MS Urban Planning Curriculum & Courses

FALL 1

SPRING 1

FALL 2

SPRING 2

The Environmental Planning concentration allows students to study the interactions between human and natural systems. Fundamentally, this concentration investigates how urban planning can reduce or increase the impacts cities have on natural resources and the environment through concepts such as sustainability, conservation and resilience.

Students pursuing this concentration will develop expertise in current patterns of natural resource consumption, methodological approaches in geographic information systems (GIS), conflict resolution in natural resources and planning and design for climate resilience.

The Heritage Conservation concentration educates students in the preservation of the built environment as part of a comprehensive ethic of environmental, cultural, and economic sustainability.

In this interdisciplinary concentration which is intended to balance theory and practice, research and outreach, students gain an awareness of the geographic, cultural technological, economic, and political factors that shape the built environment. They have an opportunity to become familiar with building traditions, cultural artifacts, sites, and cultural landscapes of prehistoric and historic groups who have defined the Greater Southwest.

Students will gain an understanding of the language, concepts and tools of heritage conservation and historic preservation and will be able to survey, document and communicate information about cultural and historic resources. The courses in this concentration are offered fully online. 

Students in the Real Estate and Urban Development concentration will prepare for professional positions in public sector, nonprofit and private-sector organizations focused on planning and executing land development and redevelopment projects.

Graduates will be prepared for careers in a variety of planning and development organizations, such as:

• Public redevelopment authority promoting urban revitalization and reinvestment
• Nonprofit community development organization promoting affordable housing
• Private development company building new or refurbishing housing or commercial projects

Students will deepen their knowledge and skills related to the development process and how to effectively manage the regulatory, social and market forces that shape it.

Students in the Urban Transportation Planning concentration explore issues and develop skills for building and maintaining sustainable urban transportation systems. We emphasize connections between transportation planning and safety, environmental and climate resilience, social equity, health and wellbeing, resource limitations, accessibility and community impact. Through our emphasis on multi-modal planning (e.g., cars, public transit, pedestrians, bicyclists) and providing inclusive facilities and public spaces that are safe and comfortable for all users, this concentration teaches students to consider transportation planning in holistic, analytical and innovative ways. This program of study will give students hands-on experience with practical transportation planning applications, including opportunities for original data collection, analysis and plan-making.

Students will become familiar with the transportation planning profession at various urban scales and at the local, regional, state and national levels. This concentration also provides students with opportunities to explore national and international best practices and to critically consider the implications of transformative/disruptive technologies, such as autonomous vehicles and transportation network companies, on existing planning, design and urban growth considerations.

This course is designed for advanced undergraduate students seeking careers in urban/regional planning, architecture, real estate development, and related fields.

Typically Offered: Fall 

Units: 3

There is an interest in assuring that real estate development of the future is more socially, environmentally, and economically responsible than in the past. Emerging research shows that responsible real estate development can produce competitive short-term and superior long-term financial returns. This introductory course will review sweeping changes occurring in real estate development.

Fully Online

Typically offered: Fall
Units: 6

Cities are on the front-lines of climate change as the built environment is impacted by increasing sea level rise, floods, drought, wildfires and urban heat. This course explores the challenges and opportunities of planning and designing the built environment for climate adaptation and resilience. Urban resilience is the capacity of cities and their interconnected systems to survive, adapt, and thrive no matter what chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience. Students will learn a range of climate impacts on the built environment, examine different planning and design strategies to increase urban resilience, and explore real world case studies of cities planning for urban resilience. Urban resilience will be considered through a variety of planning and design scales - buildings, landscapes, neighborhoods, cities, and regions. This course emphasizes inclusive planning processes that engage the most vulnerable populations to climate impacts. Guest lectures from researchers and practitioners will also be featured to share their professional experiences in connecting climate science to planning and design efforts.

Typically offered: Spring
Units: 3

This course provides students a review of the legal principles that inform and regulate the due diligence and entitlement process that is the basis of every successful real estate transaction.

Typically offered: Fall
Units: 3

Course examines the theory and practice of comprehensive and strategic planning for urban and regional development. The tradition of strategic planning in corporations and other public and no-for-profit organizations, leading to the "situation change" criterion, is studied. In a parallel manner, the even older traditions of comprehensive planning, leading to the appropriately comprehensive criterion will be studied. When possible, students will be able to do hands-on planning at either the comprehensive or strategic planning levels.

Typically offered: Fall
Units: 3

Methods and models for program planning and policy analysis; forecasting, service demand, facility location in capital investment programming, task sequencing, program analysis and evaluation.

Typically Offered: Fall 

Units: 4

The goal of this course is the advancement of students’ knowledge and capabilities regarding Green Infrastructure concepts and the issues and techniques involved in implementation of Green Infrastructure. The course provides an overview as well as more in-depth coverage of the science, practical context, and creation of Green Infrastructure. The built environment of arid regions is emphasized, with Tucson Case Studies providing practical focus to content and learning objectives. The term Green Infrastructure, as used in this course, aligns with the following EPA description: “Green infrastructure uses vegetation, soils, and natural processes to manage water and create healthier urban environments... at the scale of a neighborhood or site, green infrastructure refers to stormwater management systems that mimic nature by soaking up and storing water.” The course features lectures, interactive discussions and presentations, and guest presentations and tours led by experts in their fields. Students take a series of quizzes, a mid-term and a final exam, along with a number of homework assignments / exercises. A special research report is required of Graduate Students.

Typically offered: Fall
Units: 3

Review of the principal legal devices available to implement planning decisions on community design (official map, subdivision control), the use of land (nuisance, covenants and zoning) and housing needs (including urban renewal). Special attention will be paid to the significance and legal effect of a comprehensive plan and to the social and economic effects of planning decisions.

Typically offered: Spring
Units: 3

Course reviews preservation policy and jurisdictional issues within community development context, addresses complex social equity considerations associated with historic designation, examines economic incentives, and explores preservation philosophy, cross cultural values and emerging trends.  Gain skills to connect technical and policy requirements of historic preservation with pragmatic social and economic concerns of community development.

Typically offered: Spring
Units: 3

Transportation planning in relation to urban development; techniques and procedures for developing long-range regional plans.

Typically offered: Fall
Units: 3

Transportation and Land Use (T&LU) is an elective course to satisfy the Transportation Concentration requirements for the Masters in Planning program within the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture (CAPLA). The objective of this course is to introduce planning students, and those from other majors and programs, to concepts and methods used in the arena where transportation planning and land use development intersect. This course will discuss various theories related to linking transportation investments, land use, and travel behavior, and will consider policy approaches used to address urban planning issues such as congestion, automobile dependence, and planning for infrastructure investments.

Typically Offered: Spring

Units: 3

Land use planning is a critical component of various planning efforts regarding the built environment. This course aims to equip students with a broad knowledge base on analysis methods for land use planning. Students will develop essential land use analysis and planning skills in order to help guide land use decision making, engage stakeholders, and mitigate conflicts between natural and built systems in an effort to produce more sustainable land use patterns and plans.

Typically offered: Spring
Units: 3

This course facilitates student exploration of key concepts and issues related to how transportation systems impact cities and communities. Students will explore ways that transportation systems--both in the United States and around the world--effect urban growth and development, economic performance, public health outcomes, social equity and social justice, and the natural environment. Students will have the opportunity to explore topics of interest in more depth through an individual research paper.

Typically offered: Spring
Units: 3

A case-oriented approach to site selection, rezoning, financing, architectural design, economic feasibility, and other facets of the land development process.

Offered Online

Typically offered: Spring
Units: 3

Geodesign is a rapidly evolving approach which integrates geographic science into the planning and design process. The burgeoning development of Geodesign is resultant from the ongoing innovations in geographic information and geospatial technologies, and to explore their applications in landscape planning and design.

Typically offered: Spring
Units: 3

Public participation is both ethically and legally a fundamental component of planning decision making processes. This course explores a wide variety of public participation methods and tools, what to expect from working with the public, and how to handle disputes that arise.  Students will be given a variety of public participation tools and then utilize them as a team in a real life public participation project over the semester. This course is designed for undergraduate and graduate students with no prior background or experience in the fields of public participation, negotiation, or dispute resolution.

Typically Offered: Fall 

Units: 3

Examines contemporary competition between environment, resources (water, energy), social equity, and economic viability in the community development and revitalization arena. Public policy, planning initiatives, design strategies and technical solutions that bridge the conflicting agendas are analyzed. Field investigation of contemporary cases. Appropriate for students specializing in planning, architecture and landscape architecture.

Typically Offered: Fall

Units: 3

The course focuses on housing and community development issues.  Its purpose is to understand the nature of housing development, particularly for the lower income sectors of the community, and its relation to community development.  Graduate-level requirements include individual projects and a longer research paper.

Typically Offered: Fall

Units: 3

Students in this course will participate in the The Bank of America Merrill Lynch Low Income Housing Challenge. The BAML LIHC is a team "business plan" competition for undergraduate and graduate students to provide a proposal for the development of housing for low to moderate income residents. The challenge seeks projects that will exemplify affordable housing development in the current economic and fiscal climate while demonstrating excellence in design and sustainability.

Typically offered: Spring

Units: 3

This course serves as a primer for the analysis techniques and data sources used to segment real estate markets, quantify demand, and evaluate competing supply. This course considers the balance of demand and supply as a key component to responsible real estate development.

Fully Online

Typically Offered: Fall

Units: 3

Lectures, laboratory, and field projects covering various aspects of professional practice.

Typically offered: Spring

Units: 4