dissertation)

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Heat, Wildfire and Energy Demand: An Examination of Residential Buildings and Community Equity , Chrissi Argyro Antonopoulos (Dissertation)

The Connections Between Innovation, Culture, and Expertise in Water Infrastructure Organizations , Alice Brawley-Chesworth (Dissertation)

The New Shiny Penny? Regenerative Agriculture Beliefs and Practices Among Portland's Urban Agriculturalists , Melia Ann Chase (Thesis)

Fortunate People in a Fortunate Land: Dwelling and Residential Alienation in Santa Monica's Rent-Controlled Housing , Lauren E.M. Everett (Dissertation)

In Favor of Bringing Game Theory into Urban Studies and Planning Curriculum: Reintroducing an Underused Method for the Next Generation of Urban Scholars , Brian McDonald Gardner (Thesis)

Transportation Mode Choice Behavior in the Era of Autonomous Vehicles: The Application of Discrete Choice Modeling and Machine Learning , Sangwan Lee (Dissertation)

An Analysis of the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Tulsa Remote Program, As an Effective Economic Development Strategy , Kristen J. Padilla (Thesis)

Geographies of Urban Unsafety: Homeless Women, Mental Maps, and Isolation , Jan Radle Roberson (Dissertation)

The Impact of New Light Rail Service on Employment Growth in Portland, Oregon , Lahar Santra (Thesis)

Examining Emergency Citizen Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Emergent Groups Addressing Food Insecurity in Portland, Oregon , Aliza Ruth Tuttle (Thesis)

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Nature-Based Solutions in Environmental Planning: Ecosystem-Based Adaptations, Green Infrastructures, and Ecosystem Services to Promote Diversity in Urban Landscapes , Lorena Alves Carvalho Nascimento (Dissertation)

Gas Stations and the Wealth Divide: Analyzing Spatial Correlations Between Wealth and Fuel Branding , Jean-Carl Ende (Thesis)

'There are No Bathrooms Available!': How Older Adults Experiencing Houselessness Manage their Daily Activities , Ellis Jourdan Hews (Thesis)

The Mode Less Traveled: Exploring Bicyclist Identity in Portland, OR , Christopher Johnson (Thesis)

The Soniferous Experience of Public Space: A Soundscape Approach , Kenya DuBois Williams (Dissertation)

Short-term and Long-term Effects of New Light Rail Transit Service on Transit Ridership and Traffic Congestion at Two Geographical Levels , Huajie Yang (Dissertation)

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Waste Management in the Global South: an Inquiry on the Patterns of Plastic and Waste Material Flows in Colombo, Sri Lanka , Katie Ann Conlon (Dissertation)

Unpacking the Process and Outcomes of Ethical Markets: a Focus on Certified B Corporations , Renée Bogin Curtis (Dissertation)

The Persistence of Indigenous Markets in Mexico's 'Supermarket Revolution' , Diana Christina Denham (Dissertation)

The Electronic Hardware Music Subculture in Portland, Oregon , James Andrew Hickey (Thesis)

"I Should Have Moved Somewhere Else": the Impacts of Gentrification on Transportation and Social Support for Black Working-Poor Families in Portland, Oregon , Steven Anthony Howland (Dissertation)

The Impacts of the Bicycle Network on Bicycling Activity: a Longitudinal Multi-City Approach , Wei Shi (Dissertation)

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

"Poverty Wages Are Not Fresh, Local, or Sustainable": Building Worker Power by Organizing Around (Re)production in Portland's "Sustainable" Food Industry , Amy Katherine Rose Coplen (Dissertation)

Manufacturing in Place: Industrial Preservation in the US , Jamaal William Green (Dissertation)

Can Churches Change a Neighborhood? A Census Tract, Multilevel Analysis of Churches and Neighborhood Change , David E. Kresta (Dissertation)

An Examination of Non-waged Labor and Local Food Movement Growth in the Southern Appalachians , Amy Kathryn Marion (Thesis)

Making Imaginaries: Identity, Value, and Place in the Maker Movement in Detroit and Portland , Stephen Joseph Marotta (Dissertation)

Recognizing and Addressing Risk Ambiguity in Sea Level Rise Adaptation Planning: a Case Study of Miami-Dade County, Florida , Mary Ann Rozance (Dissertation)

The Impact of Implementing Different Cordon Size Designs on Land Use Patterns in Portland, OR , Asia Spilotros (Dissertation)

Gentrification and Student Achievement: a Quantitative Analysis of Student Performance on Standardized Tests in Portland's Gentrifying Neighborhoods , Justin Joseph Ward (Thesis)

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Environmental Justice in Natural Disaster Mitigation Policy and Planning: a Case Study of Flood Risk Management in Johnson Creek, Portland, Oregon , Seong Yun Cho (Dissertation)

Our Town: Articulating Place Meanings and Attachments in St. Johns Using Resident-Employed Photography , Lauren Elizabeth Morrow Everett (Thesis)

Millennial Perceptions on Homeownership and Financial Planning Decisions , Margaret Ann Greenfield (Thesis)

Utilitarian Skateboarding: Insight into an Emergent Mode of Mobility , Michael Joseph Harpool (Thesis)

Consciousness Against Commodifcation: the Potential for a Radical Housing Movement in the Cully Neighborhood , Cameron Hart Herrington (Thesis)

News Work: the Impact of Corporate Newsroom Culture on News Workers & Community Reporting , Carey Lynne Higgins-Dobney (Dissertation)

Recent Advances in Activity-Based Travel Demand Models for Greater Flexibility , Kihong Kim (Dissertation)

An Analysis of the BizX Commercial Trade Exchange: the Attitudes and Motivations Behind Its Use , Ján André Montoya (Thesis)

Between a Rock and a Hot Place: Economic Development and Climate Change Adaptation in Vietnam , Khanh Katherine Pham (Thesis)

Neighborhood Economic Impacts of Contemporary Art Centers , Steve Van Eck (Closed Thesis)

Urban Geocomputation: Two Studies on Urban Form and its Role in Altering Climate , Jackson Lee Voelkel (Thesis)

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Explaining Unequal Transportation Outcomes in a Gentrifying City: the Example of Portland, Oregon , Eugenio Arriaga Cordero (Dissertation)

Identifying Clusters of Non-Farm Activity within Exclusive Farm Use Zones in the Northern Willamette Valley , Nicholas Chun (Thesis)

Drivers' Attitudes and Behaviors Toward Bicyclists: Intermodal Interactions and Implications for Road Safety , Tara Beth Goddard (Dissertation)

Grassroots Resistance in the Sustainable City: Portland Harbor Superfund Site Contamination, Cleanup, and Collective Action , Erin Katherine Goodling (Dissertation)

Responsible Pet Ownership: Dog Parks and Demographic Change in Portland, Oregon , Matthew Harris (Thesis)

The Tension between Technocratic and Social Values in Environmental Decision-making: An'Yang Stream Restoration in South Korea , Chang-Yu Hong (Dissertation)

Regulating Pavement Dwellers: the Politics of the Visibly Poor in Public Space , Lauren Marie Larin (Dissertation)

Making Software, Making Regions: Labor Market Dualization, Segmentation, and Feminization in Austin, Portland and Seattle , Dillon Mahmoudi (Dissertation)

Knowing Nature in the City: Comparative Analysis of Knowledge Systems Challenges Along the 'Eco-Techno' Spectrum of Green Infrastructure in Portland & Baltimore , Annie Marissa Matsler (Dissertation)

Assessing the Impact of Land Use and Travel on Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Portland, Oregon , Zakari Mumuni (Thesis)

Trade-offs: the Production of Sustainability in Households , Kirstin Marie Elizabeth Munro (Dissertation)

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

The Kazaks of Istanbul: A Case of Social Cohesion, Economic Breakdown and the Search for a Moral Economy , Daniel Marc Auger (Thesis)

Citizen-led Urban Agriculture and the Politics of Spatial Reappropriation in Montreal, Quebec , Claire Emmanuelle Bach (Thesis)

Travel Mode Choice Framework Incorporating Realistic Bike and Walk Routes , Joseph Broach (Dissertation)

Cyclist Path Choices Through Shared Space Intersections in England , Allison Boyce Duncan (Dissertation)

Star Academics: Do They Garner Increasing Returns? , James Jeffrey Kline (Dissertation)

Configuring the Urban Smart Grid: Transitions, Experimentation, and Governance , Anthony Michael Levenda (Dissertation)

The Effects of Frequency of Social Interaction, Social Cohesion, Age, and the Built Environment on Walking , Gretchen Allison Luhr (Dissertation)

The Village Market: New Columbia Goes Shopping for Food Justice , Jane Therese Waddell (Dissertation)

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Developing Key Sustainability Competencies through Real-World Learning Experiences: Evaluating Community Environmental Services , Erin Lorene Anderson (Thesis)

Beyond Fruit: Examining Community in a Community Orchard , Emily Jane Becker (Thesis)

Challenges, Experiences, and Future Directions of Senior Centers Serving the Portland Metropolitan Area , Melissa Lynn Cannon (Dissertation)

Building Social Sustainability from the Ground Up: The Contested Social Dimension of Sustainability in Neighborhood-Scale Urban Regeneration in Portland, Copenhagen, and Nagoya , Jacklyn Nicole Kohon (Dissertation)

The Effects of Urban Containment Policies on Commuting Patterns , Sung Moon Kwon (Dissertation)

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Attitudes: An Exploration of a Landscape of Choices , Mersiha Spahic McClaren (Dissertation)

The Impact of Communication Impairments on the Social Relationships of Older Adults , Andrew Demetrius Palmer (Dissertation)

The Scales and Shapes of Queer Women's Geographies: Mapping Private, Public and Cyber Spaces in Portland, OR , Paola Renata Saldaña (Thesis)

Caring for the Land, Serving People: Creating a Multicultural Forest Service in the Civil Rights Era , Donna Lynn Sinclair (Dissertation)

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Determinants of Recent Mover Non-work Travel Mode Choice , Arlie Steven Adkins (Dissertation)

Changing the Face of the Earth: The Morrison-­Knudsen Corporation as Partner to the U.S. Federal Government , Christopher S. Blanchard (Dissertation)

Participation, Information, Values, and Community Interests Within Health Impact Assessments , Nicole Iroz-Elardo (Dissertation)

The Objective vs. the Perceived Environment: What Matters for Active Travel , Liang Ma (Dissertation)

Implications of Local and Regional Food Systems: Toward a New Food Economy in Portland, Oregon , Michael Mercer Mertens (Dissertation)

Spirituality and Religion in Women's Leadership for Sustainable Development in Crisis Conditions: The Case of Burma , Phyusin Myo Kyaw Myint (Dissertation)

Street Level Food Networks: Understanding Ethnic Food Cart Supply Chains in Eastern Portland, OR , Alexander G. Novie (Thesis)

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Diffusion of Energy Efficient Technology in Commercial Buildings: An Analysis of the Commercial Building Partnerships Program , Chrissi Argyro Antonopoulos (Thesis)

Faulty Measurements and Shaky Tools: An Exploration into Hazus and the Seismic Vulnerabilities of Portland, OR , Brittany Ann Brannon (Thesis)

Sustainable, Affordable Housing for Older Adults: A Case Study of Factors that Affect Development in Portland, Oregon , Alan Kenneth DeLaTorre (Dissertation)

The Historical, Political, Social, and Individual Factors That Have Influenced the Development of Aging and Disability Resource Centers and Options Counseling , Sheryl DeJoy Elliott (Thesis)

Neighborhood Identity and Sustainability: A Comparison Study of Two Neighborhoods in Portland, Oregon , Zachary Lawrence Hathaway (Thesis)

Neighborhood Commercial Corridor Change: Portland, Oregon 1990-2010 , Kelly Ann Howsley-Glover (Dissertation)

Public Space and Urban Life: A Spatial Ethnography of a Portland Plaza , Katrina Leigh Johnston (Thesis)

Green Mind Gray Yard: Micro Scale Assessment of Ecosystem Services , Erin Jolene Kirkpatrick (Thesis)

The Impacts of Urban Renewal: The Residents' Experiences in Qianmen, Beijing, China , Yongxia Kou (Dissertation)

The Dynamics of Creating Strong Democracy in Portland, Oregon : 1974 to 2013 , Paul Roland Leistner (Dissertation)

Neighboring in Strip City: A Situational Analysis of Strip Clubs, Land Use Conflict, and Occupational Health in Portland, Oregon , Moriah McSharry McGrath (Dissertation)

Bicycle Traffic Count Factoring: An Examination of National, State and Locally Derived Daily Extrapolation Factors , Josh Frank Roll (Thesis)

Forming a New Art in the Pacific Northwest: Studio Glass in the Puget Sound Region, 1970-2003 , Marianne Ryder (Dissertation)

Peak of the Day or the Daily Grind: Commuting and Subjective Well-Being , Oliver Blair Smith (Dissertation)

The Metropolitan Dimensions of United States Immigration Policy: A Theoretical and Comparative Analysis , Nicole G. Toussaint (Dissertation)

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Home » Blog » Dissertation » Topics » Architecture » Urban Planning » 80 Urban Planning Research Topics

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80 Urban Planning Research Topics

FacebookXEmailWhatsAppRedditPinterestLinkedInGreetings! We are pleased to offer a valuable resource for students venturing into the fascinating world of urban planning research. Our comprehensive list of research topics in urban planning is designed to guide and inspire those pursuing undergraduate, master’s, or doctoral degrees on their academic journey. Urban planning is a dynamic field that shapes the […]

urban planning research topics

Greetings! We are pleased to offer a valuable resource for students venturing into the fascinating world of urban planning research. Our comprehensive list of research topics in urban planning is designed to guide and inspire those pursuing undergraduate, master’s, or doctoral degrees on their academic journey.

Urban planning is a dynamic field that shapes the future of cities and communities, addressing critical issues such as sustainable development, transportation, housing, and public spaces. Dive into our curated selection of compelling research topics and discover avenues for exploring the intricate balance between functionality, aesthetics, and the well-being of urban dwellers. Your thesis or dissertation journey starts here, where endless possibilities await your exploration in the exciting world of urban planning.

A List Of Potential Research Topics In Urban Planning:

  • Evolving retail and commercial spaces: urban planning strategies for supporting local businesses and redefining retail districts.
  • Community-based disaster risk reduction in urban slums.
  • Urban green spaces and mental well-being: assessing the role of parks and nature in urban resilience.
  • The role of artificial intelligence in future urban planning.
  • Urban heat island mitigation through green roofs and cool pavements.
  • Reducing urban waste generation: policies and practices.
  • E-governance and citizen engagement in urban planning processes.
  • The role of green infrastructure in urban resilience: a case study of a metropolis.
  • Urban traffic congestion management and sustainable transport.
  • The pedestrianization of city centres: the transformation of Cardiff’s urban space.
  • Sustainable water management in urban areas: balancing supply and demand.
  • Enhancing public spaces for social interaction and community engagement.
  • Integrating digital marketing strategies in urban planning: enhancing community engagement, accessibility, and sustainable development.
  • Urban renewal and preservation of historic architecture.
  • Urban green infrastructure planning for climate adaptation.
  • The revitalization of urban waterfronts: lessons from global cities.
  • The effects of air pollution on urban health and well-being.
  • Urban land use planning for disaster risk reduction.
  • Innovative approaches to affordable housing in high-density cities.
  • Community engagement in urban development: a review of participatory approaches and their outcomes.
  • Urban crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED).
  • Promoting active transportation in Bristol: analyzing the impact of cycling infrastructure.
  • The impact of Airbnb on housing affordability in urban centres.
  • Revitalizing urban waterfronts for recreational and economic benefits.
  • Remote work and urban planning: impacts on urban design, land use, and transportation patterns.
  • Transit-oriented development and sustainable urban mobility.
  • Mixed-use development and creating vibrant urban centres.
  • Urban transport equity and accessibility for vulnerable populations.
  • The role of urban parks and open spaces in enhancing the quality of life.
  • Urbanization and urban agriculture: balancing food production and urban growth.
  • The revitalization of historic districts in Edinburgh: balancing preservation and development.
  • Urban planning for informal settlement upgrading.
  • Smart cities and urban planning: a literature review of technology integration and sustainable development.
  • Adaptive urban planning for sea-level rise and coastal erosion.
  • Digital urban infrastructure: harnessing technology for smart cities and efficient service delivery.
  • Urbanization and water scarcity: innovations in water resource management.
  • Inclusive urban design for people with disabilities.
  • Affordable housing policies in urban planning: a comparative review of international best practices.
  • Participatory urban planning: engaging communities in decision-making.
  • Urban gentrification and its socioeconomic implications.
  • Housing affordability strategies for growing urban populations.
  • Synergy of architecture and urban planning: designing sustainable and livable urban spaces.
  • Revitalization of abandoned urban areas: strategies and case studies.
  • Sustainable tourism planning in coastal cities: the case of Brighton and Hove.
  • Historic preservation and cultural heritage in urban planning: lessons from global case studies.
  • Urban green spaces and health: an integrated review of research on the benefits of accessible natural areas.
  • Post-industrial urban redevelopment in Sheffield: challenges and successes.
  • Transportation planning and traffic management: a critical review of approaches to alleviate urban congestion.
  • Resilient urban health infrastructure: strategies for enhancing public health preparedness and healthcare delivery.
  • Urban agriculture and urban planning integration for sustainability.
  • Urbanization and its impact on biodiversity conservation.
  • Innovative approaches to sustainable urban mobility.
  • The circular economy and its application in urban development.
  • Urban resilience and climate adaptation: a review of strategies for building sustainable and disaster-resistant cities.
  • Promoting walkability and active transportation in urban neighbourhoods.
  • Urban food security: strategies for sustainable local food systems.
  • Smart cities and the integration of IoT in urban planning.
  • Adapting urban mobility to post-pandemic realities: exploring sustainable transportation solutions in a changed urban landscape.
  • Equitable access to urban services: addressing disparities exposed by the pandemic in housing, healthcare, and education.
  • Urban design principles for age-friendly cities.
  • Urban noise pollution control and mitigation measures.
  • Mixed-use development projects: a critical review of design principles and economic impacts.
  • Urban disaster preparedness and resilience strategies.
  • Urban development and socioeconomic inequalities: a case study.
  • Post-pandemic urban regeneration: revitalizing depleted urban areas through innovative planning and development.
  • Urban resilience and adaptive governance: lessons from COVID-19 for building resilient cities.
  • Public space design and social interaction: a review of urban planning strategies in diverse communities.
  • Reimagining public spaces for social distancing: redesigning urban parks, plazas, and streetscapes.
  • A comprehensive review of gentrification and urban regeneration: analyzing the effects and equity considerations.
  • The role of arts and culture in revitalizing urban spaces.
  • Transforming brownfields into sustainable urban spaces: challenges and opportunities.
  • Sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) for flood control.
  • Urban air quality management and pollution control.
  • Urban informality and slum upgrading initiatives.
  • Green infrastructure implementation in Birmingham: enhancing urban resilience and biodiversity.
  • Gender-inclusive urban planning: creating safe and accessible spaces.
  • Resilient urban infrastructure in the face of climate change.
  • Adaptive reuse of industrial heritage sites for cultural and economic regeneration.
  • Urban greenways and their contribution to sustainable cities.
  • Affordable housing policies and strategies in urban planning.

In conclusion, this curated list of urban planning research topics offers valuable directions for students at all academic levels. From sustainability to social dynamics, these topics provide a roadmap to explore the complexities of urban development. Whether pursuing an undergraduate, master’s, or doctoral degree, engaging with these subjects contributes to shaping the future of our cities and communities, enriching both academic discourse and real-world urban environments.

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Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Urban Planning, Policy and Design

The Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Planning, Policy and Design aims to prepare students for interdisciplinary research and teaching on the management of urban development as well as for leadership in the design and evaluation of urban policies and plans for cities in North America and the world. The program will focus on five identified areas of urban planning (land use planning and urban design; environmental planning; transportation planning; international development planning; real estate and economic development). Students are expected to spend the first two years of study taking courses, preparing for their comprehensive examination and writing their dissertation proposal. The remaining two (or more) years are spent conducting research and writing a thesis.

Required Courses (9 credits)

Every student must take courses worth at least 18 credits. Only one reading course can be included in this minimum requirement. The Advisory Committee may raise the requirement up to 24 credits (up to 36 credits for students entering as Ph.D. 1) in order to meet the specific needs of the student. With approval of their committee, students may elect to take a larger number of courses than is required, but in no case will the number of credits exceed thirty unless the student enters the program in Ph.D.1.

Offered by: Urban Planning ( Faculty of Engineering )

Administered by: Graduate Studies

Urban Planning : A review of planning history and theories of planning. These are examined under three categories: explanation of urban phenomena, substantive theory, and theories of process.

Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.

Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.

Urban Planning : Presentation of comprehensive review papers covering material central to the student's dissertation research, with an oral defense before an Advisory Committee.

Urban Planning : Exploration of concepts and methods pertinent to the development of the dissertation project proposal and comprehensive exam reading list.

Restriction(s): Not open to students who have taken URBP 702 .

Urban Planning : Discussion of selected topics in theory and methodology with continued development of dissertation project proposal and comprehensive exam reading list.

Prerequisite: URBP 703

Urban Planning : Preparation of a detailed dissertation research proposal, with an oral defense before an Advisory Committee.

Prerequisite: URBP 701

Restriction(s): Not open to students who have taken URBP 705 .

Complementary Courses (6 credits)

3 credits in advanced research methods at the 600 level or higher. It may be taken in any academic unit at McGill or another university, subject to the approval of the Graduate Program or School Director.

3 credits in advanced theory at the 600 level or higher. It may be taken at McGill or at another university and must be approved by the Graduate Program or School Director.

Elective Courses (3 credits)

Minimum 3 credits at the 500 level or higher,, or more if the Advisory Committee so decides.

These credits may be taken in any academic unit at McGill or at another university, subject to the approval of the Advisory Committee.

The Advisory Committee may require that the number of electives be increased to improve the student's preparation in certain areas. Other courses, at the 500 level or higher, may be added with the approval of the Advisory Committee. In general, students will be asked to limit their elective coursework to 9 credits. In no case will they be allowed to take more than 15 credits in elective courses.

Up to two reading courses may be taken and only one may be included in the minimum 18 credits of course work. A reading course is taken when no appropriate course is available and is (at least) equivalent to a 3-credit course in terms of work load. Procedures for reading courses are outlined in the Reading Course guidelines.

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phd thesis topics in urban planning

  • Articles , Special Edition Articles , Thesis

Best thesis topics for Urban Planning and Design

  • January 8, 2022
  • urban design terminology , urban design theory , Urban design thesis , urban glosary , Urban Planning , urban research

Best thesis topics for Urban Planning

Once you enter the final year of your postgraduate study in urban design. Each student’s postgraduate architecture thesis project is a chance to demonstrate their creativity and ability. We’ve compiled a list of Best thesis topics for Urban Planning and design to assist you in choosing a topic for your research project. This section contains the best and most relevant topics related to urban design projects for your knowledge and understanding of new trends in urban design.

Urban design thesis topics list:

  • Urban aesthetics and new trends in urban design
  • Eco-friendly development.
  • 3D Pedestrian Flow Modeling.
  • Sensing, Monitoring, Modeling and Adapting the Urban Micro Climate.
  • Deconstructing Eisenman: Cultural presemantic theory and social realism
  • Modern and historical landscapes.
  • Discourses of Futility: Expressionism in the works of Archigram.
  • Sub dialectic desemanticism and constructivism in the works.
  • Sub constructivism and De-objectivism: Crucifying the cross.

Best thesis topics for Urban Planning

Source:  Architecture renewal in relationship to public space as a catalyst for urban regeneration :: Future Architecture (futurearchitectureplatform.org)

  • Waste as a Resource – Urban Metabolism.
  • 3D Indoor space analysis for way finding.
  • The Urban Heat Island (UHI).
  • Campus Project.
  • The mobility of People.
  • Optimal Cycling Infrastructure.
  • Solar Energy Potential Calculation.
  • New design methodologies.
  • Preservation methods of architectural heritage.
  • Urban property and regeneration.
  • Building multicultural cities

Best thesis topics for Urban Planning and Design 2

Source: Studio Wessendorf – Urban Development – Hannover City 2020+ (studio-wessendorf.de)

Urban design and health.

Spatial changes in big cities.

Design of infrastructure as a reflection of public policy.

Coding the urban form

Designing density: increasing functionality through flexibility in family neighborhoods.

Resurgent Networks of cities.

Suburban Revisions.

Urban design in the wake of deindustrialization.

Urban Mobility: Transference and Public Transit.

The role of technology in changing how a city works.

Open exhibitions.

Modern Marketplace.

When is a design labeled as intrusive?

Is architecture about creativity or economy?

Should heights correspond with surrounding buildings?

Are there natural alternatives to lighting signage?

How to identify utility facilities in an eco-friendly manner.

Urban Street Design.

Best thesis topics for Urban Planning and Design 4

Source: Gallery of ‘Shenyang International Automobile City’ Winning Proposal / SBA International – 6 (archdaily.com)

Vestiges of urban spirit Isfahan’s urban fabric through socio-spatial transformations.

Critical Soviet Design: Senezh studio and the utopian imagination in late socialism.

A marketing design approach to destination development.

Separations in Multi vocality: Reconfiguring Dialogue through Design.

Suburban Navigation Structural Coherence and Visual Appearance in Urban Design.

URBAN SEGREGATION AND URBAN FORM From residential segregation to segregation in public space.

Evolving Urban Culture in Transforming Cities Architectural and Urban Design in a Fluid Context.

Light Design: Outdoor Urban Public Places – Urban Lighting: Design and Technologies.

  • Sustainable Economic Urban Fringe Plan for an Internationally Important Trade Center
  • Planning Interventions to address industrial Disparity,
  • Change in Agricultural Pattern And Impact On the cities
  • Potential for Eco-Tourism Development.
  • Spatial Transformation through Agriculture.
  • Impact of Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises on Regional Development:

Best thesis topics for Urban Planning and Design 6

Source: Gallery of Vancouver to Buy Old Rail Corridor for Future Public Greenway – 1 (archdaily.com)

Port and Port City Development in an Economically Emerging Coastal Region.

  • Integrated Rural Cluster Action Plan for Agricultural Development.
  • Impact of mining on Regional Development.
  • Transformation of Villages under Urban Influence.
  • Water Resource Management in a Drought Prone regions.
  • Selection and Strategies formulation for modal villages.
  • Planning Implications of Highway Corridor on Levels of Development and Settlement Pattern.
  • Impact of Religious Tourism in Regional Development.
  • Role of Agro- based industries in Regional Development.
  • Legality and Illegality in Urban Fringe Development.
  • Fiscal Decentralisation and Millennium Development Goals.
  • Uncommon Ground : Urban Form and Social Territory
  • Data-Driven Approaches for Traffic State and Emission Estimation
  • Nature-Based Solutions in Environmental Planning: Ecosystem-Based Adaptations, Green Infrastructures, and Ecosystem Services to Promote Diversity in Urban Landscapes.
  • Short-term and Long-term Effects of New Light Rail Transit Service on Transit Ridership and Traffic Congestion at Two Geographical Levels
  • Waste Management in the Global South: an Inquiry on the Patterns of Plastic and Waste Material Flows.
  • The Impacts of the Bicycle Network on Bicycling Activity: a Longitudinal Multi-City Approach,

Best thesis topics for Urban Planning and Design 8

Source: Postareal Kiel — CROSS Architecture | Architekturbüro | Aachen & Amsterdam (cross-architecture.net)

Impact of government policies and initiatives (most recent) on urban land use

Impact of urban sprawl on provision of public services

Implications of airport expansion on the surrounding areas

Assessing linkage between the parent city and satellite town

Planning for sustainable neighbourhood

Assessing the liveability in the residential areas of IT parks

Changes in building bye-laws and its implications on urban development

Planning implications of highway corridor on settlement pattern

Socio-economic impact assessment of metro rail

Impact of urban expansion on small towns

Role of International aid in urban poverty alleviation

Impact of urbanization on land use in the rural-urban fringe

Evolving a mechanism for public participation in urban planning and implementation

Role of urban local bodies (ULBs) in urban governance

Quality of life assessment in residential areas

  • GIS modelling of Land Information System
  • Urban Growth Modelling in GIS
  • Urban Sprawl Pattern analysis using GIS
  • Role of GIS in revenue improvement
  • Municipal Information System using GIS in Property Tax Management
  • Application of GIS for property tax Geo-Spatial Information System Based Model for Micro-Level 
  • Integration of land records to GIS, a model for municipal application 
  • Application of GIS Technology in Watershed management
  • Use of the Geo-Informatics in land suitability analysis for Industrial Development
  • Integrated public transportation systems using GIS

Best thesis topics for Urban Planning and Design 10

Source: Fountain City (archi.ru)

Tourism Potentiality of pilgrim centres

Impact of Tourism on Rural Livelihood

Water tourism: An Exploration of the Role of Inland Water Transport in Tourism Development

Strategies for Heritage Tourism Development

Strategies for Ecotourism Development

Potential of Community based Ecotourism

Tourism Development Plan for Inter State Border Conflict areas

Spatiotemporal movement patterns of international tourists

Potential of Urban Wetlands for Ecotourism Development

Impact of Religious Tourism in Regional Development

Planning for tourism circuit

Impact of tourism on the development of Local Areas

Eco-Tourism development strategies for Coastal Town

Impact of Ecotourism on Local Community

Impact of tourism on district development

Best thesis topics for Urban Planning and Design 12

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Department of Urban Studies and Planning

The Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) offers four degree programs: a Bachelor of Science in Planning; a two-year professional Master in City Planning (MCP); a one-year Master of Science in Urban Studies and Planning (reserved for mid-career students); and a PhD in Urban Studies and Planning. In addition, DUSP has other, nondegree programs and affiliations: the Special Program in Urban and Regional Studies (for mid-career professionals from developing countries); the Community Innovators Lab ; the Center for Advanced Urbanism ; and the SENSEable City Lab . Once students are admitted and enrolled at MIT, it is possible to apply for certificate programs in urban design (offered jointly with the Department of Architecture) or environmental planning.

City and regional planners in the United States and other parts of the world are involved not only in physical and economic development, but also in management of the environmental, social, and design consequences of development. They engage in a variety of activities aimed at shaping the forms and patterns of human settlements, and at providing people with housing, public services, employment opportunities, and other crucial support systems that comprise a decent living environment. Planning encompasses not just a concern for the structure and experience of the built environment, but also a desire to harness the social, economic, political, and technological forces that give meaning to the everyday lives of men and women in residential, work, and recreational settings. Planners operate at the neighborhood, metropolitan, state, national, or international level, in both the public and the private sectors. Their tasks are the same: to help frame the issues and problems that receive attention; to formulate and implement projects, programs, and policies responsive to individual and group needs; and to work with and for various communities in allocating economic and physical resources most efficiently and most equitably.

Planners are often described as "generalists with a specialty." The specialties offered at MIT include city design and development; housing, community, and economic development; international development; and environmental policy and planning, as well as cross-cutting opportunities to study urban information systems, multi-regional systems, and mobility systems. These planning specialties can be distinguished by the geographic levels at which decision making takes place—neighborhood, city, regional, state, national, and global. Subspecialties have also been described in terms of the roles that planners are called upon to play, such as manager, designer, regulator, advocate, educator, evaluator, or futurist.

A focus on the development of practice-related skills is central to the department's mission, particularly for students in the MCP professional degree program. Acquiring these skills and integrating them with classroom knowledge are advanced through the department's field-based practicum subjects and research, and through internship programs. In fieldwork, students acquire competence by engaging in practice and then bringing field experiences back into the academic setting for reflection and discussion. Students may work with community organizations, government agencies, or private firms under the direction of faculty members involved in field-based projects with outside clients. In some cases, stipends may be available for fieldwork or internship programs. The Department of Urban Studies and Planning is committed to educating planners who can advocate on behalf of underrepresented constituencies.

During the month of January, the department offers a series of "mini-subjects" in specialized fields not covered by the regular curriculum, including both noncredit and for-credit offerings.

Specific opportunities for concentration and specialization available to students are detailed in the descriptions of the degree programs that follow.

Bachelor of Science in Planning (Course 11)

Urban science and planning with computer science (course 11-6), five-year sb-mcp option, minor in urban studies and planning, minor in international development, minor in public policy, hass concentrations, undergraduate study.

The Department of Urban Studies and Planning offers a Bachelor of Science in Planning; HASS Minors in Urban Studies and Planning, International Development, and Public Policy; and a variety of HASS concentrations. There is also an accelerated SB/MCP program which allows exceptional students to complete their undergraduate and master's degree work in five years.

In addition, DUSP also hosts MIT's Teacher Education Program (TEP), described under Career and Professional Options in the Undergraduate Education section. TEP provides an option for students interested in exploring new ideas in teaching and learning as applied to K-12 schools. Studies in TEP can also lead to licensure in math or science teaching at the high school or middle school levels.

The Department of Urban Studies and Planning offers an interdisciplinary preprofessional undergraduate major designed to prepare students for careers in both the public and private sectors. The major also provides a foundation for students who are considering graduate work in law, public policy, international development, urban design, management, and planning. The subjects in the major teach students how the tools of economics, policy analysis, political science, and urban design can be used to solve social and environmental problems in the United States and abroad. In addition, students learn the skills and responsibilities of planners who seek to promote effective and equitable social change.

After satisfying the core requirements, students use their electives to pursue a specific track. We suggest one of the following, but will accept self-designed options to better meet a student's interest: urban and environmental policy and planning; urban society, history, and politics; or urban and regional public policy. The required laboratory emphasizes urban information systems and offers skills for measurement, representation, and analysis of urban phenomena. In the laboratory subject, students also explore the ways emerging technology can be used to improve government decision making.

Students are encouraged to develop a program that will strengthen their analytic skills, broaden their intellectual perspectives, and test these insights in real-world applications. Students must complete a senior project that synthesizes what they have learned. This project may consist of an analysis of a public policy issue, a report on a problem-solving experience from an internship or other field experience, or a synthesis of research on urban affairs.

Urban settlements and technology around the world are rapidly co-evolving as flows of population, finance, and politics are reshaping the very identity of cities and nations globally. We already see rapid and profound change, especially in mega-cities, including pervasive sensing, the growth and availability of continuous data streams, advanced analytics, interactive communications and social networks, and distributed intelligence. Examples of new technologies facilitated by or requiring big data and new informatics concentrated in urban areas include, but are not limited to, autonomous vehicles, sensor-enabled self-management of natural resources, cybersecurity for critical infrastructure biometric identity, the sharing or gig-economy, and continuous public engagement opportunities through social networks and data and visualization.

The Bachelor of Science in Urban Science and Planning with Computer Science (Course 11-6) emphasizes the development of fundamental skills in urban planning and policy, including ethics and justice; statistics, data science, geospatial analysis, and visualization; and computer science, robotics, and machine learning. The Course 11-6 program provides numerous opportunities for field-based problem-solving experience through labs, UROP assignments and client-based courses in which students synthesize and empirically integrate what they are learning about theory and practice at the intersection of computer and urban science. Students also have the opportunity to specialize though the selection of a customized concentration of upper-level electives in data visualization, applied spatial analysis, design, and public policy. Students in the program are full members of both departments and of two schools, Architecture and Planning and Engineering.

Email for more information or call 617-253-1933.

Undergraduate Course 11 majors may apply for admission to the department's Master in City Planning (MCP) program in their junior year. Students accepted into the five-year program receive both the Bachelor of Science and the MCP at the end of five years. Admission is intended for those undergraduates who have demonstrated exceptional performance in the major and show commitment to the field of city planning. Criteria for admission include the following:

  • A strong academic record in Course 11 subjects
  • Letters of reference from departmental faculty
  • Practical experience in planning, which could be gained through internships, practicums, studios, Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program experiences, summer jobs, etc.
  • A mature and passionate interest for the field that warrants further study

Students can obtain more information on the five-year program from Sandra Wellford, undergraduate administrator, Room 7-346A, 617-253-9403.

The six-subject Minor in Urban Studies and Planning offers students the opportunity to explore issues in urban studies and planning in some depth. Students initially take two Tier I subjects that establish the political, economic, and design contexts for local, urban, and regional decision making. In addition, students choose four Tier II elective subjects, which provide an opportunity to focus on urban and environmental policy issues or to study urban problems and institutions. Students are encouraged to craft a minor that reflects their own particular interests within the general parameters of the minor program requirements and in consultation with the minor advisor.

The HASS Minor in International Development aims to increase students' ability to understand, analyze, and tackle problems of global poverty and economic development in the developing world. Challenges include increasing urbanization; the need for industrial growth as well as jobs for an increasing number of educated youth; the crisis of resources and infrastructure; the fragmentation of state capacity and rising violence; ethical and moral issues raised by development planning; the role of appropriate technology and research; and popular discontent. The minor emphasizes problem-solving, multidisciplinarity, and an understanding of institutions at various levels—from the local to the global—as the keys to solving today’s problems in emerging countries.

The six-subject minor is structured into two tiers. The subjects in the first tier provide a general overview of the history of international development and major theories and debates in the field, and an introduction to the dilemmas of practice. They also introduce the challenges of applying models of interventions across contexts and the importance of understanding local institutional frameworks and political economies across scales and levels of governance.

Subjects in the second tier offer an array of more specialized and advanced subjects to allow students greater depth in specific sectors and international development issues such as public finance, infrastructure and energy, sustainability, the role of technology policy, the form and structure of cities, the politics of urban change and development, the role of law and public policy in development, and the rethinking of development in terms of human rights.

Additional subjects not listed above may be included in the minor at the discretion of the minor advisor.

Further information can be obtained from Professor Balakrishnan Rajagopal , Room 9-432, 617-253-6315.

The interdisciplinary HASS Minor in Public Policy is intended to provide a single framework for students interested in the role of public policy in the field of their technical expertise. Because the Course 11 major has a strong public policy element and several subjects are redundant, Course 11 majors are not eligible for the Minor in Public Policy.

DUSP offers clusters of subjects that satisfy the Institute requirement. These three-subject clusters allow students either to develop competence within a specific discipline or to explore a particular policy problem. Possible areas of concentration include: designing the urban environment, environmental policy, urban history, policy analysis and urban problems, legal issues and social change, and education. Sample programs are available online.

The DUSP concentration focusing on education can also lead to Massachusetts licensure in teaching math and science at the middle and high school levels. This requires taking:

More information is available from Eric Klopfer, Room E15-301, 617-253-2025.

Master in City Planning

Simultaneous master's degrees in city planning and architecture, simultaneous master's degrees in city planning and transportation, simultaneous master's degrees in city planning and real estate development, master of science in urban studies and planning, doctor of philosophy, graduate programs in transportation, environmental planning certificate, urban design certificate, nondegree programs, graduate study.

The Department of Urban Studies and Planning offers graduate work leading to the Master in City Planning and the Doctor of Philosophy. In conjunction with the Center for Real Estate, the department also offers a Master of Science in Real Estate Development. These programs are open to students from a variety of backgrounds. Urban studies, city planning, architecture, urban design, environmental planning, political science, civil engineering, economics, sociology, geography, law, management, and public administration all offer suitable preparation. For further information concerning academic programs in the department, application for admission, and financial aid, contact Graduate Admissions, Room 9-413, 617-253-9403.

The principal professional degree in the planning field is the Master in City Planning (MCP). The Department of Urban Studies and Planning provides graduate education for men and women who will assume professional roles in public, private, and nonprofit agencies, firms, and international institutions, in the United States and abroad. The department seeks to provide MCP students with the skills and specialized knowledge needed to fill traditional as well as emerging planning roles. The MCP is accredited by the American Planning Association.

The two-year Master in City Planning degree program emphasizes mastery of tools for effective practice and is therefore distinct from undergraduate liberal arts programs in urban affairs or doctoral programs that emphasize advanced research skills. MCP graduates work in a broad array of roles, from "traditional" city planning to economic, social, and environmental planning, as well as urban design. In addition to its basic core requirements, the program offers four areas of specialization: City Design and Development; Environmental Policy and Planning; Housing, Community, and Economic Development; and International Development. MCP students, in their application to the department, select one of these areas of specialization and, when applicable, indicate interest in cross-cutting programs in transportation planning, urban information systems, and regional planning.

Each student's plan of study in the MCP Program is set forth in a program statement developed jointly by the student and faculty advisor during the student's first term. Linked to career development goals, the program statement describes the purposes and goals of study, the proposed schedule of subjects, the manner in which competence in a specialization is developed, and an indication of a possible thesis topic.

Degree Requirements

Students are expected to take a minimum of 36 credit units each term (at least three subjects, though more frequently four), yielding at least 126 total units, in addition to the thesis.

A collection of subjects and requirements to be taken during the student's two years in the MCP program constitute a "core experience" viewed as central to the professional program. The core subjects and requirements include the following:

Students identified as having weaker writing skills are also encouraged to take a writing course.

All students are required to submit a thesis on a topic of their choice. The department encourages MCP students to avoid the traditional perception of the thesis as a "mini-dissertation," and to think instead of a client-oriented, professional document that bridges academic and professional concerns. While most of the thesis work occurs during the last term of the second year, students are urged to begin the process of defining a thesis topic early in the second year through their participation in a required thesis preparation seminar.

Students in the MCP Program are encouraged to integrate fieldwork and internships with academic coursework. The Department of Urban Studies and Planning provides a variety of individual and group field placements involving varying degrees of faculty participation and supervision. Academic credit is awarded for field experience, although some students choose instead to participate in the work-study financial aid program. The department also sponsors a variety of seminars in which students have an opportunity to reflect on their field experiences.

The City Design and Development (CDD) group engages, researches, and projects the physical planning of cities, regions, and their built and natural environments, at scales and locations that range from urban neighborhoods and city cores to outer suburbs. Graduates work in a variety of private, public, and nonprofit roles as urban designers, planning and design consultants, municipal and regional planners, managers of public agencies, advocates of historic and landscape preservation, housing, and land use regulations, real estate development, and as planners of transportation and mobility systems. CDD is closely associated with faculty and students in the Department of Architecture's Urbanism field, the Center for Advanced Urbanism, Center for Real Estate, SENSEable City Lab, and Media Lab. Many subjects are cross-listed with these groups. CDD's diverse educational offerings, ranging from studios to seminars, lectures, and workshops, ensure that every student can develop unique competence and intellectual depth in the field. CDD students may also elect to pursue the Urban Design Certificate ,  for those who wish to be involved in shaping the physical form and logistical function of cities, or pursue an additional year of study through DUSP's SM in Advanced Urbanism .  Individual faculty within CDD also work in areas that include landscape urbanism; resilient cities and housing; land use planning and regulation; innovation districts; parametric urbanism; and much more. 

The Center for Advanced Urbanism—jointly administered by faculty from the CDD group and the Urbanism group in the Department of Architecture—is a research-based institution dedicated to implementing new collaborative models of design and urban research.

The Environmental Policy and Planning (EPP) group emphasizes the study of how society conserves and manages its natural resources and works to promote sustainable development. Areas of concern include the role of science in environmental policy-making, climate change mitigation and adaptation, sustainable international development, adaptive ecosystem management, environmental justice, global environmental treaty making, environmental regulation, energy efficiency and renewable energy, the role of private corporations in environmental management, the public health impacts of environmental planning, infrastructure planning, and the mediation of environmental disputes. Students investigate the interactions between built and natural systems; the effectiveness of different approaches to environmental planning and policymaking; techniques for describing, modeling, forecasting, and evaluating changes in environmental quality; approaches to environmental policy analysis; strategies for stakeholder involvement in environmental planning; and mechanisms for assessing the choices posed by the environmental impacts of new technology in local, state, national, and international contexts.

The Housing, Community, and Economic Development (HCED) group focuses on the equitable development of communities in the United States, at the neighborhood, city, and regional scales. Its mission is to prepare professionals with the skills and knowledge to be responsible leaders of public, private, and nonprofit sector organizations and networks engaged in equitable development. The group is driven by a deep faculty commitment to expanding opportunity and improving quality of life for historically disadvantaged groups. HCED emphasizes ongoing, empowering partnerships with those affected by change—often those who are organizing to lead local improvement efforts. Many faculty and students also have an interest in global markets and federal and state policy. For decades, the group’s faculty and students have helped shape policy, practice and research in housing, economic, workforce, and comprehensive community development. Increasingly, HCED connects to efforts that promote public health, environmental sustainability, and more inclusive “digital cities” as well. HCED promotes an integrated and dynamic approach to learning, helping prepare students for careers as problem solvers who can perform in varied roles: policy analyst or policy maker, advocate and organizer, mediator, evaluator, program designer, investor and entrepreneur, project developer and manager. At the doctoral level, HCED prepares students not only to produce but also to shape the next generation of creative teaching and scholarship.

The International Development Group (IDG) draws on the experiences of developing and newly industrializing countries throughout the world as the basis for advice about planning at the local, regional, national, and global levels. IDG provides students with an integrated view of the institutional, legal, historical, economic, technological, and sociopolitical factors that have shaped successful planning experiences and how they translate into action. Class content and faculty expertise include economic development at various scales; human rights and rights-based approaches to development, ethical and moral issues raised by development planning, the challenge of planning amidst popular discontent; regional planning (including decentralization); finance and project evaluation; housing, human settlements, and infrastructure services (transportation, telecommunications, water, sanitation, sewerage); institutions of economic growth; law and economic development; industrialization and industrial policies (including privatization); poverty-reducing and employment-increasing interventions including informal sector, nongovernment organizations, and small enterprises; comparative urban and metropolitan politics and policy; property and land rights, comparative property and land use law, collective action, and common property issues (water, forestry, grazing, agriculture); human rights and development; conflict and social dynamics in cities; post-conflict development; and globalization and governance.

Urban Information Systems (UIS) is a cross-cutting group that connects faculty, staff, and students who are interested in the ways information and communication technologies impact urban planning. Research topics include building neighborhood information systems to facilitate public participation in planning; exploring the complex relationships underlying urban spatial structure, land use, transportation, and the environment; modeling urban futures and metropolitan growth scenarios; and experimenting with mobile computing, location-based services, and the community building, planning, and urban design implications of ubiquitous computing. Associated faculty are engaged in many related research projects through the SENSEable City Lab, the Civic Data Design Lab, the Urban Mobility Lab, the Center for Advanced Urbanism, and MIT-wide interdisciplinary research initiatives such as the Future Urban Mobility project in Singapore. Through seminars and related activities, we share experiences and find ways to collaborate on the technical, planning, and social science aspects of making information technology–enabled urban futures more responsive to public and private interests in ways that are transparent and equitable.

Much of UIS's work involves the development and use of planning-related software and the urban analytics, spatial analysis tools, and systems (such as GIS and distributed geoprocessing) that are increasingly important parts of urban planning methods and metropolitan information infrastructures. However, UIS interests go beyond the development and use of specific technologies and extend to an examination of the ripple effects of computing, communications, and digital spatial information on current planning practices and on the meaning and value of the impacted communities and planning institutions.

Students who have been admitted to either the Department of Urban Studies and Planning or the Department of Architecture can propose a program of joint work in the two fields that will lead to the simultaneous awarding of two degrees. Degree combinations may be MCP/MArch or MCP/SMArchS. A student must apply by the January deadline prior to beginning the last full year of graduate study for the first degree: MCP and SMArchS. SMArchS students must apply during their first year at MIT (by the end of the first term); MArch students must apply during or before their second year. Students are first approved by the Dual Degree Committee and then considered during the spring admissions process. All candidates for simultaneous degrees must meet the requirements of both degrees, but may submit a joint thesis.

Students who have been admitted to study for the Master in City Planning or the Master of Science in Transportation may apply to the other program during their first year of study and propose a program of joint work in the two fields that will lead to the simultaneous awarding of two degrees. Details of this program are provided under Interdepartmental Programs in the Civil and Environmental Engineering section.

Students who have been admitted to the Master in City Planning Program or the Master of Science in Real Estate Development Program may apply to the other program during their first year of study and propose a program of joint work in the two fields that will lead to the simultaneous awarding of two degrees. Students may submit a joint thesis.

Under special circumstances, admission may be granted to candidates seeking a one-year Master of Science (SM) degree. The SM is intended for professionals with a number of years of distinguished practice in city planning or related fields who have a clear idea of the courses they want to take at MIT, the thesis they want to write, and the DUSP faculty member with whom they wish to work. That faculty member must be prepared to advise the candidate when at MIT and to submit a letter of recommendation so indicating as part of the candidate's application. This process means that prior to submitting an application the candidate must contact the appropriate DUSP faculty member to establish such a relationship. The SM does not require the candidate to take the core courses, which are mandatory for MCP candidates. As indicated above, a thesis is required. For further information concerning the SM option, contact Graduate Admissions, Room 7-346, 617-253-9403.

The PhD is the advanced research degree in urban planning or urban studies. Admission requirements are substantially the same as for the master's degree, but additional emphasis is placed on academic preparation, professional experience, and the fit between the student's research interests and the department's research activities. Nearly all successful applicants have previously completed a master's degree.

The doctoral program emphasizes the development of research competence and the application of research methods to exploring critical planning questions. Students work under the mentorship of a faculty advisor. They may focus their studies on any subfield of planning in which the faculty in the department have expertise.

After successful completion of coursework, students are required to take oral and written qualifying general exams in two fields: an intellectual discipline (city design and development, international development, public policy, urban information systems, regional and urban economics, or urban sociology) and a field to which this discipline is applied and that coincides with the student's research interest and possible dissertation topic. Doctoral candidates are expected to complete the qualifying general examinations before beginning their third year of residence. Upon completing the qualifying general examination and a colloquium about the dissertation proposal, a PhD candidate must write and successfully defend a doctoral dissertation that gives evidence of the capacity to do independent and innovative research.

A minimum of 72 units plus 36 units for the dissertation (a minimum of 108 units) is required for the PhD degree.

Interested and qualified students can undertake joint doctoral programs with the Department of Political Science or the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Advanced Urbanism Concentration

The Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism (LCAU), together with the Department of Architecture and MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning, have established a collaborative doctoral-level concentration in advanced urbanism. At MIT, advanced urbanism is the field that integrates research on urban design, urbanization, and urban culture. The doctoral concentration in advanced urbanism is intended for those who have at least one professional design degree (in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, etc.). A successful applicant will have research interests in urbanism that align with faculty research in both DUSP and Architecture. In this spirit, the student’s dissertation committee is expected to include faculty from both departments. More broadly, an advanced urbanism doctoral student is expected to engage with the research community at the LCAU and within their home department throughout their time at MIT. 

Admissions applications for the DUSP side of this program are submitted directly through the department’s regular PhD admissions process, with the same January 3 deadline. Those interested in being considered for an Advanced Urbanism doctoral fellowship should indicate this in their applications. In the process of application review, the DUSP PhD admissions committee will identify strong applicants who fit the advanced urbanism program profile and nominate them for further consideration by a joint advanced urbanism admissions committee. The applicant selected by this joint committee would, in turn, be admitted as part of the regular DUSP PhD admissions process. Upon arrival at MIT, students holding the advanced urbanism doctoral fellowship through DUSP will be expected to complete all DUSP doctoral degree requirements plus additional requirements for the advanced urbanism concentration. Tuition support and research assistantships are provided by LCAU. Additional details can be found on the LCAU website .

Interdisciplinary Programs

MIT provides a broad range of opportunities for transportation-related education. Courses and classes span the School of Engineering, the Sloan School of Management, and the School of Architecture and Planning, with many activities covering interdisciplinary topics that prepare students for future industry, government, or academic careers.

A variety of graduate degrees are available to students interested in transportation studies and research, including a Master of Science in Transportation and PhD in Transportation , described under Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs.

Students in the MCP and PhD program who complete a prescribed set of subjects are awarded a Certificate in Environmental Planning. 

Students in the MCP, MArch, or SMArchS programs who complete a specific curriculum of subjects in history and theory, public policy, development, studios and workshops, and a thesis in the field of urban design are awarded a Certificate in Urban Design by the School of Architecture and Planning. 

A limited number of nondegree students are admitted to the department each term. This special student status is especially designed for professionals interested in developing specialized skills, but is also available to others.

The MIT Community Innovators Lab (CoLab) supports faculty and students to work with low-income and excluded people in the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean, tapping their energy, creativity, and in-depth knowledge of the issues they face to tackle poverty, climate change, and mass urbanization. Launched in 2007, CoLab supports faculty and student collaboration on field-based projects working with departments, laboratories, and centers across the Institute on action research while providing important resources to community leaders.

CoLab offers instruction and tools—practice-based classes, study groups, tutoring, coaching, mentoring, as well as IAP courses in reflective practice, civic engagement, action research, use of social media, storytelling, and visual mapping—to help students embed and apply technical learning in real societal contexts, equipping them with the resources they will need to take leadership roles in an increasingly complex world. Its dense network of innovative practitioners in the US, Latin America, and the Caribbean augment faculty instruction with field-based coaching, helping to train the next generation of practitioners and scholars committed to addressing social exclusion and sustainability—two of the greatest global challenges of our time.

In addition to work in communities, CoLab hosts regular programs that bring nationally recognized leaders to share their work and help inform the Institute’s research agenda. The Mel King Community Fellows Program convenes an annual cohort of advanced practitioners from a range of relevant fields who are grappling with challenges of equitable and sustainable development. CoLab also provides community and industry leaders with private deliberative space in which they can explore emerging issues while allowing students up-close opportunities to participate in collaborative brainstorming sessions. Along with CoLab workshops, CoLab Radio (the center's blog) and online programming, roundtables, speaker series, and lunchtime talks, these activities enliven and enrich the Institute’s intellectual community by infusing it with a powerful diversity of voices and insights.

CoLab is located in Room 9-419. Further information can be found on the CoLab website and CoLab blog .

The Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies (SPURS) is a one-year program designed for mid-career professionals from developing and newly industrializing countries. SPURS was founded in 1967 as part of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP), which has a long-standing commitment to bringing outstanding individuals to MIT to reflect on their professional practice in the field of international development. The program is designed to nurture individuals, often at a turning point in their professional careers, to retool and reflect on their policy-making and planning skills. SPURS Fellows return to their countries with a better understanding of the complex set of relationships among local, regional, and international issues. SPURS has hosted over 676 women and men from more than 117 countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern and Central Europe. SPURS alumni/ae hold senior level positions in both the public and private sectors in their countries. 

For further information contact Nimfa de Leon, Room 9-435, 617-253-5915 or visit the SPURS website . 

For further information concerning academic programs in the department, application for admission, and financial aid, contact Graduate Admissions, Room 9-413, 617-253-9403.

Faculty and Teaching Staff

P. Christopher Zegras, PhD

Professor of Urban Planning and Transportation

Head, Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Mariana Arcaya, ScD

Professor of Urban Planning and Public Health

Eran Ben-Joseph, PhD

Class of 1922 Professor

Professor of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning

Alan M. Berger, MLA

Professor of Urban Design and Landscape Architecture

(On leave, spring)

Phillip L. Clay, PhD

Professor Post-Tenure of Urban Studies and Planning

Nicholas de Monchaux, MArch

Professor of Architecture

Professor of Urban Studies and Planning

Head, Department of Architecture

Joseph Ferreira Jr, PhD

Professor Post-Tenure of Urban Planning and Operations Research

Dennis M. Frenchman, MArch, MCP

Professor Post-Tenure of Urban Design and Planning

David M. Geltner, PhD

Professor Post-Tenure of Real Estate Finance

Amy K. Glasmeier, PhD

Professor of Economic Geography and Regional Planning

Erica C. James, PhD

Professor of Medical Anthropology and Urban Studies

Professor of Anthropology

Eric Klopfer, PhD

Professor of Comparative Media Studies

Professor of Education

Interim Head, Literature Section

Head, Comparative Media Studies/Writing Program

Janelle Knox-Hayes, PhD

Professor of Economic Geography and Planning

Jennifer S. Light, PhD

Bern Dibner Professor of the History of Science and Technology

Brent D. Ryan, PhD

Professor of Urban Design and Public Policy

Bishwapriya Sanyal, PhD

Ford International Professor

Professor of International Development and Planning

Hashim Sarkis, PhD

Professor of Urban Planning

Dean, School of Architecture and Planning

Anne Whiston Spirn, PhD

Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Professor

Professor of Planning

Professor of Landscape Architecture

Lawrence E. Susskind, PhD

Ford Professor in Urban Studies

Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning

J. Phillip Thompson, PhD

Professor of Political Science and Urban Planning

Lawrence Vale, DPhil

Ford International Professor in Urban Studies

Professor of Urban Design and Planning

Jinhua Zhao, PhD

Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Member, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society

Siqi Zheng, PhD

Samuel Tak Lee Professor

Professor of Urban and Real Estate Sustainability

Associate Professors

Gabriella Carolini, PhD

Associate Professor of International Development and Urban Planning

Catherine D'Ignazio, PhD

Sherman Fairchild Career Development Professor

Associate Professor of Urban Studies and Planning

David Hsu, PhD

Associate Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning

Jason Jackson, PhD

Associate Professor of Political Economy and Urban Planning

Balakrishnan Rajagopal, SJD

Associate Professor of Law and Development

Albert Saiz, PhD

Daniel Rose Professor

Associate Professor of Urban Economics and Real Estate

Andres Sevtsuk, PhD

Charles and Ann Spaulding Career Development Professor

Associate Professor of Urban Science and Planning

Justin Steil, JD, PhD

Associate Professor of Law and Urban Planning

Sarah E. Williams, MCP

Norman B. and Muriel Leventhal Professor

Associate Professor of Information Technologies and Urban Planning

Assistant Professors

Devin Michelle Bunten, PhD

Assistant Professor of Urban Economics and Housing

Karilyn Crockett, PhD

Ford Career Development Professor

Assistant Professor of History and Urban Planning

Delia Wendel, PhD

Assistant Professor of International Development and Urban Planning

Professors of the Practice

Ceasar L. McDowell, EdD

Professor of the Practice of Civic Design

Carlo Ratti, PhD

Professor of the Practice of Urban Technologies

Associate Professors of the Practice

Holly Harriel, EdD

Associate Professor of the Practice of Urban Studies and Planning

Mary Anne Ocampo, MArch

Associate Professor of the Practice of Urban Design and Planning

Kairos Shen, MS

Senior Lecturers

Joseph F. Coughlin, PhD

Senior Lecturer in Urban Studies and Planning

Walter N. Torous, PhD

Senior Lecturer in Real Estate

Cherie Abbanat, MCP

Lecturer of International Development and Urban Studies

Sarah Abrams, MS

Lecturer of Real Estate

James Aloisi, MA, JD

Lecturer in Urban Studies and Planning

Garnette Cadogan, BA

Tunney Lee Distinguished Lecturer

Jennifer Cookke, MS, MBA

Mary Jane Daly, MCP

Ezra Glenn, MA

Christopher Gordon, MS

Eric Huntley, PhD

Lecturer of GIS, Data Visualization and Graphics

John Kennedy, MS

Jeffrey Levine, MS

Lecturer of Economic Development and Planning

W. Tod McGrath, MBA

Julie Newman, PhD

Lecturer of Environmental Planning and Sustainability

Peter Roth, MS, MArch

Gloria Schuck, PhD

Yanni Tsipis, MS

Bruno Verdini Trejo, PhD

Lecturer of Urban Planning and Negotiation

Visiting Lecturers

Kate Mytty, MCP

Visiting Lecturer of Real Estate

Professors Emeriti

Lawrence Bacow, PhD

Professor Emeritus of Urban Planning

Robert M. Fogelson, PhD

Professor Emeritus of Urban Studies

Professor Emeritus of History

Ralph Gakenheimer, PhD

Gary A. Hack, MArch, PhD

Professor Emeritus of Urban Design

Langley C. Keyes Jr, PhD

Ford International Professor Emeritus

Professor Emeritus of City and Regional Planning

Frank Levy, PhD

Daniel Rose Professor Emeritus

Professor Emeritus of Urban Economics

Gary Marx, PhD

Professor Emeritus of Sociology

Paul Osterman, PhD

Nanyang Technological University Professor Emeritus

Professor Emeritus of Human Resources and Management

Professor Emeritus of Urban Studies and Planning

Karen R. Polenske, PhD

Professor Emerita of Regional Political Economy and Planning

Adèle Naudé Santos, MArch, MCP, MAUD

Professor Emerita of Architecture

Professor Emerita of Urban Planning

James Wescoat, PhD

Aga Khan Professor Emeritus

William C. Wheaton, PhD

Professor Emeritus of Economics

Clarence G. Williams, PhD

Adjunct Professor Emeritus of Urban Studies and Planning

Introductory Subjects

11.001[j] introduction to urban design and development.

Same subject as 4.250[J] Prereq: None U (Spring) 3-0-9 units. HASS-H

Examines the evolving structure of cities and the way that cities, suburbs, and metropolitan areas can be designed and developed. Surveys the ideas of a wide range of people who have addressed urban problems. Stresses the connection between values and design. Demonstrates how physical, social, political and economic forces interact to shape and reshape cities over time. Introduces links between urban design and urban science.

L. Vale (fall); A. Sevtsuk (spring)

11.002[J] Making Public Policy

Same subject as 17.30[J] Prereq: None U (Fall) 4-0-8 units. HASS-S; CI-H

Examines how the struggle among competing advocates shapes the outputs of government. Considers how conditions become problems for government to solve, why some political arguments are more persuasive than others, why some policy tools are preferred over others, and whether policies achieve their goals. Investigates the interactions among elected officials, think tanks, interest groups, the media, and the public in controversies over global warming, urban sprawl, Social Security, health care, education, and other issues.

11.003[J] Methods of Policy Analysis

Same subject as 17.303[J] Prereq: 11.002[J] ; Coreq: 14.01 Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: U (Spring) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Provides students with an introduction to public policy analysis. Examines various approaches to policy analysis by considering the concepts, tools, and methods used in economics, political science, and other disciplines. Students apply and critique these approaches through case studies of current public policy problems.

11.004[J] People and the Planet: Environmental Histories and Engineering

Same subject as STS.033[J] Subject meets with 11.204[J] , IDS.524[J] Prereq: None U (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-3-6 units. HASS-E

Explores historical and cultural aspects of complex environmental problems and engineering approaches to sustainable solutions. Introduces quantitative analyses and methodological tools to understand environmental issues that have human and natural components. Demonstrates concepts through a series of historical and cultural analyses of environmental challenges and their engineering responses. Builds writing, quantitative modeling, and analytical skills in assessing environmental systems problems and developing engineering solutions. Through environmental data gathering and analysis, students engage with the challenges and possibilities of engineering in complex, interacting systems, and investigate plausible, symbiotic, systems-oriented solutions. Students taking graduate version complete additional analysis of reading assignments and a more in-depth and longer final paper. 

A. Slocum, R. Scheffler, J. Trancik

11.005 Introduction to International Development

Prereq: None U (Spring) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Introduces the political economy of international economic development planning, using an applied, quantitative approach. Considers why some countries are able to develop faster than others. Presents major theories and models of development and underdevelopment, providing tools to understand the mechanisms and processes behind economic growth and broader notions of progress. Offers an alternative view of development, focusing on the persistence of dichotomies in current theory and practice. Using specific cases, explores how different combinations of actors and institutions at various scales may promote or inhibit economic development. Students re-examine conventional knowledge and engage critically with the assumptions behind current thinking and policy.

11.006 Poverty and Economic Security

Subject meets with 11.206 Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: U (Fall) Acad Year 2024-2025: Not offered 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Explores the evolution of poverty and economic security in the US within a global context. Examines the impacts of recent economic restructuring and globalization. Reviews current debates about the fate of the middle class, sources of increasing inequality, and approaches to advancing economic opportunity and security. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

A. Glasmeier

11.007 Urban and Environmental Technology Implementation Lab

Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: U (Spring) 2-2-8 units

Real-world clients and environmental problems form the basis of a project in which teams of students develop strategies for analysis and implementation of new sensor technology within cities. Working closely with a partner or client based on the MIT campus or in Cambridge, students assess the environmental problem, implement prototypes, and recommend promising solutions to the client for implementation. Equipment and working space provided. Limited to 12.

11.008 Undergraduate Planning Seminar (New)

Prereq: None U (Fall) 2-0-4 units Can be repeated for credit.

A weekly seminar that includes discussions on topics in cities and urban planning, including guest lectures from DUSP faculty and practicing planners. Topics include urban science, zoning, architecture and urban design, urban sociology, politics and public policy, transportation and mobility, democratic governance, civil rights and social justice, urban economics, affordable housing, environmental policy and planning, real estate and economic development, agriculture and food policy, public health, and international development. Weekly student presentations on local planning issues and current events; occasional walking tours or arranged field trips. May be repeated for credit. Enrollment may be limited; preference to Course 11 and 11-6 sophomores and juniors.

11.011 The Art and Science of Negotiation

Prereq: None U (Fall) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Introduction to negotiation theory and practice. Applications in government, business, and nonprofit settings are examined. Combines a "hands-on" personal skill-building orientation with a look at pertinent tactical and strategic foundations. Preparation insights, persuasion tools, ethical benchmarks, and institutional influences are examined as they shape our ability to analyze problems, negotiate agreements, and resolve disputes in social, organizational, and political circumstances characterized by interdependent interests. Enrollment limited by lottery; consult class website for information and deadlines.

11.013[J] American Urban History

Same subject as 21H.217[J] Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: U (Spring) Acad Year 2024-2025: Not offered 2-0-7 units. HASS-H; CI-H

Seminar on the history of institutions and institutional change in American cities from roughly 1850 to the present. Among the institutions to be looked at are political machines, police departments, courts, schools, prisons, public authorities, and universities. Focuses on readings and discussions.

11.014[J] History of the Built Environment in the US

Same subject as 21H.218[J] Prereq: None U (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 2-0-7 units. HASS-H; CI-H

Seminar on the history of selected features of the physical environment of urban America. Among the features considered are parks, cemeteries, tenements, suburbs, zoos, skyscrapers, department stores, supermarkets, and amusement parks.

R. M. Fogelson

11.015[J] Riots, Strikes, and Conspiracies in American History

Same subject as 21H.226[J] Prereq: None U (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units. HASS-H; CI-H

See description under subject 21H.226[J] .

11.016[J] The Once and Future City

Same subject as 4.211[J] Prereq: None U (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units. HASS-H; CI-H

Examines the evolving structure of cities, the dynamic processes that shape them, and the significance of a city's history for its future development. Develops the ability to read urban form as an interplay of natural processes and human purposes over time. Field assignments in Boston provide the opportunity to use, develop, and refine these concepts. Enrollment limited.

11.021[J] Environmental Law, Policy, and Economics: Pollution Prevention and Control

Same subject as 1.801[J] , 17.393[J] , IDS.060[J] Subject meets with 1.811[J] , 11.630[J] , 15.663[J] , IDS.540[J] Prereq: None U (Spring) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Analyzes federal and state regulation of air and water pollution, hazardous waste, greenhouse gas emissions, and production/use of toxic chemicals. Analyzes pollution/climate change as economic problems and failure of markets. Explores the role of science and economics in legal decisions. Emphasizes use of legal mechanisms and alternative approaches (i.e., economic incentives, voluntary approaches) to control pollution and encourage chemical accident and pollution prevention. Focuses on major federal legislation, underlying administrative system, and common law in analyzing environmental policy, economic consequences, and role of the courts. Discusses classical pollutants and toxic industrial chemicals, greenhouse gas emissions, community right-to-know, and environmental justice. Develops basic legal skills: how to read/understand cases, regulations, and statutes. Students taking graduate version explore the subject in greater depth.

N. Ashford, C. Caldart

11.022[J] Regulation of Chemicals, Radiation, and Biotechnology

Same subject as 1.802[J] , IDS.061[J] Subject meets with 1.812[J] , 10.805[J] , 11.631[J] , IDS.436[J] , IDS.541[J] Prereq: IDS.060[J] or permission of instructor U (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units

Focuses on policy design and evaluation in the regulation of hazardous substances and processes. Includes risk assessment, industrial chemicals, pesticides, food contaminants, pharmaceuticals, radiation and radioactive wastes, product safety, workplace hazards, indoor air pollution, biotechnology, victims' compensation, and administrative law. Health and economic consequences of regulation, as well as its potential to spur technological change, are discussed for each regulatory regime. Students taking the graduate version are expected to explore the subject in greater depth.

11.024 Modeling Pedestrian Activity in Cities

Subject meets with 11.324 Prereq: None U (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Investigates the interaction between pedestrian activity, urban form, and land-use patterns in relatively dense urban environments. Informed by recent literature on pedestrian mobility, behavior, and biases, subject takes a practical approach, using software tools and analysis methods to operationalize and model pedestrian activity. Uses simplified yet powerful and scalable network analysis methods that focus uniquely on pedestrians, rather than engaging in comprehensive travel demand modeling across all modes. Emphasizes not only modeling or predicting pedestrian activity in given built settings, but also analyzing and understanding how changes in the built environment — land use changes, density changes, and connectivity changes — can affect pedestrian activity. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

A. Sevtsuk 

11.025[J] D-Lab: Development

Same subject as EC.701[J] Subject meets with 11.472[J] , EC.781[J] Prereq: None U (Fall) 3-2-7 units. HASS-S

See description under subject EC.701[J] . Enrollment limited by lottery; must attend first class session.

S. L. Hsu, B. Sanyal

11.026[J] Downtown

Same subject as 21H.321[J] Subject meets with 11.339 Prereq: None U (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 2-0-7 units. HASS-H

See description under subject 21H.321[J] .

11.027 City to City: Comparing, Researching, and Reflecting on Practice

Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: U (Spring) Acad Year 2024-2025: Not offered 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Introduces students to practice through researching, writing, and working for and with nonprofits. Students work directly with nonprofits and community partners to help find solutions to real world problems; interview planners and other field experts, and write and present findings to nonprofit partners and community audiences.

11.029[J] Mobility Ventures: Driving Innovation in Transportation Systems

Same subject as 15.3791[J] Subject meets with 11.529[J] , 15.379[J] Prereq: None U (Fall) 3-3-6 units

Explores technological, behavioral, policy, and systems-wide frameworks for innovation in transportation systems, complemented with case studies across the mobility spectrum, from autonomous vehicles to urban air mobility to last-mile sidewalk robots. Students interact with a series of guest lecturers from CEOs and other business and government executives who are actively reshaping the future of mobility. Interdisciplinary teams of students collaborate to deliver business plans for proposed mobility-focused startups with an emphasis on primary market research. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Preference to juniors and seniors.

J. Zhao, J. Moavenzadeh, J. Larios Berlin

11.041 Introduction to Housing, Community, and Economic Development

Subject meets with 11.401 Prereq: None U (Fall) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Provides a critical introduction to the shape and determinants of political, social, and economic inequality in America, with a focus on racial and economic justice. Explores the role of the city in visions of justice. Analyzes the historical, political, and institutional contexts of housing and community development policy in the US, including federalism, municipal fragmentation, and decentralized public financing. Introduces major dimensions in US housing policy, such as housing finance, public housing policy, and state and local housing affordability mechanisms. Reviews major themes in community economic development, including drivers of economic inequality, small business policy, employment policy, and cooperative economics. Expectations and evaluation criteria differ for students taking graduate version.

11.045[J] Power: Interpersonal, Organizational, and Global Dimensions

Same subject as 15.302[J] , 17.045[J] , 21A.127[J] Subject meets with 21A.129 Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: U (Spring) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

See description under subject 21A.127[J] .

11.067 Land Use Law and Politics: Race, Place, and Law

Subject meets with 11.367 Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: U (Spring) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Explores conceptions of spatial justice and introduces students to basic principles of US law and legal analysis, focused on property, land use, equal protection, civil rights, fair housing, and local government law, in order to examine who should control how land is used. Examines the rights of owners of land and the types of regulatory and market-based tools that are available to control land use, and discusses why and when government regulation, rather than private market ordering, might be necessary to control land use patterns. Explores basic principles of civil rights and anti-discrimination law and focuses on particular civil rights problems associated with the land use regulatory system, such as exclusionary zoning, residential segregation, the fair distribution of undesirable land uses, and gentrification. Introduces basic skills of statutory drafting and interpretation. Assignments differ for those taking the graduate version.

11.074 Cybersecurity Clinic

Subject meets with 11.274 Prereq: None U (Fall, Spring) 2-4-6 units. REST

Provides an opportunity for MIT students to become certified in methods of assessing the vulnerability of public agencies (particularly agencies that manage critical urban infrastructure) to the risk of cyberattack. Certification involves completing an 8-hour, self-paced, online set of four modules during the first four weeks of the semester followed by a competency exam. Students who successfully complete the exam become certified. The certified students work in teams with client agencies in various cities around the United States. Through preparatory interactions with the agencies, and short on-site visits, teams prepare vulnerability assessments that client agencies can use to secure the technical assistance and financial support they need to manage the risks of cyberattack they are facing. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 15.

L. Susskind

11.092 Renewable Energy Facility Siting Clinic (New)

Subject meets with 11.592 Prereq: None U (Fall, Spring) 2-4-6 units

Presents methods for resolving facility siting disputes, particularly those involving renewable energy. After completing four modules and a competency exam for MITx certification, students work in teams to help client communities in various cities around the United States. Through direct interactions with the proponents and opponents of facilities subject to local opposition, students complete a stakeholder assessment and offer joint fact-finding and collaborative problem-solving assistance. The political, legal, financial, and regulatory aspects of facility siting, particularly for renewable energy, are reviewed along with key infrastructure planning principles. Students taking the graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 15.

Specialized Subjects

11.100 introduction to computational thinking in cities.

Prereq: None. Coreq: 6.100B Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: U (Fall) 1-0-2 units

Highlights how computer science may inform and impact how cities are conceptualized, planned, designed, regulated, and managed. The first half of the class explores the history of computational approaches in urban planning between around 1950 and 2020. The second half attempts to connect the data science concepts learned in 6.100B to topics in city planning and design. Subject can count toward the 6-unit discovery-focused credit limit for first-year students.

11.107 Tools and Techniques for Inclusive Economic Development

Subject meets with 11.407 Prereq: None U (Fall) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Introduces tools and techniques in economic development planning. Extensive use of data collection, analysis, and display techniques. Students build interpretive intuition skills through user experience design activities and develop a series of memos summarizing the results of their data analysis. These are aggregated into a final report, and include the tools developed over the semester. Students taking graduate version complete modified assignments focused on developing computer applications.

11.111[J] Leadership in Negotiation: Advanced Applications

Same subject as 17.381[J] Prereq: 11.011 or permission of instructor U (Fall) 4-0-8 units. HASS-S

Building on the skills and strategies honed in 11.011 , explores advanced negotiation practice. Emphasizes an experiential skill-building approach, underpinned by cutting-edge cases and innovative research. Examines applications in high-stakes management, public policy, social entrepreneurship, international diplomacy, and scientific discovery. Strengthens collaborative decision-making, persuasion, and leadership skills by negotiating across different media and through personalized coaching, enhancing students' ability to proactively engage stakeholders, transform organizations, and inspire communities. Limited by lottery; consult class website for information and deadlines.

11.113 The Economic Approach to Cities and Environmental Sustainability

Subject meets with 11.413 Prereq: 1.010 , 14.30 , 18.650[J] , or permission of instructor U (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units. HASS-S Can be repeated for credit.

Provides a systematic framework of the interplay (both tension and synergy) between urbanization and environmental sustainability from a global perspective. Enhances analytical reasoning and quantitative skills to assist evidence-based empirical study and policy design evaluation. Explores the causes and consequences of urban environmental quality dynamics, and provides econometric tools to quantify such relationships. Examines state-of-the-art research in this field by introducing empirical studies from both developing and developed countries (highlighting fast urbanization). Themes include urban production, households, transportation and form, as well as political economy and climate resilience. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

11.119 NEET Seminar: Digital Cities

Prereq: None U (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 1-0-2 units Can be repeated for credit.

Seminar for students enrolled in the Digital Cities NEET thread. Focuses on topics around clean energy and sustainability in cities via guest lectures and research discussions.

11.122[J] Law, Technology, and Public Policy

Same subject as IDS.066[J] Subject meets with 11.422[J] , 15.655[J] , IDS.435[J] Prereq: None U (Fall) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

See description under subject IDS.066[J] .

11.123 Big Plans and Mega-Urban Landscapes

Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: U (Spring) 3-0-6 units. HASS-S

Explores the physical, ecological, technological, political, economic and cultural implications of big plans and mega-urban landscapes in a global context. Uses local and international case studies to understand the process of making major changes to urban landscape and city fabric, and to regional landscape systems. Includes lectures by leading practitioners. Assignments consider planning and design strategies across multiple scales and time frames.

11.124[J] Introduction to Education: Looking Forward and Looking Back on Education

Same subject as CMS.586[J] Prereq: None U (Fall) 3-6-3 units. HASS-S; CI-H

See description under subject CMS.586[J] . Limited to 25.

11.125[J] Introduction to Education: Understanding and Evaluating Education

Same subject as CMS.587[J] Prereq: None U (Spring) 3-6-3 units. HASS-S; CI-H

See description under subject CMS.587[J] . Limited to 25.

11.127[J] Design and Development of Games for Learning

Same subject as CMS.590[J] Subject meets with 11.252[J] , CMS.863[J] Prereq: None U (Spring) 3-6-3 units. HASS-H

See description under subject CMS.590[J] .

11.129[J] Educational Theory and Practice I

Same subject as CMS.591[J] Prereq: None. Coreq: CMS.586[J] U (Fall) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

See description under subject CMS.591[J] . Limited to 15; preference to juniors and seniors.

G. Schwanbeck

11.130[J] Educational Theory and Practice II

Same subject as CMS.592[J] Prereq: CMS.591[J] U (IAP) 3-0-9 units

See description under subject CMS.592[J] .

11.131[J] Educational Theory and Practice III

Same subject as CMS.593[J] Prereq: CMS.592[J] U (Spring) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

See description under subject CMS.593[J] .

11.133[J] Dilemmas in Biomedical Ethics: Playing God or Doing Good?

Same subject as 21A.302[J] , WGS.271[J] Prereq: None U (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

An introduction to the cross-cultural study of biomedical ethics. Examines moral foundations of the science and practice of western biomedicine through case studies of abortion, contraception, cloning, organ transplantation and other issues. Evaluates challenges that new medical technologies pose to the practice and availability of medical services around the globe, and to cross-cultural ideas of kinship and personhood. Discusses critiques of the biomedical tradition from anthropological, feminist, legal, religious, and cross-cultural theorists.

E. C. James

11.134[J] Infections and Inequalities: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Global Health

Same subject as HST.431[J] Prereq: None U (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Examines case studies in infectious disease outbreaks to demonstrate how human health is a product of multiple determinants, such as biology, sociocultural and historical factors, politics, economic processes, and the environment. Analyzes how structural inequalities render certain populations vulnerable to illness and explores the moral and ethical dimensions of public health and clinical interventions to promote health. Limited to 25.

E. James, A. Chakraborty

11.135 Violence, Human Rights, and Justice

Prereq: None U (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

An examination of the problem of mass violence and oppression in the contemporary world, and of the concept of human rights as a defense against such abuse. Explores questions of cultural relativism, race, gender and ethnicity. Examines case studies from war crimes tribunals, truth commissions, anti-terrorist policies and other judicial attempts to redress state-sponsored wrongs. Considers whether the human rights framework effectively promotes the rule of law in modern societies. Students debate moral positions and address ideas of moral relativism.

11.136 Global Mental Health

Prereq: None U (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Provides skills to critically analyze issues of mental health in historical and cross-cultural contexts. Studies mental illness as a complex biopsychosocial experience embedded in particular political and economic frameworks. Examines the relationships among culture, gender, embodiment, and emotional distress; power inequalities and ideas of the "normal" and "abnormal;" and how such conceptions influence care-giving practices, whether in traditional or biomedical contexts. Evaluates how the disciplines of psychology, psychoanalysis, and psychiatry have developed in the West, and considers their influence on mental health interventions in global settings. Limited to 25.

11.137 Financing Economic Development and Housing

Subject meets with 11.437 Prereq: None U (Spring) 4-0-8 units

Studies financing tools and program models to support and promote local economic development and housing. Overview of public and private capital markets and financing sources helps illustrate market imperfections that constrain economic and housing development and increase race and class disparaties. Explores federal housing and economic development programs as well as state and local public finance tools. Covers policies and program models. Investigates public finance practice to better understand how these finance programs affect other municipal operations. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 25.

11.138 Crowd Sourced City: Civic Tech Prototyping

Subject meets with 11.458 Prereq: None U (Fall) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Investigates the use of social medial and digital technologies for planning and advocacy by working with actual planning and advocacy organizations to develop, implement, and evaluate prototype digital tools. Students use the development of their digital tools as a way to investigate new media technologies that can be used for planning. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

S. Williams, C. D'Ignazio

11.139 The City in Film

Subject meets with 11.239 Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: U (Spring) 2-2-5 units. HASS-H; CI-H

Surveys important developments in urbanism from 1900 to the present, using film as a lens to explore and interpret aspects of the urban experience in the US and abroad. Topics include industrialization, demographics, diversity, the environment, and the relationship between the community and the individual. Films vary from year to year but always include a balance of classics from the history of film, an occasional experimental/avant-garde film, and a number of more recent, mainstream movies. Students taking undergraduate version complete writing assignments that focus on observation, analysis, and the essay, and give an oral presentation. Limited to 18.

11.140 Urbanization and Development

Examines developmental dynamics of rapidly urbanizing locales, with a special focus on the developing world. Case studies from India, China, Mexico, Brazil, and South Africa form the basis for discussion of social, spatial, political and economic changes in cities spurred by the decline of industry, the rise of services, and the proliferation of urban mega projects. Emphasizes the challenges of growing urban inequality, environmental risk, citizen displacement, insufficient housing, and the lack of effective institutions for metropolitan governance.

11.142 Geography of the Global Economy

Subject meets with 11.442 Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: U (Fall) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Analyzes implications of economic globalization for communities, regions, international businesses and economic development organizations. Uses spatial analysis techniques to model the role of energy resources in shaping international political economy. Investigates key drivers of human, physical, and social capital flows and their roles in modern human settlement systems. Surveys contemporary models of industrialization and places them in geographic context. Connects forces of change with their implications for the distribution of wealth and human well-being. Looks backward to understand pre-Covid conditions and then returns to the present to understand how a global pandemic changes the world. Class relies on current literature and explorations of sectors. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

11.143 Research Methods in Global Health and Development

Subject meets with 11.243 Prereq: None U (Spring) 3-3-6 units. HASS-S

Provides training for students to critically analyze the relationship between "health" and "development." Draws upon the theory and methods of medical anthropology, social medicine, public health, and development to track how culture, history, and political economy influence health and disease in global communities. Students work in teams to formulate research questions, and collect and analyze qualitative data in clinical and community settings in the greater Boston area, in order to design effective development interventions aimed at reducing health disparities in the US and abroad. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

11.144 Project Appraisal in Developing Countries

Prereq: Permission of instructor U (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units

Covers techniques of financial analysis of investment expenditures, as well as the economic and distributive appraisal of development projects. Critical analysis of these tools in the political economy of international development is discussed. Topics include appraisal's role in the project cycle, planning under conditions of uncertainty, constraints in data quality and the limits of rational analysis, and the coordination of an interdisciplinary appraisal team. Enrollment limited; preference to majors.

11.145 International Housing Economics and Finance

Prereq: 14.01 U (Spring) 3-0-6 units Credit cannot also be received for 11.355

Presents a theory of comparative differences in international housing outcomes. Introduces institutional differences in the ways housing expenditures are financed, and the economic determinants of housing outcomes, such as construction costs, land values, housing quality, and ownership rates. Analyzes the flow of funds to and from the different national housing finance sectors. Develops an understanding of the greater financial and macroeconomic implications of the mortgage credit sector, and how policies affect the ways housing asset fluctuations impact national economies. Considers the perspective of investors in international real estate markets and the risks and rewards involved. Draws on lessons from an international comparative approach, and applies them to economic and finance policies at the local, state/provincial, and federal levels within a country of choice. Meets with 11.355 when offered concurrently. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

11.147 Budgeting and Finance for the Public Sector

Subject meets with 11.487 Prereq: Permission of instructor U (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Examines globally relevant challenges of adequately and effectively attending to public sector responsibilities for basic services with limited resources. Particular attention to the contexts of fiscal crises and rapid population growth, as well as shrinkage, through an introduction to methods and processes of budgeting, accounting, and financial mobilization. Case studies and practice exercises explore revenue strategies, demonstrate fiscal analytical competencies, and familiarize students with pioneering examples of promising budget and accounting processes and innovative funding mobilization via taxation, capital markets, and other mechanisms (e.g., land-value capture). Students taking graduate version explore the subject in greater depth.

G. Carolini

11.148 Environmental Justice: Law and Policy

Subject meets with 11.368 Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: U (Fall) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Introduces frameworks for analyzing and addressing inequalities in the distribution of environmental benefits and burdens, particularly by race and by class. Explores the foundations and principles of the environmental justice movement from the perspectives of social science, public policy, and law. Introduces basic principles of US constitutional and environmental law, with a focus on equal protection and civil rights. Applies environmental justice principles to contemporary issues in urban policy and planning, including effects of and responses to climate change and global heating. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

11.149 Decarbonizing Urban Mobility

Subject meets with 11.449 Prereq: None U (Spring) 3-3-6 units

Focuses on measuring and reducing emissions from passenger transportation. After examining travel, energy, and climate conditions, students review existing approaches to transport decarbonization. Evaluates new mobility technologies through their potential to contribute to (or delay) a zero emission mobility system. Students consider the policy tools required to achieve approaches to achieve change. Frames past and future emission reductions using an approach based on the Kaya Identity, decomposing past (and potential future) emissions into their component pieces. Seeks to enable students to be intelligent evaluators of approaches to transportation decarbonization and equip them with the tools to develop and evaluate policy measures relevant to their local professional challenges. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

J. Zhao, A. Salzberg

11.150[J] Metropolis: A Comparative History of New York City

Same subject as 21H.220[J] Prereq: None U (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units. HASS-H

See description under subject 21H.220[J] .

11.151[J] Youth Political Participation

Same subject as STS.080[J] Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: U (Spring) 3-0-9 units. HASS-H

See description under subject STS.080[J] . Limited to 40.

J. S. Light

11.152[J] The Ghetto: From Venice to Harlem

Same subject as 21H.385[J] Prereq: None U (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

See description under subject 21H.385[J] .

11.153[J] Shanghai and China's Modernization

Same subject as 21H.351[J] Prereq: None U (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 2-0-10 units. HASS-H

See description under subject 21H.351[J] .

11.154 Big Data, Visualization, and Society

Subject meets with 11.454 Prereq: None U (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units. HASS-S Credit cannot also be received for 6.8530 , 6.C35[J] , 6.C85[J] , 11.454 , 11.C35[J] , 11.C85[J]

Data visualizations communicate the insights found in data to non-technical audiences. Students develop technical skills to work with big data to expose societal issues and communicate the insights. Focuses on different topics each year. After framing that topic, the first half of the subject focuses on learning to analyze the data with Python. The second half of the subject focuses on learning web-based data visualization tools (JavaScript and D3). Students learn data storytelling concepts and produce web-based data visualizations for their final projects. Throughout, students learn ethical data practices. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

S. Williams

11.C35[J] Interactive Data Visualization and Society

Same subject as 6.C35[J] Subject meets with 6.C85[J] , 11.C85[J] Prereq: None U (Spring) 3-1-8 units Credit cannot also be received for 6.8530 , 11.154 , 11.454

See description under subject 6.C35[J] . Enrollment limited.

C. D'Ignazio, A. Satyanarayan, S. Williams

11.155[J] Data and Society

Same subject as IDS.057[J] , STS.005[J] Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: U (Spring) 3-0-9 units. HASS-H

See description under subject STS.005[J] .

E. Medina, S. Williams

11.156 Healthy Cities: Assessing Health Impacts of Policies and Plans

Subject meets with 11.356 Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: U (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Examines the built, psychosocial, economic, and natural environment factors that affect health behaviors and outcomes, including population-level patterns of disease distribution and health disparities. Introduces tools designed to integrate public health considerations into policy-making and planning. Provides extensive practical, budgeting, and programming training in the application of health impact assessment tools meant to integrate Health in All Policies, including Health Impact Assessment (HIA) methodology, which brings a health lens to policy, budgeting, and planning debates. Emphasizes health equity and healthy cities, and explores the relationship between health equity and broader goals for social and racial justice. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 30.

11.157[J] China's Growth: Political Economy, Business, and Urbanization

Same subject as 15.2391[J] Subject meets with 11.257[J] , 15.239[J] Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: U (Spring; second half of term) 3-0-3 units

Examines different aspects of the growth of China, which has the second largest economy in the world. Studies the main drivers of Chinese economic growth and the forces behind the largest urbanization in human history. Discusses how to understand China's booming real estate market, and how Chinese firms operate to attain their success, whether through hard-working entrepreneurship or political connections with the government. Explores whether the top-down urban and industrial policy interventions improve efficiency or cause misallocation problems, and whether the Chinese political system in an enabler of Chinese growth or a potential impediment to the country's future growth prospects. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

Y. Huang, S. Zheng, Z. Tan

11.158 Behavioral Science, AI, and Urban Mobility

Subject meets with 11.478 Prereq: None U (Fall) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Integrates behavioral science, artificial intelligence, and transportation technology to shape travel behavior, design mobility systems and business, and reform transportation policies. Introduces methods to sense travel behavior with new technology and measurements; nudge behavior through perception and preference shaping; design mobility systems and ventures that integrate autonomous vehicles, shared mobility, and public transit; and regulate travel with behavior-sensitive transport policies. Challenges students to pilot behavioral experiments and design creative mobility systems, business and policies. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

11.159 Entrepreneurial Negotiation

Subject meets with 11.259 Prereq: None U (Fall; partial term) 1-3-2 units

Combines online weekly face-to-face negotiation exercises and in-person lectures designed to empower budding entrepreneurs with negotiation techniques to protect and increase the value of their ideas, deal with ego and build trust in relationships, and navigate entrepreneurial bargaining under constraints of economic uncertainty and complex technical considerations. Students must complete scheduled weekly assignments, including feedback memos to counterpart negotiators, and meet on campus with the instructor to discuss and reflect on their experiences with the course. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

11.162 Politics of Energy and the Environment

Focuses on the politics of making local, state, national and international decisions on energy and the environment. Topics include implementing energy efficiency measures, siting nuclear and alternative energy plants, promoting oil and gas development offshore and in wilderness, adapting to climate change, handling toxic waste, protecting endangered species, and conserving water. Case studies include Cape Wind, disputes over oil and gas exploration in the Arctic, the response to Hurricane Katrina, and efforts to craft and comply with the greenhouse gas emissions limits.

11.164[J] Human Rights at Home and Abroad

Same subject as 17.391[J] Subject meets with 11.497 Prereq: Permission of instructor U (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 2-0-10 units. HASS-S

Provides a rigorous and critical introduction to the history, foundation, structure, and operation of the human rights movement. Focuses on key ideas, actors, methods and sources, and critically evaluates the field. Addresses current debates in human rights, including the relationship with security, democracy, development and globalization, urbanization, equality (in housing and other economic and social rights; women's rights; ethnic, religious and racial discrimination; and policing/conflict), post-conflict rebuilding and transitional justice, and technology in human rights activism. No prior coursework needed, but work experience, or community service that demonstrates familiarity with global affairs or engagement with ethics and social justice issues, preferred. Students taking graduate version are expected to write a research paper.

B. Rajagopal

11.165 Urban Energy Systems and Policy

Subject meets with 1.286[J] , 11.477[J] Prereq: 14.01 or permission of instructor U (Fall) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Examines efforts in developing and advanced nations and regions. Examines key issues in the current and future development of urban energy systems, such as technology, use, behavior, regulation, climate change, and lack of access or energy poverty. Case studies on a diverse sampling of cities explore how prospective technologies and policies can be implemented. Includes intensive group research projects, discussion, and debate. Students taking the graduate version complete additional assignments.

11.166 Law, Social Movements, and Public Policy: Comparative and International Experience

Subject meets with 11.496 Prereq: Permission of instructor U (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Studies the interaction between law, courts, and social movements in shaping domestic and global public policy. Examines how groups mobilize to use law to affect change and why they succeed and fail. Case studies explore the interplay between law, social movements, and public policy in current issues, such as gender, race, labor, trade, climate change/environment, and LGBTQ rights. Introduces theories of public policy, social movements, law and society, and transnational studies. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 15.

11.167[J] Global Energy: Politics, Markets, and Policy

Same subject as 14.47[J] , 15.2191[J] , 17.399[J] Prereq: None U (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units. HASS-S Credit cannot also be received for 11.267[J] , 15.219[J]

See description under subject 15.2191[J] . Preference to juniors, seniors, and Energy Minors.

11.169 Global Climate Policy and Sustainability

Subject meets with 11.269 Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: U (Spring) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Examines climate politics both nationally and globally. Addresses economic growth, environmental preservation, and social equity through the lens of sustainability. Uses various country and regional cases to analyze how sociopolitical, economic and environmental values shape climate policy. Students develop recommendations for making climate policy more effective and sustainable. Students taking the graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 25.

J. Knox-Hayes

11.170 Cities and Climate Change: Mitigation and Adaptation

Subject meets with 11.270 Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: U (Spring) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S Can be repeated for credit.

Examines climate adaptation and mitigation responses at the city level. Discusses factors of greatest concern in adapting cities to climate change, including infrastructure; energy, food, and water systems; health; housing; and environmental justice. Various city and regional cases are used to analyze how cities are mobilizing to face climate change and integrate core considerations into urban planning. Working on independent case studies, students analyze how cities make urban planning decisions with respect to climate adaptation. In the process, students practice analytical skills to better understand how urban policies are made, and how they can be improved. Students develop recommendations for making climate adaptation more effective and sustainable at the city level. Assignment requirements differ for students completing the graduate version. Limited to 25.

11.171 Indigenous Environmental Planning

Subject meets with 11.271 Prereq: None U (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Examines how Indigenous peoples' relationships to their homelands and local environments has been adversely affected by Western planning. Explores how these relationships have changed over time as American Indians, Alaska Natives, and other groups indigenous to North America and Hawai'i have adapted to new conditions, including exclusion from markets of exchange, overhunting/overfishing, dispossession, petrochemical development, conservation, mainstream environmentalism, and climate change. Seeks to understand current environmental challenges and their roots and discover potential solutions to address these challenges. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

J. Knox-Hayes, L. Susskind

11.173[J] Infrastructure Design for Climate Change

Same subject as 1.103[J] Subject meets with 1.303[J] , 11.273[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor U (Fall) 0-2-4 units

See description under subject 1.103[J] . Enrollment limited; preference to juniors and seniors.

H. Einstein

Laboratories

11.188 introduction to spatial analysis and gis laboratory.

Prereq: None U (Fall, Spring) 3-3-6 units. Institute LAB Credit cannot also be received for 11.205

An introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a tool for visualizing and analyzing spatial data. Explores how GIS can make maps, guide decisions, answer questions, and advocate for change. Class builds toward a project in which students critically apply GIS techniques to an area of interest. Students build data discovery, cartography, and spatial analysis skills while learning to reflect on their positionality within the research design process. Because maps and data are never neutral, the class incorporates discussions of power, ethics, and data throughout as part of a reflective practice. Instruction and practice in oral and written communication provided.

S. Williams, C. D'Ignazio, E. Huntley

Tutorials, Fieldwork, and Internships

11.uar[j] climate and sustainability undergraduate advanced research (new).

Same subject as 1.UAR[J] , 3.UAR[J] , 5.UAR[J] , 12.UAR[J] , 15.UAR[J] , 22.UAR[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor U (Fall, Spring) 2-0-4 units Can be repeated for credit.

See description under subject 1.UAR[J] . Application required; consult MCSC website for more information.

D. Plata, E. Olivetti

11.UR Undergraduate Research

Prereq: None U (Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer) Units arranged [P/D/F] Can be repeated for credit.

Undergraduate research opportunities in Urban Studies and Planning. For further information, consult the Departmental Coordinators.

11.URG Undergraduate Research

Prereq: None U (Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer) Units arranged Can be repeated for credit.

11.THT[J] Thesis Research Design Seminar

Same subject as 4.THT[J] Prereq: None U (Fall) 3-0-9 units Can be repeated for credit.

Designed for students writing a thesis in Urban Studies and Planning or Architecture. Develop research topics, review relevant research and scholarship, frame research questions and arguments, choose an appropriate methodology for analysis, and draft introductory and methodology sections.

11.THU Undergraduate Thesis

Prereq: 11.THT[J] U (Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer) Units arranged Can be repeated for credit.

Program of research leading to the writing of an SB thesis. To be arranged by the student under approved supervision.

11.189-11.190 Urban Fieldwork

Prereq: None U (Fall, Spring) Units arranged [P/D/F] Can be repeated for credit.

Practical application of city and regional planning techniques to towns, cities, and regions, including problems of replanning, redevelopment, and renewal of existing communities. Includes internships, under staff supervision, in municipal and state agencies and departments.

11.191-11.192 Independent Study

Prereq: None U (Fall, IAP, Spring) Units arranged [P/D/F] Can be repeated for credit.

For undergraduates wishing to pursue further study in specialized areas of urban studies or city and regional planning not covered in regular subjects.

11.193-11.194 Supervised Readings

Reading and discussion of topics in urban studies and planning.

11.S03 Special Subject: Transportation Shaping Sustainable Urbanization: Connections with Behavior, Urban Economics and Planning

Prereq: None U (Fall; partial term) 2-0-1 units

Explores changes in the built environment expected from transportation investments, and how they can be used to promote sustainable and equitable cities. Reflects on how notable characteristics of cities can be explained by their historical and current transportation features. Introduces theoretical basis and empirical evidence to analyze the urban transformation autonomous vehicles will bring and how shared mobility services affect travel behavior, and its implications from an urban planning perspective. Lectures interspersed with guest speakers and an optional field trip. Subject can count toward the 6-unit discovery-focused credit limit for first-year students. Licensed for Fall 2023 by the Committee on Curricula. Limited to 18.

F. Duarte, A. Borges Costa

11.S04 Special Subject: Topics in Affordable Housing

Prereq: None U (Spring) 1-0-2 units

Weekly seminar-style discussions on topics in affordable housing, including federal funding programs, homelessness prevention and shelters, local land use and zoning for affordability, innovative housing models/designs, fair housing laws, the history of public housing in the US, and international comparisons. Subject can count toward the 6-unit discovery-focused credit limit for first year students.

 Ezra Haber Glenn

11.S187 Special Subject: Urban Studies and Planning

Prereq: None U (Fall; second half of term) Units arranged [P/D/F] Can be repeated for credit.

For undergraduates wishing to pursue further study or fieldwork in specialized areas of urban studies or city and regional planning not covered in regular subjects of instruction.

11.S188 Special Subject: Urban Studies and Planning

Prereq: None U (Fall, IAP) Units arranged [P/D/F] Can be repeated for credit.

11.S189 Special Subject: Urban Studies and Planning

11.s195 special subject: urban studies and planning.

Prereq: None U (Fall, Spring) Units arranged Can be repeated for credit.

11.S196-11.S199 Special Subject: Urban Studies and Planning

For undergraduates wishing to pursue further study or fieldwork in specialized areas of urban studies or city and regional planning not covered in regular subjects of instruction. 11.S198 is graded P/D/F.

Master's Core Subjects

11.200 gateway: urban studies and planning 1.

Prereq: None G (Fall) 4-1-7 units

Introduces the theory and practice of planning and urban studies through exploration of the history of the field, case studies, and criticisms of traditional practice.

11.201 Gateway: Urban Studies and Planning 2

Prereq: 11.200 G (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 4-1-7 units

Builds on 11.200 by exploring in more detail contemporary planning tools and techniques, as well as case studies of planning and urban studies practice.

11.202 Planning Economics

Prereq: 11.203 G (Fall; second half of term) 3-0-3 units

Students use economic theory tools acquired in 11.203 to understand the mutual processes of individual action and structural constraint and investigate crises in search of opportunities for mitigation and reparation. Investigates a variety of structural crises from throughout the realms of planning, such as: capitalism, climate change, and (in)action; white supremacy, segregation, and gentrification; colonialism, informality, and infrastructure; autocentricity and other legacies of the built environment.

11.203 Microeconomics

Prereq: None G (Fall; first half of term) 3-0-3 units

Students develop a suite of tools from economic theory to understand the mutual processes of individual action and structural constraint. Students apply these tools to human interaction and social decision-making. Builds an understanding of producer theory from the collaborative possibilities and physical constraints that unfold as production is scaled up. Presents consumer theory as the process of individuals doing the best for themselves, their families, and their communities -- subject to the sociostructural constraints under which they operate. Considers alternative frameworks of social welfare, with a specific focus on marginalization and crisis, as well as common policy interventions and their implications under different constructions of welfare.

11.204[J] People and the Planet: Environmental Histories and Engineering

Same subject as IDS.524[J] Subject meets with 11.004[J] , STS.033[J] Prereq: None G (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-3-6 units

Explores historical and cultural aspects of complex environmental problems and engineering approaches to sustainable solutions. Introduces quantitative analyses and methodological tools to understand environmental issues that have human and natural components. Demonstrates concepts through a series of historical and cultural analyses of environmental challenges and their engineering responses. Builds writing, quantitative modeling, and analytical skills in assessing environmental systems problems and developing engineering solutions. Through environmental data gathering and analysis, students engage with the challenges and possibilities of engineering in complex, interacting systems, and investigate plausible, symbiotic, systems-oriented solutions. Students taking graduate version complete additional analysis of reading assignments and a more in-depth and longer final paper.

11.205 Introduction to Spatial Analysis and GIS

Prereq: None G (Fall, Spring; first half of term) 2-2-2 units Credit cannot also be received for 11.188

An introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS): a tool for visualizing and analyzing data representing locations and their attributes. GIS is invaluable for planners, scholars, and professionals who shape cities and a political instrument with which activists advocate for change. Class includes exercises to make maps, query databases, and analyze spatial data. Because maps and data are never neutral, the class incorporates discussions of power, ethics, and data throughout as part of a reflective practice. Limited enrollment; preference to first-year MCP students.

11.206 Poverty and Economic Security

Subject meets with 11.006 Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: G (Fall) Acad Year 2024-2025: Not offered 3-0-9 units

11.220 Quantitative Reasoning and Statistical Methods for Planning I

Prereq: Permission of instructor Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Spring) 4-2-6 units

Develops logical, empirically based arguments using statistical techniques and analytic methods. Covers elementary statistics, probability, and other types of quantitative reasoning useful for description, estimation, comparison, and explanation. Emphasizes the use and limitations of analytical techniques in planning practice. Restricted to MCP students.

Department-wide Subjects

11.222 introduction to critical qualitative methods.

Prereq: None G (Spring) 3-0-3 units

Introduces qualitative methods as an approach to critical inquiry in urban planning research and practice. Emphasizes the importance of historical context, place-specificity, and the experiences and views of individuals as ways of knowing relationships of power and privilege between people, in place, and over time. Explores a range of critical qualitative methods including those used in archival, interview, observational, visual, and case study analysis.

K. Crockett

11.228[J] Collectives: New Forms of Sharing

Same subject as 4.229[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

See description under subject 4.229[J] . Limited to 15.

Consult R. Segal

11.233 Research Design for Policy Analysis and Planning

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) 3-0-9 units

Develops skills in research design for policy analysis and planning. Emphasizes the logic of the research process and its constituent elements. Topics include philosophy of science, question formulation, hypothesis generation and theory construction, data collection techniques (e.g. experimental, survey, interview), ethical issues in research, and research proposal preparation. Limited to doctoral students in Course 11.

11.234 Making Sense: Qualitative Methods for Designers and Planners

Prereq: None G (Spring) 3-3-6 units

Surveys uses of qualitative methods and social theory in urban design and planning research and practice. Topics include observing environments, physical traces, and environmental behavior; asking questions; focused interviews; standardized questionnaires; use of written archival materials; use of visual materials, including photographs, new media, and maps; case studies; and comparative methods. Emphasizes use of each of these skills to collect and make sense of qualitative data in community and institutional settings.

11.236 Participatory Action Research (PAR)

Prereq: None G (Fall) 3-0-9 units

Introduces students to participatory action research (PAR), an approach to research and inquiry that enables communities to examine and address consequential societal problems. Explores theoretical and practical questions at the heart of partnerships between applied social scientists and community partners. Focus includes the history of PAR and action research; debates regarding PAR as a form of applied social science; and practical, political, and ethical questions in the practice of PAR. Guides students through an iterative process for developing their own personal theories of practice. Covers co-designing and co-conducting research with community partners at various stages of the research process .Examines actual cases in which PAR-like methods have been used with greater or lesser success; and interaction with community members, organizations, and individuals who have been involved in PAR collaborations. 

11.238[J] Ethics of Intervention

Same subject as 21A.409[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor Acad Year 2023-2024: G (Fall) Acad Year 2024-2025: Not offered 3-0-9 units

An historical and cross-cultural study of the logics and practices of intervention: the ways that individuals, institutions, and governments identify conditions of need or states of emergency within and across borders that require a response. Examines when a response is viewed as obligatory, when is it deemed unnecessary, and by whom; when the intercession is considered fulfilled; and the rationales or assumptions that are employed in assessing interventions. Theories of the state, globalization, and humanitarianism; power, policy, and institutions; gender, race, and ethnicity; and law, ethics, and morality are examined.

11.239 The City in Film

Subject meets with 11.139 Prereq: Permission of instructor Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Spring) 2-2-5 units

Surveys important developments in urbanism from 1900 to the present, using film as a lens to explore and interpret aspects of the urban experience in the US and abroad. Topics include industrialization, demographics, diversity, the environment, and the relationship between the community and the individual. Films vary from year to year but always include a balance of classics from the history of film, an occasional experimental/avant-garde film, and a number of more recent, mainstream movies. Students taking undergraduate version complete writing assignments that focus on observation, analysis, and the essay, and give an oral presentation.

11.243 Research Methods in Global Health and Development

Subject meets with 11.143 Prereq: None G (Spring) 3-3-6 units

11.244[J] Race, History, and the Built Environment

Same subject as STS.424[J] Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Examines how the development of the built environment produces and reproduces conceptions of race - sociobiological theories of human difference. Using historical and cross-cultural cases, tracks the social and political lives of material objects, infrastructures, technologies, and architectures using projects of settler colonialism, nation-building, community development and planning, and in post-conflict and post-disaster settings. Analyzes social theories of race, place, space, and materiality; power, identity, and embodiment; and memory, death, and haunting. Explores how conceptions of belonging, citizenship, and exclusion are represented and designed spatially through analysis of examples, such as the appropriation of land for infrastructure programs, the erasure and commemoration of heritage in public spaces, and the use of the built environment to impose colonial ideologies. Limited to 14 students.

Erica James

11.245[J] DesignX Entrepreneurship

Same subject as 4.245[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor G (IAP) 4-0-2 units

Students in teams accepted to the MITdesignX accelerator begin work on their ventures in this intense two-week bootcamp. Participants identify the needs and problems that demonstrate the demand for their innovative technology, policy, products, and/or services. They research and investigate various markets and stakeholders pertinent to their ventures, and begin to test their ideas and thesis in real-world interviews and interactions. Subject presented in workshop format, giving teams the chance to jump-start their ventures together with a cohort of people working on ideas that span the realm of design, planning real estate, and the human environment. Registration limited to students accepted to the MITdesignX accelerator in the fall.

S. Gronfeldt, D. Frenchman, G. Rosenzweig

11.246[J] DesignX Accelerator

Same subject as 4.246[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Spring) 2-4-6 units

Students continue to work in their venture teams to advance innovative ideas, products, and services oriented to design, planning, and the human environment. Presented in a workshop format with supplementary lectures. Teams are matched with external mentors for additional support in business and product development. At the end of the term, teams pitch their ventures to an audience from across the school and MIT, investors, industry, and cities. Registration limited to students accepted to the MITdesignX accelerator in the fall.

11.250 Transportation Research Design

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall, Spring) 2-0-1 units Can be repeated for credit.

Seminar dissects ten transportation studies from head to toe to illustrate how research ideas are initiated, framed, analyzed, evidenced, written, presented, criticized, revised, extended, and published, quoted and applied. Students learn by mimicking and learn by doing, and design and execute their own transportation research. Limited to 20.

11.251 Frontier of Transportation Research

Prereq: None G (Fall, Spring) 1-0-2 units Can be repeated for credit.

Surveys the frontier of transportation research offered by 12 MIT faculty presenting their latest findings, ideas, and innovations. Students write weekly memos to reflect on these talks, make connections to their own research, and give short presentations.

Jinhua Zhao

11.252[J] Design and Development of Games for Learning

Same subject as CMS.863[J] Subject meets with 11.127[J] , CMS.590[J] Prereq: None G (Spring) 3-6-3 units

See description under subject CMS.863[J] .

11.255 Negotiation and Dispute Resolution in the Public Sector

Prereq: None G (Spring) 4-0-8 units

Investigates social conflict and distributional disputes in the public sector. While theoretical aspects of conflict and consensus building are considered, focus is on the practice of negotiation and dispute resolution. Comparisons between unassisted and assisted negotiation are reviewed along with the techniques of facilitation and mediation.

11.256[J] Encounters and Ruptures: Writing About the Modern City

Same subject as 4.256[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 2-0-7 units

Through extensive reading and writing, students explore the promise and perils of the variegated city, focusing on topics that demand urgent attention: migration, climate change, inequality, racial injustice, and public space. Class strives to create artful narratives by examining how various forms — essay, memoir, longform journalism, poetry, fiction, film, and photography — illuminate our understanding of cities. Special emphasis on the writer as the reader's advocate and on the indispensability of the writer-editor relationship, with the goal of writing with greater creativity and sophistication for specialized and general interest audiences. Limited to 12 students.

11.257[J] China's Growth: Political Economy, Business, and Urbanization

Same subject as 15.239[J] Subject meets with 11.157[J] , 15.2391[J] Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Spring; second half of term) 3-0-3 units

11.258 Sustainable Urbanization Research Seminar (New)

Prereq: None G (Fall) 2-0-1 units Can be repeated for credit.

Reviews the seminal as well as latest research on the driving forces of urbanization, real estate markets, urban sustainability in both developed and developing economies. Examines the tensions as well as synergies between urbanization and sustainability, and designs and evaluates policies and business strategies that can enhance the synergies while reduce the tensions. Covers various research topics under the umbrella of urbanization under three modules (sustainable urbanization; sustainable real estate; urbanization in emerging economies) where students study the initiation of an idea to its publication, including but not limited to, analyzing, framing, writing and critiquing as parts of the process. Sessions are organized as a semi-structured dialogue.

11.259 Entrepreneurial Negotiation

Subject meets with 11.159 Prereq: None G (Fall; partial term) 1-3-2 units

11.260 Sustainable Development and Institutions

Prereq: None G (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units

Explores the theory and application of the principles of sustainable development as they relate to organizational change management, decision-making processes, goal setting methodology and solution development. Leverages the MIT campus as a living laboratory to gain unique insight into the change management and solution development process. Limited to 18.

11.263[J] Urban Last-Mile Logistics

Same subject as 1.263[J] , SCM.293[J] Prereq: SCM.254 or permission of instructor G (Spring; second half of term) 2-0-4 units

See description under subject SCM.293[J] .

M.  Winkenbach

11.267[J] Global Energy: Politics, Markets, and Policy

Same subject as 15.219[J] Prereq: None G (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units Credit cannot also be received for 11.167[J] , 14.47[J] , 15.2191[J] , 17.399[J]

See description under subject 15.219[J] .

11.268 Laws of the Land: Land Use and Environmental Law and Policy (New)

Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Fall) 3-0-3 units

Environmental justice and climate change are pressing contemporary concerns.  Crucial dimensions of the exposure of households to environmental harms and benefits are determined by land use and environmental laws.  Land use and environmental laws are also central to reducing carbon emissions and building environmentally sustainable and resilient communities.  Introduces students to the legal and social science dimension of these two crucial areas of law that is well-covered in the current curriculum. Enrollment limited to 30.

11.269 Global Climate Policy and Sustainability

Subject meets with 11.169 Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Examines climate politics both nationally and globally. Addresses economic growth, environmental preservation, and social equity through the lens of sustainability. Uses various country and regional cases to analyze how sociopolitical, economic and environmental values shape climate policy. Students develop recommendations for making climate policy more effective and sustainable. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 25.

11.270 Cities and Climate Change: Mitigation and Adaptation

Subject meets with 11.170 Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Spring) 3-0-9 units Can be repeated for credit.

11.271 Indigenous Environmental Planning

Subject meets with 11.171 Prereq: None G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Examines how Indigenous peoples' relationships to their homelands and local environments has been adversely affected by Western planning. Explores how these relationships have changed over time as American Indians, Alaska Natives, and other groups indigenous to North America and Hawai'i have adapted to new conditions, including exclusion from markets of exchange, overhunting/overfishing, dispossession, petrochemical development, conservation, mainstream environmentalism, and climate change. Seeks to understand current environmental challenges and their roots and discover potential solutions to address these challenges. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 25.

11.273[J] Infrastructure Design for Climate Change

Same subject as 1.303[J] Subject meets with 1.103[J] , 11.173[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) 0-2-4 units

See description under subject 1.303[J] .

11.274 Cybersecurity Clinic

Subject meets with 11.074 Prereq: None G (Fall, Spring) 2-4-6 units

Program Group Subjects

11.301[j] introduction to urban design and development.

Same subject as 4.252[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Examines the physical and social structure of cities and ways they can be changed. Includes significant thinkers in urban form, 20th-century American city design, urban design and society, global urban design, and design of neighborhoods and streets. Core lectures are supplemented by student papers examining the relationship of contemporary projects to history and theory, and factors of high quality global urban design and development. Guest speakers present cases involving current projects or research illustrating scope and methods of urban design theory and practice. Intended for those seeking an introduction to fundamental knowledge of theory and praxis in city design and development.

11.302[J] Urban Design Politics

Same subject as 4.253[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Examines ways that urban design contributes to distribution of political power and resources in cities. Investigates the nature of relations between built form and political purposes through close study of public and private sector design commissions and planning processes that have been clearly motivated by political pressures, as well as more tacit examples. Lectures and discussions focus on cases from both developed and developing countries.

11.303[J] Real Estate Development Studio

Same subject as 4.254[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Spring) 6-0-12 units

Focuses on the synthesis of urban, mixed-use real estate projects, including the integration of physical design and programming with finance and marketing. Interdisciplinary student teams analyze how to maximize value across multiple dimensions in the process of preparing professional development proposals for sites in US cities and internationally. Reviews emerging real estate products and innovative developments to provide a foundation for studio work. Two major projects are interspersed with lectures and field trips. Integrates skills and knowledge in the MSRED program; also open to other students interested in real estate development by permission of the instructors.

11.304[J] Site and Environmental Systems Planning

Same subject as 4.255[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Spring) 6-0-9 units

Introduces a range of practical approaches involved in evaluating and planning sites within the context of natural and cultural systems. Develops the knowledge and skills to analyze and plan a site for development through exercises and an urban design project. Topics include land inventory, urban form, spatial organization of uses, parcelization, design of roadways, grading, utility systems, off-site impacts, and landscape strategies.

E. Ben-Joseph, M. A. Ocampo

11.305 Doing Good by Doing Well: Planning and Development Case Studies that Promote both the Public Good and Real Estate Value

Prereq: None G (Fall) 2-0-1 units

Seminar studies how the messy and complex forces of politics, planning and the real estate market have collectively shaped Boston's urban fabric and skyline in the last two decades. Using some of the city's most important real estate development proposals as case studies, students dissect and analyze Boston's negotiated development review and permitting process to understand what it takes beyond a great development concept and a sound financial pro forma to earn community and political support. Throughout the term, students identify strategies for success and pitfalls for failure within this intricate approval process, as well as how these lessons can be generalized and applied to other cities and real estate markets.

11.307[J] China Urban Design Studio

Same subject as 4.173[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Spring) 0-21-0 units

Design studio that includes architects, urban designers, and city planners working in teams on a contemporary development project of importance in China, particularly in transitional, deindustrializing cities. Students analyze conditions, explore alternatives, and synthesize architecture, city design, and implementation plans. Lectures and brief study tours expose students to history and contemporary issues of urbanism in China. Offered every other spring at MIT in parallel with urban design studio at Tsinghua University, Beijing, involving students and faculty from both schools. Field visit to China will occur in January prior to studio. Limited to 10.

11.308[J] Ecological Urbanism Seminar

Same subject as 4.213[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Weds the theory and practice of city design and planning as a means of adaptation with the insights of ecology and other environmental disciplines. Presents ecological urbanism as critical to the future of the city and its design, as it provides a framework for addressing challenges that threaten humanity — such as climate change, rising sea level, and environmental and social justice — while fulfilling human needs for health, safety, welfare, meaning, and delight. Applies a historical and theoretical perspective to the solution of real-world challenges.  Enrollment limited.

11.309[J] Sensing Place: Photography as Inquiry

Same subject as 4.215[J] Prereq: None G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Explores photography as a disciplined way of seeing, and as a medium of inquiry and of expressing ideas. Readings, observations, and photographs form the basis of discussions on landscape, light, significant detail, place, poetics, narrative, and how photography can inform research, design and planning, among other issues. Recommended for students who want to employ visual methods in their theses.  Enrollment limited.

11.312 Engaging Community: Models and Methods for Strengthening Democracy

Prereq: None G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Examines the demographic complexity of cities and their fundamental design challenges for planners and other professions responsible for engaging the public. Working with clients, participants learn design principles for creating public engagement practices necessary for building inclusive civic infrastructure in cities. Participants also have the opportunity to review and practice strategies, techniques, and methods for engaging communities in demographically complex settings.

C. McDowell

11.313 Advanced Research Workshop in Landscape and Urbanism

Prereq: Permission of instructor Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Fall) 3-0-9 units

In-depth research workshop on pressing socio-economic and environmental design issue of our time, includes discussion and practices with real-world stakeholders experimenting with new development typologies and technologies. The goal is to generate well-grounded, design-based solutions and landscape infrastructural responses to the physical design problem being addressed. Specific focus and practicum status is adjusted on a year-to-year basis.

11.315[J] Disaster Resilient Design

Same subject as 4.217[J] Subject meets with 4.218 Prereq: None G (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-6 units

See description under subject 4.217[J] . Limited to 15.

Consult M. Mazereeuw

11.318 Senseable Cities

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units

Studies how ubiquitous and real-time information technology can help us to understand and improve cities and regions. Explores the impact of integrating real-time information technology into the built environment. Introduces theoretical foundations of ubiquitous computing. Provides technical tools for tactile development of small-scale projects. Limited to 24.

11.320 Digital City Design Workshop

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Students develop proposals, at the city and neighborhood scales, that integrate urban design, planning, and digital technology. Aims to create more efficient, responsive, and livable urban places and systems that combine physical form with digital media, sensing, communications, and data analysis. Students conduct field research, build project briefs, and deliver designs or prototypes, while supported by lectures, case studies, and involvement from experts and representatives of subject cities. Limited to 12.

11.321 Data Science and Real Estate

Introduces the principles of data science and how data science is impacting cities and real estate, with a combination of fundamental lectures, guest speakers, and use cases. Explores how data science has been adopted by the real estate industry — from developers to city planners. Presents practical skills in data science and provides the opportunity for students to produce their own work and practice basic coding skills applied to real estate.

11.323 International Real Estate Transactions

Prereq: None G (Spring; second half of term) 3-0-3 units

Focuses on analyzing a variety of unique international real estate investment and development transactions. Blends real estate investing and development decision-making with discussion-based learning from a multidisciplinary standpoint. Seeks to facilitate a richer understanding of domestic (US) real estate transaction concepts by contextualizing them in the general analytical framework underpinning international real estate investment decision-making.

M. Srivastava

11.324 Modeling Pedestrian Activity in Cities

Subject meets with 11.024 Prereq: None G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

11.325 Technological Change & Innovation for Real Estate and Cities

Prereq: None G (Fall; second half of term) 2-0-4 units

Seeks to examine the technological change and innovation that is disrupting the foundation of how we create the built environment. Through a series of educational workshops, students scout, catalog, and track technologies by looking at new real estate uses, products, processes, and organizational strategies at MIT labs and around the globe. Participants contribute to an interactive web tool, "The Tech Tracker," which provides technology intelligence to students and real estate professionals to enhance their understanding of technological progress.

F. Duarte, J. Scott

11.328[J] Urban Design Skills: Observing, Interpreting, and Representing the City

Same subject as 4.240[J] Prereq: None G (Fall; first half of term) 4-2-2 units

Introduces methods for observing, interpreting, and representing the urban environment. Students draw on their senses and develop their ability to deduce, question, and test conclusions about how the built environment is designed, used, and valued. The interrelationship of built form, circulation networks, open space, and natural systems are a key focus. Supplements existing classes that cover theory and history of city design and urban planning and prepares students without design backgrounds with the fundamentals of physical planning. Intended as a foundation for 11.329[J] .

E. Ben-Joseph, M. Ocampo 

11.329[J] Advanced Urban Design Skills: Observing, Interpreting, and Representing the City

Same subject as 4.248[J] Prereq: 11.328[J] or permission of instructor G (Fall; second half of term) 4-2-4 units

Through a studio-based course in planning and urban design, builds on the foundation acquired in 11.328[J] to engage in creative exploration of how design contributes to resilient, just, and vibrant urban places. Through the planning and design of two projects, students creatively explore spatial ideas and utilize various digital techniques to communicate their design concepts, giving form to strategic thinking. Develops approaches and techniques to evaluate the plural structure of the built environment and offer propositions that address policies and regulations as well as the values, behaviors, and wishes of the different users.

E. Ben-Joseph, M. Ocampo

11.330[J] The Making of Cities

Same subject as 4.241[J] Prereq: 11.001[J] , 11.301[J] , or permission of instructor G (Spring) Units arranged

See description under subject 4.241[J] .

L. Jacobi, R. Segal

11.332[J] Urban Design Studio

Same subject as 4.163[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) Units arranged Can be repeated for credit.

See description under subject 4.163[J] .

11.333[J] Urban Design Seminar: Perspectives on Contemporary Practice

Same subject as 4.244[J] Prereq: None G (Spring) 2-0-7 units

Examines innovations in urban design practice occurring through the work of leading practitioners in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning. Features lectures by major national and global practitioners in urban design. Projects and topics vary based on term and speakers but may cover architectural urbanism, landscape and ecology, arts and culture, urban design regulation and planning agencies, and citywide and regional design. Focuses on analysis and synthesis of themes discussed in presentations and discussions.

11.334[J] Advanced Seminar in Landscape and Urbanism

Same subject as 4.264[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units

Explores theories, practices, and emerging trends in the fields of landscape architecture and urbanism, such as systemic design, landscape urbanism, engineered nature, drosscapes, urban biodiversity, urban mobility, megaregions, and urban agriculture. Lectures, readings, and guest speakers present a wide array of multi-disciplinary topics, including current works from P-REX lab. Students conduct independent and group research that is future-oriented.

11.337[J] Urban Design Ideals and Action

Same subject as 4.247[J] Prereq: None G (Fall) 2-0-7 units

Examines the relationship between urban design ideals, urban design action, and the built environment through readings, discussions, presentations, and papers. Analyzes the diverse design ideals that influence cities and settlements, and investigates how urban designers use them to shape urban form. Provides a critical understanding of the diverse formal methods used to intervene creatively in both developed and developing contexts, especially pluralistic and informal built environments.

11.338 Urban Design Studio

Prereq: 11.328[J] or permission of instructor Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Fall) Units arranged

Examines the rehabilitation and re-imagination of a city, region, or territory. Analyzes human settlement at multiple scales: regional, citywide, neighborhood, and individual dwellings. Aims to shape innovative design solutions, enhance social amenity, and improve economic equity through strategic and creative geographical, urban design and architectural thinking. Intended for students with backgrounds in architecture, community development, urban design, and physical planning. Limited to 12 via application and lottery.

11.339 Downtown

Subject meets with 11.026[J] , 21H.321[J] Prereq: None G (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 2-0-7 units

Seminar on downtown in US cities from the late 19th century to the late 20th. Emphasis on downtown as an idea, place, and cluster of interests, on the changing character of downtown, and on recent efforts to rebuild it. Topics considered include subways, skyscrapers, highways, urban renewal, and retail centers. Focus on readings, discussions, and individual research projects. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

11.344[J] Innovative Project Delivery in the Public and Private Sectors

Same subject as 1.472[J] Prereq: None G (Spring; first half of term) 2-0-4 units

Develops a strong strategic understanding of how best to deliver various types of projects in the built environment. Examines the compatibility of various project delivery methods, consisting of organizations, contracts, and award methods, with certain types of projects and owners. Six methods examined: traditional general contracting; construction management; multiple primes; design-build; turnkey; and build-operate-transfer. Includes lectures, case studies, guest speakers, and a team project to analyze a case example.

C. M. Gordon

11.345[J] Entrepreneurship in the Built Environment

Same subject as 1.462[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall; first half of term) 2-0-4 units

Introduction to entrepreneurship and how it shapes the world we live in. Through experiential learning in a workshop setting, students start to develop entrepreneurial mindset and skills. Through a series of workshops, students are introduced to the concept of Venture Design to create new venture proposals for the built environment as a method to understand the role of the entrepreneur in the fields of design, planning, real estate, and other related industries.

S. Gronfeldt, G. Rosenzweig

11.350 Sustainable Real Estate: Economics & Business

Offers insight into tension and synergy between sustainability and the real estate industry. Considers why sustainability matters for real estate, how real estate can contribute to sustainability and remain profitable, and what investment and market opportunities exist for sustainable real estate products and how they vary across asset classes. Lectures combine economic and business insights and tools to understand the challenges and opportunities of sustainable real estate. Provides a framework to understand issues in sustainability in real estate and examine economic mechanisms, technological advances, business models, and investment and financing strategies available to promote sustainability. Discusses buildings as basic physical assets; cities as the context where buildings interact with the built environment, policies, and urban systems; and portfolios as sustainable real estate investment vehicles in capital markets. Enrollment for MSRED, MCP, and MBA students is prioritized.

Zheng, Siqi; Tan, Zhengzhen

11.351 Real Estate Ventures I: Negotiating Development-Phase Agreements

Focuses on key business and legal issues within the principal agreements used to control, entitle, capitalize, and construct a mixed-use real estate development. Through the lens of the real estate developer and its counter-parties, students identify, discuss, and negotiate the most important business issues in right of entry, purchase and sale, development, and joint-venture agreements, as well as a construction contract and construction loan agreement. Students work closely with attorneys who specialize in the construction of such agreements and with students from area law schools and Columbia University and New York University. Enrollment limited to approximately 25; preference to MSRED students. No listeners.

W. T. McGrath

11.352 Real Estate Ventures II: Negotiating Leases, Financings, and Restructurings

Focuses on key business and legal issues within the principal agreements used to lease, finance, and restructure a real estate venture. Through the lens of the real estate developer and its counter-parties, students identify, discuss and negotiate the most important business issues in office and retail leases, and permanent loan, mezzanine loan, inter-creditor, standstill/forbearance, and loan modification (workout) agreements. Students work closely with attorneys who specialize in the construction of such agreements and with students from area law schools and New York University and Columbia University. Single-asset real estate bankruptcy and the federal income tax consequences of debt restructuring are also addressed. Limited to 25; preference to MSRED students; no Listeners.

11.353[J] Securitization of Mortgages and Other Assets

Same subject as 15.429[J] Prereq: 11.431[J] , 15.401 , or permission of instructor G (Spring; second half of term) 3-0-3 units

Investigates the economics and finance of securitization. Considers the basic mechanics of structuring deals for various asset-backed securities. Investigates the pricing of pooled assets, using Monte Carlo and other option pricing techniques, as well as various trading strategies used in these markets. Limited to 55.

11.355 International Housing Economics and Finance

Prereq: 11.202 , 11.203 , 14.01 , or permission of instructor G (Spring) 3-0-6 units Credit cannot also be received for 11.145

Presents a theory of comparative differences in international housing outcomes. Introduces institutional differences in ways housing expenditures are financed, and economic determinants of housing outcomes (construction costs, land values, housing quality, ownership rates). Analyzes flow of funds to and from the different national housing finance sectors. Develops an understanding of the greater financial and macroeconomic implications of mortgage credit sector, and how policies affect ways housing asset fluctuations impact national economies. Considers perspective of investors in international real estate markets and risks and rewards involved. Draws on lessons from international comparative approach, applies them to economic and finance policies at the local, state/provincial, and federal levels within country of choice. Meets with 11.145 when offered concurrently. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

11.356 Healthy Cities: Assessing Health Impacts of Policies and Plans

Subject meets with 11.156 Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

11.360 Community Growth and Land Use Planning

Seminar, workshops, and fieldwork on strategies to use municipal land use regulations to shape urban growth and equity. Practicum workshop builds skills in civic engagement, policy-relevant research, zoning regulations, and physical design and planning. The workshop begins with implementation of qualitative and quantitative research into the existing built environment, social, economic, and political context. It continues with the planning, design, and implementation of community engagement strategies to shape goals and vision for the projects. The practicum then explores land use scenarios, design and innovative zoning and regulatory techniques, to improve equity in the areas of housing, environment, economic development, mobility, and the public realm. Projects arranged with small teams serving municipal clients experiencing pressures of urban growth and change in Massachusetts. Preference to MCP second year students.

11.365 Sustainable Urbanization Practicum

Prereq: None G (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units

Working with a city development client (city government/real estate developer/NGO) in a fast-urbanizing region, practicum provides students an opportunity to synthesize policy, planning or urban science solutions towards sustainable urbanization, within the constraints of a client-based project. Priority is given to MCP students.

11.367 Land Use Law and Politics: Race, Place, and Law

Subject meets with 11.067 Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Explores conceptions of spatial justice and introduces students to basic principles of US law and legal analysis, focused on land use, equal protection, civil rights, fair housing, and local government law, in order to examine who should control how land is used. Examines the rights of owners of land and the types of regulatory and market-based tools that are available to control land use. Explores basic principles of civil rights and anti-discrimination law and focuses on particular civil rights problems associated with the land use regulatory system, such as exclusionary zoning, residential segregation, the fair distribution of undesirable land uses, and gentrification. Introduces basic skills of statutory drafting and interpretation. Assignments differ for those taking the graduate version.

11.368 Environmental Justice: Law and Policy

Subject meets with 11.148 Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Fall) 3-0-9 units

11.371[J] Sustainable Energy

Same subject as 1.818[J] , 2.65[J] , 10.391[J] , 22.811[J] Subject meets with 2.650[J] , 10.291[J] , 22.081[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) 3-1-8 units

See description under subject 22.811[J] .

M. W. Golay

11.373[J] Science, Politics, and Environmental Policy

Same subject as 12.885[J] Subject meets with 12.385 Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) 3-0-6 units

See description under subject 12.885[J] .

S. Solomon, J. Knox-Hayes

11.381 Infrastructure Systems in Theory and Practice

Prereq: ( 14.01 and ( 11.202 or 11.203 )) or permission of instructor Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Examines theories of infrastructure from science and technology studies, history, economics, and anthropology in order to understand the prospects for change for many new and existing infrastructure systems. Examines how these theories are then implemented within systems in the modern city, including but not limited to, energy, water, transportation, and telecommunications infrastructure. Seminar is conducted with intensive group research projects, in-class discussions and debates.

11.382 Water Diplomacy: The Science, Policy, and Politics of Managing Shared Resources

Prereq: Permission of instructor Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Examines the history and dynamics of international environmental treaty-making, or what is called environmental diplomacy. Emphasizes climate change and other atmospheric, marine resource, global waste management and sustainability-related treaties and the problems of implementing them. Reviews the legal, economic, and political dynamics of managing shared resources, involving civil society on a global basis, and enforcing transboundary agreements. Focuses especially on principles from international relations, international law, environmental management, and negotiation theory as they relate to common-pool resource management.

11.383[J] People and Profits: Shaping the Future of Work

Same subject as 15.662[J] Prereq: None G (Spring) 3-1-8 units

See description under subject 15.662[J] .

A. Stansbury

11.387 Environmental Finance and Political Economy

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units

Examines the sociopolitical, cultural and economic dimensions of the financialization of environmental goods and services. Provides an introduction to key financial terms, practices, and institutions; analyzes the logics and origins of environmental finance, as well as the operation and implications of particular systems such as carbon-trading, REDD and ecosystem service pricing and swapping. Limited to 15.

11.388[J] Dimensions of Geoengineering

Same subject as 1.850[J] , 5.000[J] , 10.600[J] , 12.884[J] , 15.036[J] , 16.645[J] Prereq: None G (Fall; first half of term) Not offered regularly; consult department 2-0-4 units

See description under subject 5.000[J] . Limited to 100.

J. Deutch, M. Zuber

11.401 Introduction to Housing, Community, and Economic Development

Subject meets with 11.041 Prereq: None G (Fall) 3-0-9 units

11.402 Urban Politics: Race and Political Change

Examines the place of US cities in political theory and practice. Particular attention given to contemporary issues of racial polarization, demographic change, poverty, sprawl, and globalization. Specific cities are a focus for discussion.

J. P. Thompson

11.403 Urban China Research Seminar

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 2-0-7 units Can be repeated for credit.

Examines the behavioral foundations and key policy issues of urban development, real estate markets, and sustainability in China. Discusses urban agglomeration economies, place-based investment, and urban vibrancy; economic geography of innovation and entrepreneurship; real estate dynamics and housing policies; land use and transportation; and urban quality of life and green cities, focusing on China but with some international comparisons.

11.404 Housing Policy and Planning in the US and Abroad

Explores the policy tools and planning techniques used to formulate and implement housing strategies at local, state and federal levels. Topics include America's housing finance system and the causes of instability in mortgage markets; economic and social inequity in access to affordable housing; approaches to meeting community housing needs through local and state planning programs; programs for addressing homelessness; and emerging ideas about sustainable development and green building related to housing development and renovation. Introduces comparative policy approaches from other countries.

11.405 Political Economy & Society

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-6 units

Focuses on the connection (or not) between mind (theory) and matter (lived experience). Examines basic tenets of classical and recent political economic theories and their explication in ideas of market economies, centrally planned economies, social market economies, and co-creative economies. Assesses theories according to their relation to the lived experiences of people in communities and workplaces.

11.407 Tools and Techniques for Inclusive Economic Development

Subject meets with 11.107 Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) 3-0-9 units

Introduces tools and techniques in economic development planning. Extensive use of data collection, analysis, and display techniques. Students build interpretive intuition skills through user experience design activities and develop a series of memos summarizing the results of their data analysis. These are aggregated into a final report, and include the tools developed over the semester. Students taking graduate version will complete modified assignments focused on developing computer applications.

11.409 The Institutions of Modern Capitalism: States and Markets

Prereq: None G (Fall) 2-0-10 units

Investigates the relationship between states and markets in the evolution of modern capitalism. Critically assesses the rise of what Karl Polanyi and Albert Hirschman have referred to as "market society:" a powerful conceptual framework that views the development of modern capitalism not as an outcome of deterministic economic and technological forces, but rather as the result of contingent social and political processes. Exposes students to a range of conceptual tools and analytic frameworks through which to understand the politics of economic governance and to consider the extent to which societal actors can challenge its limits and imagine alternative possibilities. Sub-themes vary from year to year and have focused on racial capitalism, markets and morality, urban futures, and the global financial crisis. Limited to 25.

11.411 The Political Economy of Planning

Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Fall) 3-0-9 units

Introduces students to key planning ideas and practices that shape the political economy of planning: the way that planning interventions generate distributional effects that create winners and losers across different spatial and temporal scales. Highlights ways in which planning interventions seek to order society and shape spaces, as well as the ways these efforts have been contested and resisted. Takes a global and comparative perspective, surveying planning ideas and experiences across diverse contexts. Develops analytic tools to understand the broad field of planning theory and the asymmetries of power that these imply in planning practice. Planning is a complex and multifaceted set of endeavors, and as such the class is interdisciplinary, drawing from planning theory and history as well as sociology, political science, geography, history, and the design disciplines.

11.413 The Economic Approach to Cities and Environmental Sustainability

Subject meets with 11.113 Prereq: 11.220 , 14.300 , or permission of instructor G (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units Can be repeated for credit.

11.422[J] Law, Technology, and Public Policy

Same subject as 15.655[J] , IDS.435[J] Subject meets with 11.122[J] , IDS.066[J] Prereq: None G (Fall) 3-0-9 units

See description under subject IDS.435[J] .

11.427[J] Labor Markets and Employment Policy

Same subject as 15.677[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

See description under subject 15.677[J] . Preference to graduate and PhD students.

11.429[J] Real Estate Markets: Macroeconomics

Same subject as 15.022[J] Prereq: 11.431[J] or permission of instructor G (Spring; first half of term) 3-0-3 units

Applies the latest economic thinking and research to the task of analyzing aggregate real estate market time series, assessing risk, and developing forecasts. Presents the premise that because of capital durability and construction lags, real estate markets exhibit some degree of mean reversion and as such are at least partially predictable. Examines the extent and causes of market volatility across different markets and types of property. Long-term aggregate trends impacting the real estate sector, from demographics to technology, discussed. Limited to 30.

11.430[J] Leadership in Real Estate

Same subject as 15.941[J] Prereq: None G (Fall; first half of term) 3-0-3 units

Designed to help students deepen their understanding of leadership and increase self-awareness. They reflect on their authentic leadership styles and create goals and a learning plan to develop their capabilities. They also participate in activities to strengthen their "leadership presence" - the ability to authentically connect with people's hearts and minds. Students converse with classmates and industry leaders to learn from their insights, experiences, and advice. Limited to 15.

11.431[J] Real Estate Finance and Investment

Same subject as 15.426[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) 4-0-8 units

Concepts and techniques for analyzing financial decisions in commercial property development and investment. Topics include property income streams, discounted cash flow, equity valuation, leverage and income tax considerations, development projects, and joint ventures. An introduction to real estate capital markets as a source of financing is also provided. Limited to graduate students.

11.433[J] Real Estate Economics

Same subject as 15.021[J] Prereq: 14.01 , 15.010 , or 15.011 G (Fall) 4-0-8 units

Develops an understanding of the fundamental economic factors that shape the market for real property, as well as the influence of capital markets in asset pricing. Analyzes of housing as well as commercial real estate. Covers demographic analysis, regional growth, construction cycles, urban land markets, and location theory as well as recent technology impacts. Exercises and modeling techniques for measuring and predicting property demand, supply, vacancy, rents, and prices.

11.435 Mixed-Income Housing Development

Prereq: None G (Spring; first half of term) 3-0-3 units

Provides an overview of affordable and mixed-income housing development for students who wish to understand the fundamental issues and requirements of urban scale housing development, and the process of planning, financing and developing such housing. Students gain practical experience assembling a mixed-income housing development proposal.

L. Reid, W. Monson

11.437 Financing Economic Development and Housing

Subject meets with 11.137 Prereq: None G (Spring) 4-0-8 units

11.438 Economic Development Planning

Prereq: 11.203 , 11.220 , and permission of instructor Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Focuses on the policy tools and planning techniques used to formulate and implement local economic development strategies. Includes an overview of economic development theory, discussion of major policy areas and practices employed to influence local economic development, a review of analytic tools to assess local economies and how to formulate strategy. Coursework includes formulation of a local economic development strategy for a client. Limited to 15.

11.439 Revitalizing Urban Main Streets

Prereq: Permission of instructor Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Fall) 4-0-11 units

Workshop explores the integration of economic development and physical planning interventions to revitalize urban commercial districts. Covers: an overview of the causes of urban business district decline, revitalization challenges, and the strategies to address them; the planning tools used to understand and assess urban Main Streets from both physical design and economic development perspectives; and the policies, interventions, and investments used to foster urban commercial revitalization. Students apply the theories, tools and interventions discussed in class to preparing a formal neighborhood commercial revitalization plan for a client business district. Limited to 15.

11.440 Housing and Social Stratification in the United States

Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Investigates how housing — markets, policies, and individual and collective actions — stratifies society. Students develop structural frameworks to understand the processes of stratification. Grounding work and research in history, students identify the ways that housing markets and housing market interventions reflect, reinforce, and (occasionally) combat social inequities. Through extensive writing and rewriting, students frame their work in terms of overlapping crises, including gentrification, flight, shortage, and homelessness.

D. M. Bunten

11.441 Planning, Economic Development, and Municipal Public Finance

Explores the relationship between municipal planning initiatives and local public finance. Introduces a variety of tools, including annual fiscal year budgeting, development of capital improvement plans, user fees, and local property taxation. Municipal powers to levy taxes on items such as meals, hotel rooms, and sales and their effects on land use decisions are analyzed. Tools for economic development, such as tax increment finance, explored in the context of the potential benefits and drawbacks of such tools for a local economy. Also explores how planners can encourage more inclusive budgeting decisions through tools such as participatory budgeting. Students complete a final project on a municipal finance tool and its relationship to local planning goals.

11.442 Geography of the Global Economy

Subject meets with 11.142 Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Fall) 3-0-9 units

11.449 Decarbonizing Urban Mobility

Subject meets with 11.149 Prereq: None G (Spring) 3-3-6 units

11.450 Real Estate Development Building Systems

Prereq: None G (Fall; first half of term) 2-0-1 units

Provides students with a concise overview of the range of building systems that are encountered in professional commercial real estate development practice in the USA. Focuses on the relationship between real estate product types, building systems, and the factors that real estate development professionals must consider when evaluating these products and systems for a specific development project. Surveys commercial building technology including Foundation, Structural, MEP/FP, Envelope, and Interiors systems and analyzes the factors that lead development professionals to select specific systems for specific product types. One or more field trips to active construction sites may be scheduled during non-class hours based on student availability.

11.452 Planning against Evictions and Displacement

Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: G (Spring) Acad Year 2024-2025: Not offered 3-0-9 units

Combines state-of-the-art research on evictions and displacement globally (in the context of the global crisis of evictions, land grabbing, and gentrification) with the study of policy and practical responses to displacement, assisted by selected case studies. First half covers explanations about the mechanisms and drivers of displacement, while the second half introduces and evaluates policy and legal responses developed by many actors. Analyzes the use of UN and national standards on displacement as well as the use of tools such as the Eviction Impact Assessment Tool. Limited to 15 graduate students.

11.454 Big Data, Visualization, and Society

Subject meets with 11.154 Prereq: None G (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units Credit cannot also be received for 6.8530 , 6.C35[J] , 6.C85[J] , 11.154 , 11.C35[J] , 11.C85[J]

11.C85[J] Interactive Data Visualization and Society

Same subject as 6.C85[J] Subject meets with 6.C35[J] , 11.C35[J] Prereq: None G (Spring) 3-1-8 units Credit cannot also be received for 6.8530 , 11.154 , 11.454

See description under subject 6.C85[J] .

11.457 More than Data: Smart Cities, Big Data, Civic Technology and Policy

Prereq: None G (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-6 units

Discussions of future directions in the 'smart cities' debate. Begins by framing the current smart city with past trends such as the efficient city movement of the 1930s and the Modernist city of the 1950s and 60s. Examines current trends in big data, civic apps, Code for America, the open data movement, DIY data collections devices, and their policy impacts.

11.458 Crowd Sourced City: Civic Tech Prototyping

Subject meets with 11.138 Prereq: None G (Fall) 3-0-9 units

11.461[J] Technocracy

Same subject as STS.463[J] Prereq: None G (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units

See description under subject STS.463[J] .

11.466[J] Technology, Globalization, and Sustainable Development

Same subject as 1.813[J] , 15.657[J] , IDS.437[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) 3-0-9 units

See description under subject IDS.437[J] .

11.469 Urban Sociology in Theory and Practice

Introduction to core writings in urban sociology. Explores the nature and changing character of the city and the urban experience, providing context for the development of urban studies research and planning skills. Topics include the changing nature of community, neighborhood effects, social capital and networks, social stratification, feminist theory and critical race theory, and the interaction of social structure and political power. Subject will take place in the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Norfolk with half of the class from MIT and half of the class from MCI-Norfolk. Limited to 25.

11.472[J] D-Lab: Development

Same subject as EC.781[J] Subject meets with 11.025[J] , EC.701[J] Prereq: None G (Fall) 3-2-7 units

See description under subject EC.781[J] . Enrollment limited by lottery; must attend first class session.

S. L. Hsu, A. B. Smith, B. Sanyal

11.474 D-Lab: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

Subject meets with EC.715 Prereq: None G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Focuses on disseminating Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) innovations in low-income countries and underserved communities worldwide. Structured around project-based learning, lectures, discussions, and student-led tutorials. Emphasizes core WASH principles, appropriate and sustainable technologies at household and community scales, urban challenges worldwide, culture-specific solutions, lessons from start-ups, collaborative partnerships, and social marketing. Mentored term project entails finding and implementing a viable solution focused on education/training; a technology, policy or plan; a marketing approach; and/or behavior change. Guest lecturers present case studies, emphasizing those developed and disseminated by MIT faculty, practitioners, students, and alumni. Field trips scheduled during class time, with optional field trips on weekends. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 20.

S. E. Murcott, S. L. Hsu

11.477[J] Urban Energy Systems and Policy

Same subject as 1.286[J] Subject meets with 11.165 Prereq: 11.203 , 14.01 , or permission of instructor G (Fall) 3-0-9 units

Examines efforts in developing and advanced nations and regions. Examines key issues in the current and future development of urban energy systems, such as technology, use, behavior, regulation, climate change, and lack of access or energy poverty. Case studies on a diverse sampling of cities explore how prospective technologies and policies can be implemented. Includes intensive group research projects, discussion, and debate.

11.478 Behavioral Science, AI, and Urban Mobility

Subject meets with 11.158 Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) 3-0-9 units

11.480 Urbanization and Development

Examines developmental dynamics of rapidly urbanizing locales, with a special focus on the developing world. Case studies from India, China, Mexico, Brazil, and South Africa form the basis for discussion of social, spatial, political and economic changes in cities spurred by the decline of industry, the rise of services, and the proliferation of urban mega projects. Emphasizes the challenges of growing urban inequality, environmental risk, citizen displacement, insufficient housing, and the lack of effective institutions for metropolitan governance. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

11.484 Project Appraisal in Developing Countries

Covers techniques of financial analysis of investment expenditures, as well as the economic and distributive appraisal of development projects. Critical analysis of these tools in the political economy of international development is discussed. Topics include appraisal's role in the project cycle, planning under conditions of uncertainty, constraints in data quality and the limits of rational analysis, and the coordination of an interdisciplinary appraisal team. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Enrollment limited; preference to majors.

11.485 Southern Urbanisms

Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: G (Fall) Acad Year 2024-2025: Not offered 2-0-10 units

Guides students in examining implicit and explicit values of diversity offered in "Southern" knowledge bases, theories, and practices of urban production. With a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, considers why the South-centered location of the estimated global urban population boom obligates us to examine how cities work as they do, and why Western-informed urban theory and planning scholarship may be ill-suited to provide guidance on urban development there. Examines the "rise of the rest" and its implications for the making and remaking of expertise and norms in planning practice. Students engage with seminal texts from leading authors of Southern urbanism and critical themes, including the rise of Southern theory, African urbanism, Chinese international cooperation, Brazilian urban diplomacy, and the globally-driven commodification of urban real estate.

G. Carolini 

11.486 Peace and Conflict Geographies

Explores the spatialization of conflict and peace from perspectives within the humanities and social sciences. Examines claims on territory, resources, and homeland; traces the legacies of violence in landscapes both personal and public; considers the use of planning and architecture to build peace; and attends to experiences of displacement and dispossession. Discusses how conflict and peace geographies provide insight into various scales of power and repair that shape how individuals live together.

11.487 Budgeting and Finance for the Public Sector

Subject meets with 11.147 Prereq: None G (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units

11.490 Law and Development

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 2-0-10 units

Examines the role of law in development and introduces economic and legal theories. Topics include formality/informality of property, contracts and bargaining in the shadow of the law, institutions for transparency and accountability, legitimation of law, sequencing of legal reform, and international economic law aspects. Studies the roles of property rights in economic development, the judiciary and the bureaucracy in development, and law in aid policy. Includes selected country case studies. Limited to 15.

11.493 Property and Land Use Law for Planners

Examines legal and institutional arrangements for the establishment, transfer, and control over property and land under American and selected comparative systems, including India and South Africa. Focuses on key issues of property and land use law regarding planning and economic development. Emphasizes just and efficient resource use; institutional, entitlement and social relational approaches to property; distributional and other social aspects; and the relationship between property, culture, and democracy.

11.494 Cities of Contested Memory

Explores relationships between built environments and memory to consider the spaces and spatial practices in which the future of the past is imagined, negotiated, and contested. Focuses on three areas of critical importance to understanding the nature of memory in cities today: the threats that rapid urban development pose to the remembrance of urban pasts; the politics of representation evident in debates over authorized and marginalized historical narratives; and the art and ethics of sensitively addressing the afterlives of violence and tragedy. Emphasizes group discussions and projects as means to explore collective and counter memories, the communities that are formed therein, and the economic, social, and political forces that lift up certain memories over others to shape the legacy of the past. Limited to 15.

11.495 Governance and Law in Developing Countries

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 2-0-10 units

Examines the multiple dimensions of governance in international development with a focus on the role of legal norms and institutions in the balance between state and the market. Analyzes changes in the distribution of political and legal authority as a result of economic globalization. Topics include the regulation of firms; forms of state and non-state monitoring; varieties of capitalism, global governance and development; and good governance, including transparency and accountability mechanisms, the role of the judiciary and legal culture, and tools for measuring governance performance.

11.496 Law, Social Movements, and Public Policy: Comparative and International Experience

Subject meets with 11.166 Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units

11.497 Human Rights at Home and Abroad

Subject meets with 11.164[J] , 17.391[J] Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Fall) 2-0-10 units

Provides a rigorous and critical introduction to the history, foundation, structure, and operation of the human rights movement. Focuses on key ideas, actors, methods and sources, and critically evaluates the field. Addresses current debates in human rights, including the relationship with security, democracy, development and globalization, urbanization, equality (in housing and other economic and social rights; women's rights; ethnic, religious and racial discrimination; and policing/conflict), post-conflict rebuilding and transitional justice, and technology in human rights activism. Students taking graduate version expected to write a research paper.

11.499 Master of Science in Real Estate Development Thesis Preparation

Prereq: None G (Spring; first half of term) 2-0-1 units

Designed to give students the tools and information needed to successfully complete a master's level thesis. Seminar topics include, but are not limited to: research data sets, different types and styles of theses, the writing and editing process, library services, and the use of humans as experimental subjects in research. CRE faculty share their areas of interest to assist in choosing an advisor. Seminar assignments guide students toward developing a thesis topic and realistic work plan to adequately achieve their research and writing goals. Objective is for each student to have sufficient knowledge to author a fully developed thesis topic and formal proposal by the end of the term. Limited to MS in Real Estate Development candidates.

11.520 Workshop on Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Prereq: 11.205 or permission of instructor G (Fall, Spring; second half of term) 2-2-2 units

Includes spatial analysis exercises using real-world data sets, building toward an independent project in which students critically apply GIS techniques to an area of interest. Students build data discovery, cartography, and spatial analysis skills while learning to reflect on power and positionality within the research design process. Tailored to GIS applications within planning and design and emphasizes the role of reflective practice in GIS. Enrollment limited; preference to MCP students.

11.521 Spatial Database Management and Advanced Geographic Information Systems

Prereq: 11.205 and Coreq: 11.220 ; or permission of instructor G (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-3-6 units

Extends the computing and geographic information systems (GIS) skills developed in 11.520 to include spatial data management in client/server environments and advanced GIS techniques. First half covers the content of 11.523 , introducing database management concepts, SQL (Structured Query Language), and enterprise-class database management software. Second half explores advanced features and the customization features of GIS software that perform analyses for decision support that go beyond basic thematic mapping. Includes the half-term GIS project of 11.524 that studies a real-world planning issue.

J. Ferreira

11.522 Research Seminar on Urban Information Systems

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 2-4-6 units Can be repeated for credit.

Advanced research seminar enhances computer and analytic skills developed in other subjects in this sequence. Students present a structured discussion of journal articles representative of their current research interests involving urban information systems and complete a short research project. Suggested research projects include topics related to ongoing UIS Group research.

11.523 Fundamentals of Spatial Database Management

Prereq: 11.205 or permission of instructor G (Fall; first half of term) 2-2-2 units

Develops technical skills necessary to design, build, and interact with spatial databases using the Structured Query Language (SQL) and its spatial extensions. Provides instruction in writing highly contextual metadata (data biographies). Prepares students to perform database maintenance, modeling, and digitizing tasks, and to critically evaluate and document data sources. Databases are implemented in PostgreSQL and PostGIS; students interface with these using QGIS.

E. Huntley 

11.524 Advanced Geographic Information System Project

Prereq: ( 11.205 and 11.220 ) or permission of instructor G (Fall; second half of term) Units arranged Can be repeated for credit.

Provides instruction in statistical approaches for analyzing interrelation, clustering, and interdependence, which are often key to understanding urban environments. Covers local and global spatial autocorrelation, interpolation, and kernel density methods; cluster detection; and spatial regression models. Develops technical skills necessary to ask spatial questions using inferential statistics implemented in the R statistical computing language. Prior coursework or experience in geographic information systems (GIS) at the introductory level required; prior coursework or experience in R is preferred.

11.526[J] Comparative Land Use and Transportation Planning

Same subject as 1.251[J] Prereq: None G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Focuses on the integration of land use and transportation planning, drawing from cases in both industrialized and developing countries. Highlights how land use and transportation influence the social organization of cities, assigning privileges to certain groups and segregating or negating access to the city to other groups. Covers topics such as accessibility; the use of data, algorithms, and bias; travel demand and travel behavior; governance; transit-oriented development; autonomous vehicles; transportation and real estate; and social, environmental, and health implications of land use and transportation. Develops students' skills to assess relevant policies, interventions, and impacts.

11.529[J] Mobility Ventures: Driving Innovation in Transportation Systems

Same subject as 15.379[J] Subject meets with 11.029[J] , 15.3791[J] Prereq: None G (Fall) 3-3-6 units

Explores technological, behavioral, policy, and systems-wide frameworks for innovation in transportation systems, complemented with case studies across the mobility spectrum, from autonomous vehicles to urban air mobility to last-mile sidewalk robots. Students interact with a series of guest lecturers from CEOs and other business and government executives who are actively reshaping the future of mobility. Interdisciplinary teams of students collaborate to deliver business plans for proposed mobility-focused startups with an emphasis on primary market research. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

11.540 Urban Transportation Planning and Policy

Examines transportation policymaking and planning; its relationship to social and environmental justice; and the influences of politics, governance structures, and human and institutional behavior. Explores the pathway to infrastructure, how attitudes are influenced, and how change happens. Examines the tensions and potential synergies among traditional transportation policy values of individual mobility, system efficiency, and "sustainability." Explores the roles of the government; analysis of current trends; transport sector decarbonization; land use, placemaking, and sustainable mobility networks; the role of "mobility as a service;" and the implications of disruptive technology on personal mobility. Assesses traditional planning methods with a critical eye, and through that process considers how to approach transportation planning in a way that responds to contemporary needs and values, with an emphasis on transport justice.

11.543[J] Transportation Policy, the Environment, and Livable Communities

Same subject as 1.253[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Examines the economic and political conflict between transportation and the environment. Investigates the role of government regulation, green business and transportation policy as a facilitator of economic development and environmental sustainability. Analyzes a variety of international policy problems, including government-business relations, the role of interest groups, non-governmental organizations, and the public and media in the regulation of the automobile; sustainable development; global warming; politics of risk and siting of transport facilities; environmental justice; equity; as well as transportation and public health in the urban metropolis. Provides students with an opportunity to apply transportation and planning methods to develop policy alternatives in the context of environmental politics. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.

J. Coughlin

11.544[J] Transportation: Foundations and Methods

Same subject as 1.200[J] , IDS.675[J] Subject meets with 1.041[J] , IDS.075[J] Prereq: 1.000 , ( 1.00 and 1.010 ), or permission of instructor G (Spring) 3-1-8 units

See description under subject 1.200[J] .

11.547[J] Global Aging & the Built Environment

Same subject as SCM.287[J] Prereq: None G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

Combines classroom lectures/discussion, readings, site visits, and field study to provide students with experience in various research techniques including stakeholder analysis, interviewing, photography and image analysis, focus groups, etc. Students examine the impacts of global demographic transition, when there are more older than younger people in a population, and explore emerging challenges in the built environment (e.g., age-friendly community planning, public transportation access, acceptance of driverless cars, social wellbeing and connectivity, housing and community design, design and use of public and private spaces, and the public health implications of climate change and aging).

J. F. Coughlin

11.592 Renewable Energy Facility Siting Clinic (New)

Subject meets with 11.092 Prereq: None G (Fall, Spring) 2-4-6 units

11.601 Theory and Practice of Environmental Planning

Required introductory subject for graduate students pursuing the Environmental Planning Certificate. Strongly suggested for MCP students pursuing EPP as their specialization. Also open to other graduate students interested in environmental justice, environmental ethics, environmental dispute resolution, and techniques of environmental problem-solving. Taught comparatively, with numerous references to examples from around the world. Four major areas of focus: national environmental policymaking, environmental ethics, environmental forecasting and analysis techniques, and strategies for collaborative decision-making. 

11.630[J] Environmental Law, Policy, and Economics: Pollution Prevention and Control

Same subject as 1.811[J] , 15.663[J] , IDS.540[J] Subject meets with 1.801[J] , 11.021[J] , 17.393[J] , IDS.060[J] Prereq: None G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

11.631[J] Regulation of Chemicals, Radiation, and Biotechnology

Same subject as 1.812[J] , IDS.541[J] Subject meets with 1.802[J] , 10.805[J] , 11.022[J] , IDS.061[J] , IDS.436[J] Prereq: IDS.540[J] or permission of instructor G (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units

Focuses on policy design and evaluation in the regulation of hazardous substances and processes. Includes risk assessment, industrial chemicals, pesticides, food contaminants, pharmaceuticals, radiation and radioactive wastes, product safety, workplace hazards, indoor air pollution, biotechnology, victims' compensation, and administrative law. Health and economic consequences of regulation, as well as its potential to spur technological change, are discussed for each regulator regime. Students taking the graduate version are expected to explore the subject in greater depth.

N. Ashford, C.Caldart

11.651[J] USA Lab: Bridging the American Divides

Same subject as 15.679[J] Prereq: None G (Spring) 3-1-5 units

See description under subject 15.679[J] .

L. Hafrey, C. McDowell

11.652[J] Research Seminar on Technology and the Work of the Future

Same subject as STS.465[J] Prereq: None Acad Year 2023-2024: Not offered Acad Year 2024-2025: G (Spring) 3-0-9 units

See description under subject STS.465[J] . Limited to 15.

D. Mindell, E. B. Reynolds

11.701 International Development Planning: Foundations

Offers a survey of the histories and theories of international development, and the main debates about the role of key actors and institutions in development. Includes a focus on the impact of colonialism, the main theoretical approaches that have influenced the study and practice of development, as well as the role of actors such as states, markets, and civil society in development. Focuses on the interactions between interventions and institutions on local, national, and global/transnational scales. Offers an opportunity to develop a focus on selected current topics in development planning, such as migration, displacement, participatory planning, urban-rural linkages, corruption, legal institutions, and post-conflict development. Restricted to first-year MCP and SPURS students.

Tutorials, Research, and Fieldwork Subjects

11.800 reading, writing and research.

Prereq: 11.233 ; Coreq: 11.801 G (Spring) 3-0-6 units

Required subject intended solely for 1st-year DUSP PhD students. Develops capacity of doctoral students to become independent scholars by helping them to prepare their first-year papers and plan for their dissertation work. Focuses on the process by which theory, research questions, literature reviews, and new data are synthesized into new and original contributions to the literature. Seminar is conducted with intensive discussions, draft writing, peer review, revisions, and editing. Guest speakers from faculty and advanced students discuss strategies and potential pitfalls with doctoral-level research.

11.801 Doctoral Research Paper

Prereq: None. Coreq: 11.800 ; permission of instructor G (Spring) 3-0-6 units

Students develop a first-year research paper in consultation with their advisor.

11.901 Independent Study: Urban Studies and Planning

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall, IAP, Spring) Units arranged Can be repeated for credit.

Opportunity for independent study under regular supervision by a faculty member.

11.902 Independent Study: Urban Studies and Planning

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall, IAP, Spring) Units arranged [P/D/F] Can be repeated for credit.

11.903 Supervised Readings in Urban Studies

11.904 supervised readings in urban studies.

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall, Spring, Summer) Units arranged Can be repeated for credit.

11.905 Research Seminar in Urban Studies and Planning

Special research issues in urban planning.

11.906 Research Seminar in Urban Studies and Planning

Prereq: None G (Fall, IAP, Spring) Units arranged [P/D/F] Can be repeated for credit.

11.907 Urban Fieldwork

Practical application of planning techniques to towns, cities, and regions, including problems of replanning, redevelopment, and renewal of existing communities. Includes internships, under staff supervision, in municipal and state agencies and departments.

11.908 Urban Fieldwork

Prereq: None G (Fall, IAP, Spring) Units arranged Can be repeated for credit.

11.909 Graduate Tutorial

Prereq: None G (Fall) Units arranged [P/D/F] Can be repeated for credit.

Planned programs of instruction for a minimum of three students on a planning topic not covered in regular subjects of instruction. Registration subject to prior arrangement with appropriate faculty member.

11.910 Doctoral Tutorial

Prereq: None G (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-3 units

Required subject exclusively for first-year DUSP PhD candidates, but with multiple colloquium sessions open to the full department community. Introduces students to a range of department faculty (and others) by offering opportunities to discuss applications of planning theory and planning history. Assists in clarifying the departments intellectual diversity. Encourages development of a personal intellectual voice and capacity to synthesize and respond to the arguments made by others.

L. Vale, J. Zhao

11.912[J] Advanced Urbanism Colloquium

Same subject as 4.275[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall, Spring) 1-1-1 units Can be repeated for credit.

See description under subject 4.275[J] . Preference to doctoral students in the Advanced Urbanism concentration.

Consult S. Williams

11.919 PhD Workshop (New)

Prereq: None G (Fall, Spring) 0-1-0 units Can be repeated for credit.

The workshop features doctoral student progress on dissertation formulation and findings across all years, panels of particular interest to doctoral students as identified by their representatives on the PhD Committee, and an intellectual space for the sharing of ideas and initiatives within the doctoral community and across the department, including faculty.  Limited to all doctoral students in residence.

11.920 Planning in Practice

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer) Units arranged [P/D/F] Can be repeated for credit.

Familiarizes students with the practice of planning, by requiring actual experience in professional internship placements. Enables students to both apply what they are learning in their classes in an actual professional setting and to reflect, using a variety of platforms, on the learning -- personal and professional -- growing out of their internship experience. Through readings, practical experience and reflection, empirical observation, and contact with practitioners, students gain deeper general understanding of the practice of the profession.

11.930 Advanced Seminar on Planning Theory

Prereq: None G (Spring) 2-0-10 units

Introduces students to key debates in the field of planning theory, drawing on historical development of the field of urban/regional/national planning from 1900 to 2020 in both the US and in newly industrializing countries. Class objectives are for students to develop their own theory of action as they become sensitized to issues of racial and gender discrimination in city building, and understand how planning styles are influenced by a range of issues, including the challenge of ethical practice.

11.960 Independent Study: Real Estate

Prereq: None G (Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer) Units arranged [P/D/F] Can be repeated for credit.

11.961 Independent Study: Real Estate

Prereq: None G (Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer) Units arranged Can be repeated for credit.

11.962 Fieldwork: Real Estate

Practical application of real estate techniques in the field.

11.963 Independent Study: Real Estate

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer) Units arranged Can be repeated for credit.

11.964 Independent Study: Real Estate

11.985 summer field work.

Prereq: None G (Summer) Units arranged [P/D/F] Can be repeated for credit.

Practical application of planning techniques over the summer with prior arrangement.

S. Wellford

11.S938 Special Subject: Urban Studies and Planning

Prereq: None G (Spring) Units arranged Can be repeated for credit.

For graduate students wishing to pursue further study in advanced areas of urban studies and planning not covered in regular subjects of instruction.

11.S939 Special Subject: Urban Studies and Planning

For graduate students wishing to pursue further study in advanced areas of urban studies and city and regional planning not covered in regular subjects of instruction.

11.S940-11.S944 Special Subject: Urban Studies and Planning

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall, Spring) Units arranged Can be repeated for credit.

11.S948 Special Subject: Urban Studies and Planning

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) Units arranged Can be repeated for credit.

11.S945-11.S949 Special Subject: Urban Studies and Planning

11.s950-11.s957 special seminar: urban studies and planning.

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall, IAP) Units arranged [P/D/F] Can be repeated for credit.

For graduate students wishing to pursue further study in advanced areas of urban studies and city and regional planning not covered in regular subjects of instruction

11.S958 Special Seminar: Urban Studies and Planning

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) Units arranged [P/D/F] Can be repeated for credit.

11.S959 Special Seminar: Urban Studies and Planning

11.s965 special subject: real estate.

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall; second half of term) Units arranged [P/D/F] Can be repeated for credit.

Small group study of advanced subjects under staff supervision. For graduate students wishing to pursue further study in advanced areas of real estate not covered in regular subjects of instruction.

11.S966 Special Subject: Real Estate

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer; second half of term) Units arranged Can be repeated for credit.

11.S967 Special Subject: Real Estate

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Spring; first half of term) Not offered regularly; consult department Units arranged Can be repeated for credit.

11.S968 Special Seminar: Real Estate

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department Units arranged [P/D/F] Can be repeated for credit.

11.S969 Special Seminar: Real Estate

11.s970 special seminar: real estate.

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Spring; second half of term) Units arranged Can be repeated for credit.

Consult Catalog Faculty

11.THG Graduate Thesis

Program of research and writing of thesis; to be arranged by the student with supervising committee.

MIT Academic Bulletin

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phd thesis topics in urban planning

/ Undergraduate

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Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning

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Application Deadline: January 15

Intent to Enroll Deadline: April 15

/ Eligibility

Applicants will normally possess a Master’s degree in Planning or a related field (such as Public Policy, Environmental Studies, Geography, Social Work, Architecture, etc.). Applicants with other Master’s degrees will be considered. There is no foreign language requirement for Doctoral students in Planning. However, work in some areas of specialization and on certain research/dissertation topics may require knowledge of one or more foreign languages (obtained either before or during Doctoral studies).

The application fee for U.S. citizens and permanent residents is $75, and the fee for international students is $90 (U.S. funds). The application fee is paid online, via credit card, before the application is submitted. The application is submitted electronically to the program of study and the Rackham Graduate School.  For more information please see  Application Fee  and  Application Fee Waivers .

Notice : We have been informed that the ApplyWeb CollegeNet admission application vendor has experienced a complete power failure. Therefore, the online application is currently unavailable. We appreciate your patience and understanding as they work to resolve the issue.

/ Statement of Purpose

This is a vital component of your application. Your Statement of Purpose, helps us see that you can identify an important research question, are in conversation with the larger literature or planning trends, and can propose appropriate methods to collect evidence. Discuss the intellectual and planning challenges you hope to address in your doctoral studies – briefly noting any tentative dissertation research topics; outline methodological approaches you might pursue or skills you plan to build to answer those questions; and highlight any relevant research skills or experience you have that has begun to prepare you to pursue a PhD (but do not spend significant time on what is already in your resume/CV). Explain how you hope to use your doctoral education in planning and why the Urban and Regional Planning Program at Taubman College is the best fit for your career goals.

A good curriculum vitae or resume will give us another view of who you are and elaborate your strengths and skills outside of the classroom, showcasing your accomplishments. In addition to your educational experience, student resume should contain professional experiences, other jobs you have held, a list of groups or organizations that you are involved in, programming languages or other computer skills you have, community involvement or volunteer work that you do. Think of your resume as another opportunity to tell us about yourself.

/ Personal Statement

The personal statement should be a concise, well-written statement about how your personal background and life experiences, including social, cultural, familial, educational, or other opportunities or challenges, have motivated your decision to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Michigan. This is not an academic statement of purpose, but a brief (500 word limit) discussion of the personal journey that has led to your decision to seek a graduate degree.

/ Portfolio

Submissions of examples of work should support your statement of purpose and clearly demonstrate research and writing abilities. These may consist of published articles, writing samples, portfolios, or other writing samples. Writing samples are most valuable when you are the sole or lead author. Examples should be uploaded as PDF files with the online application.

/ Transcripts

Submitting your transcripts:

Step 1: TO APPLY, submit a scanned copy of your official transcript. Applicants must scan and upload an official transcript/academic record into the ApplyWeb online application. This transcript must display the institutional seal and signature of the Registrar or Recorder of Records.

Step 2: AFTER an offer of admission, submit your official transcript. Admitted students must submit to the Rackham Graduate School an official transcript/academic record, front and back, issued by the Registrar or Records Office for each bachelor’s, master’s, professional, or doctoral degree earned. For more information please see  Transcripts .

/ Letters of Recommendation

Three letters of recommendation are required and should testify mainly to your academic and professional capacity and promise. Letters should be substantive statements from academics and professionals familiar with your abilities and accomplishments. For more information please see  Letters of Recommendation Submission Options .

/ English Proficiency Requirements

Applicants whose native language is not English must demonstrate English proficiency unless they meet one of the criteria for an exemption listed below. Please contact one of the testing agencies shown in the following chart and have an official score report sent to the University of Michigan at least 6-8 weeks prior to the application deadline. The scores must be received from the testing agency no later than the application deadline. Language test scores are valid two years from the test date.  Photocopies and/or faxes of English proficiency scores will not be accepted. Please take note the minimum requirement is: 95 iBT.

Taubman College does not admit students who have not met minimum score requirements. If you are close to the minimum scores outlined above we encourage you to retake the exam to meet the minimum requirement. Students who have submitted all required materials (including English proficiency exams) by the application deadline are given first consideration for admission. It may make you a less competitive applicant to not have your scores sent in by the deadline.

Rackham English Proficiency Exemptions

You qualify for an exemption from taking an English proficiency examination if one of the following criteria are met:

  • You are a native speaker of English.
  • You completed  all  of your undergraduate education and earned an undergraduate degree at an institution where the language of instruction is English only.
  • If you completed a Master’s degree that was strictly research and no academic classes, that degree does not meet the exemption. This type of Master’s degree is generally awarded at a non-U.S. institution.
  • You are a current U-M student.

Please refer to the related  Rackham webpage  for additional information.

/ Undocumented and DACAmented Students

Detailed information about Undocumented and DACAmented Students for this degree program can be found on the related  Rackham webpage .

/ Application Status and Evaluation

Checking application status.

Applicants can verify application data and status online  approximately 10 – 15 days after their application is submitted. The admissions office will send an email to each applicant that includes the University of Michigan Identification Number (UMID). You will need to use a login ID and password to confirm some personal data before viewing your application status. Student Service staff will try to keep all materials received current. However, please allow sufficient time for processing before contacting the office.

For Applicants Who are Current Students or Employees:  Log into Wolverine Access using your existing University of Michigan Uniqname and password, and click New and Prospective Student Business.

For Applicants New to the University:  About five business days after you submit your application, you will receive an email confirming that Taubman has downloaded your application from ApplyWeb. This email will direct you to set up your friend account.

  • Go to the  Friend Account Request Form  and enter your email address.
  • You will receive a confirmation email with a link to create your friend account.
  • For more information, see the  Information and Technology Services website .

Please allow 10-15 business days for your application status to update.

Applications will not be evaluated until all credentials have been received and the application fee has been paid. Applications missing credentials cannot be guaranteed a review by the admissions committee. Eligible applicants are considered for admission on the basis of the following criteria:

  • Quality and content of all previous academic education
  • Evidence of professional commitment and direction, including statement of purpose, resume, letters of recommendation, portfolio, etc.
  • IELTS or TOEFL test scores (if applicable)
  • The number of openings available
  • The suitability of the program to the applicant’s area of interest

Using Wolverine Access

Through your Wolverine Access account you will be able to:

  • Verify the application information you submitted, including, portfolio, test dates and scores, and letter of recommendation that are received.
  • View the transcripts representing a Bachelor’s, Master’s, Professional, and/or Doctoral degree that are received.
  • Receive admission decision.
  • Update your address, phone number, and e-mail address.

Allow 5 business days, after creating your account, to verify that your application and materials have been received in Wolverine Access.

/  Notification of Acceptance

Applicants will be notified of their admission status by late-February or early March. If you are admitted, you will be able to see that you have been recommended for admission by the Urban Planning Program via the online web application status. Notification letters will be sent via email. Any scholarship award decisions made by the Urban Planning Program will be noted in the letter of admission. The next step is for Rackham Graduate School to review, certify, and process the admission recommendation.

Admitted students are invited to Preview Weekend, in late March: Preview Weekend is an opportunity for admitted students to visit Taubman College, meet faculty and students, tour the facilities, campus, and Ann Arbor, and attend Taubman College events. Further details are given in the admission letter.

/  Residency Classification

Residency Classification Guidelines have been developed to ensure that decisions about whether a student pays in-state or out-of-state tuition are fair and equitable and that applicants for admission or enrolled students who believe they are Michigan residents understand they may be required to complete an Application for Resident Classification and provide additional information to document their residency status. Please see the University of Michigan  Residency Classification Guidelines .

/ International Students

I-20 / visa.

Immigration Documents for International Students: Please allow a minimum of 2 -3 weeks from the date your acceptance, for the I-20 or DS-2019 to be prepared and mailed from our office using your preferred delivery service.

/ Questions

Contact Admissions at  [email protected] .

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

PhD - Urban planning

phd thesis topics in urban planning

The doctoral programme in Urbanism is aimed at students who wish to continue their research training with the aim of completing and defending a doctoral thesis.

The main objective is to produce highly qualified researchers in the field of urbanism research. In line with this goal, the programme revolves around study and academic reflection on central themes of the history of urbanism and contemporary urban planning and forms of analysis and intervention at both the regional and urban scale.

The growing complexity of urban phenomena and their interactions, the impact of new technologies, and the increasingly significant international role played by cities require urban planners to develop appropriate intervention methods and instruments to act in this context.

More information:  https://doctorat.upc.edu/ca/programes/urbanisme

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  • UCLA Library
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Urban Planning

  • Dissertations
  • Statistics, Data & Reference
  • Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Urban Studies
  • California Planning

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Ucla urban planning theses and projects.

  • Reports & Policy Papers
  • Researching Buildings
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  • Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

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  • Center for Research Libraries (CRL) Foreign Dissertations Search the CRL Catalog for dissertations already held at the Center. If a foreign dissertation is not at CRL, UCLA's Interlibrary Loan Service will request that CRL acquire it for your use. This special issue of Focus on Global Resources describes CRL's extensive collection of foreign dissertations.
  • eScholarship, University of California This link opens in a new window UC's open access repository. May include recent (2012–present) theses or dissertations not available in ProQuest. Search for author or title of the dissertation.

For research from students in UCLA's Urban Planning Program, see the below instructions for searching the Library Catalog .  Some of the projects are available full-text online, others are deposited in the SRLF.  

To locate a UCLA U.P. dissertation:

  • Do an Any Field search for dissertations urban planning ucla .
  • To see the most recent dissertations, Sort by Date - newest .
  • You can also browse dissertations by call number
  • From the Browse search screen, copy and paste the following call number LD791.9 U7; select Call Number from the drop-down menu.

To locate a UCLA M.A. Thesis

  • Do an Any Field search on thesis urban planning ucla m a
  • You can also browse theses by call number
  • From the Browse search screen, copy and paste the following call number LD 791.8 U7; select Call Number from the drop-down menu.

To locate a UCLA M.A. client project or comprehensive project:

  • Do an Any Field search on projects ucla urban planning
  • Urban Planning Student Research Links to the Undergraduate Captsone projects, Masters Theses, Comprehensive Projects, Applied Research Projects, and Dissertations.
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  • Last Updated: Mar 18, 2024 11:41 AM
  • URL: https://guides.library.ucla.edu/urban-planning

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COMMENTS

  1. Urban Planning Dissertation Topic Ideas

    Published by Owen Ingram at January 5th, 2023 , Revised On March 24, 2023. Urban planning is an essential tool in creating vibrant and healthy communities. It is the practice of balancing the needs of a society with limited resources to ensure equitable development and long-term sustainability. Urban planners work at all scales, from local ...

  2. PDF Urban Planning and Design Thesis Handbook 2022-2023

    For UPD students interested in completing a thesis, the process begins in the first year of their degree. In the spring semester of the first year, students identify a potential advisor and research topic. In their third semester, students then complete a detailed thesis proposal.

  3. Doctoral Theses in Urban and Regional Planning

    The following are doctoral theses completed by individual students in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Please see Find Dissertations for more details about locating doctoral theses in general. Check the online catalog for doctoral theses not listed here.. Most call numbers and locations are given after each entry; if not available ...

  4. Urban Planning Thesis/ Research Topic Suggestions (Part 1)

    Urban Planning. Urban Planning is a technical and political process concerned with development of open land or greenfield sites as well as revitalization of existing parts of the city. Primary concern of urban planning is public welfare. Impact of government policies and initiatives (most recent) on urban land use.

  5. PDF Urban Planning and Design Recent Theses 2010/11-present

    Anderson, Raven. Policy Levers and Urban Growth: A Study of Rapid Urbanization and its Management in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. (Advisor: Michael Hooper) Barrera, Mariana. Añelo, Argentina, and the Urban hallenges of a Shale oom Town. (Advisor: Diane Davis) Hwang, hristine. Ungluing Detroits Stained-Glass Mosaic: Parochial Schools as Spaces of ...

  6. Research areas and topics

    We welcome research proposals addressing topics from across the broad range of urban studies and planning and related disciplines such as geography, sociology, international development and politics. We are interested in innovative social research methods, and can offer supervision across a wide range of methodological and theoretical ...

  7. PDF URBAN&PLANNING&AND&DESIGN&& THESIS&HANDBOOK& 2016@17&

    Thesis Preparation Seminar (GSD 9204) This seminar provides the theoretical and methodological foundation necessary for completing a graduate thesis in the Department of Urban Planning and Design. The seminar is appropriate for both planning and design students.

  8. PDF Urban Planning and Design Recent Theses 2010/11-present

    Kaplan, Jennier. "Rebuildin as Opportunity: Youth Enaeme nt as Planning in Post-Tsunami Miyai." (Advisor: Abby Spinak) Ndam Njoya, Amirah. "Public Markets the Stae o Food Distribution and Urban Dialogues— The ase o Moundi Market." (Advisor: Sai alakrishnan) O'onnor, Eamon. "Sharin More Than Space: Social Integration on a Diverse Urban

  9. PhD in City & Regional Planning

    Berkeley's PhD in City & Regional Planning provides training in urban and planning theory, advanced research, and the practice of planning. Established in 1968, the program has granted more than 160 doctorates. Alums of the program have established national and international reputations as planning educators, social science researchers and ...

  10. Urban Studies and Planning Dissertations and Theses

    In Favor of Bringing Game Theory into Urban Studies and Planning Curriculum: ... (Thesis) PDF. Citizen-led Urban Agriculture and the Politics of Spatial Reappropriation in Montreal, Quebec, Claire Emmanuelle Bach (Thesis) PDF. Travel Mode Choice Framework Incorporating Realistic Bike and Walk Routes, Joseph Broach (Dissertation) ...

  11. PDF The Most Frequently Cited Topics in Urban Planning Scholarship

    urban planning. Urban planning is multi-disciplinary and includes consideration of social, economic, technological, environmental, and political systems that shape human settlement patterns. It has been suspected that some topics are more "popular" and have larger audiences, therefore, are cited more often.

  12. Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning

    The Ph.D. in urban and regional planning trains scholars for careers in higher education, research and high-level policy positions. It is a doctoral degree with a flexible, interdisciplinary focus. Graduates work in universities, government, non-profits, and the private sector, in the U.S. and around the world.

  13. PDF Urban Design and Planning in Adapting to Climate Change: Advances

    urban planning and design literature that delves into climate change adaptation. Surely, while 2006-2007 represented a turning point after which climate change studies appear more prominently and consistently in urban planning and design literature, however, the majority of these studies address climate change mitigation rather than adaptation.

  14. 80 Urban Planning Research Topics

    Affordable housing policies and strategies in urban planning. In conclusion, this curated list of urban planning research topics offers valuable directions for students at all academic levels. From sustainability to social dynamics, these topics provide a roadmap to explore the complexities of urban development.

  15. Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Urban Planning, Policy and Design

    Urban Planning : Discussion of selected topics in theory and methodology with continued development of dissertation project proposal and comprehensive exam reading list. Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year. Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.

  16. Fifty Theses on Urban Planning and Urban Planners

    The aim of this essay is to propose a common basis of definitions and principles for the field of urban planning. A general thesis places a number of dilemmas and paradoxes at the heart of planning; the next nine theses explain the meaning and origins of planning; another ten pertain to the substance and uses of professional planning; ten more suggest what makes for good planning and good ...

  17. Best Thesis Topics For Urban Planning & Design

    Also Read: 50 Best Thesis Topics for Transportation Planning. Impact of government policies and initiatives (most recent) on urban land use. Impact of urban sprawl on provision of public services. Implications of airport expansion on the surrounding areas. Assessing linkage between the parent city and satellite town.

  18. Fifty Theses on Urban Planning and Urban Planners

    The aim of this essay is to propose a common basis of definitions and principles for the field of urban planning. A general thesis places a number of dilemmas and paradoxes at the heart of ...

  19. Department of Urban Studies and Planning < MIT

    The Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) offers four degree programs: a Bachelor of Science in Planning; a two-year professional Master in City Planning (MCP); a one-year Master of Science in Urban Studies and Planning (reserved for mid-career students); and a PhD in Urban Studies and Planning. In addition, DUSP has other, nondegree ...

  20. Urban Planning PhD Projects

    The for a typical PhD in Urban Planning usually involve a Bachelors and a Masters degree in a related subject. You'll also need to submit a compelling research proposal detailing your study plans. You may also need some professional experience, depending on the programme. In the UK, PhDs in Landscape Architecture are funded by the (ESRC ...

  21. Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning

    Discuss the intellectual and planning challenges you hope to address in your doctoral studies - briefly noting any tentative dissertation research topics; outline methodological approaches you might pursue or skills you plan to build to answer those questions; and highlight any relevant research skills or experience you have that has begun to ...

  22. PhD

    PhD - Urban planning The doctoral programme in Urbanism is aimed at students who wish to continue their research training with the aim of completing and defending a doctoral thesis. The main objective is to produce highly qualified researchers in the field of urbanism research.

  23. Dissertations

    UCLA Urban Planning Theses and Projects. For research from students in UCLA's Urban Planning Program, see the below instructions for searching the Library Catalog . Some of the projects are available full-text online, others are deposited in the SRLF. To locate a UCLA U.P. dissertation: Do an Any Field search for dissertations urban planning ucla.

  24. Theses and Dissertations (Town and Regional Planning)

    Towards a narratology of planning - stories of a South African gold mining town. Tesner-Smith, Desirée (University of Pretoria, 2019) The study had a dual objective, namely 1) to add to the body of knowledge of South African planning stories and 2) to consider the possibility of a narratology of planning.