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Master of Urban Planning Degree

concentrations - fall 2008

The Urban and Regional Planning Program requires master’s students to select a concentration in order to gain depth in a specific area of the very broad field of urban and regional planning.

The following are guides for seven possible concentrations. In general, a concentration recommends one or two “foundation” courses that provide the conceptual basis for analysis, decision-making, and planning in that area; techniques or methods course(s); and electives organized into “streams” of topics within the concentration. The structure of each concentration is slightly different, however, in order to fit the character of that subject area. Faculty are ready to advise you in selecting courses. A concentration is required for the degree.

Courses offered in other departments may require prerequisites and may restrict enrollment.

LAND USE AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING

Since the mid 20th century, social commenters and researchers have voiced concerns about the kinds of land development patterns occurring around the U.S. (and now the world), today commonly described collectively as the phenomenon of suburban “sprawl.” This phenomenon, which also encompasses urban and rural decline, is characterized by unlimited and outward expansion of development; low density residential and commercial settlements; leapfrog development; the dominance of transportation by private automobiles; widespread strip commercial development along high-speed roadways; the segregation of land use types into different zones; and the siting of development with little regard for hazardous or environmentally sensitive landscapes. Moreover, a number of related physical and environmental ills have been attributed to this phenomenon, ranging from the ongoing decline of urban centers to the fragmentation and loss of rural landscapes, along with attendant social impacts such as increased socio-economic segregation, increased social ennui from isolation, and diminished public health from inactivity. This phenomenon of “sprawl” (itself a contested description) is still heartily debated: Is it really a bad thing (many people live in sprawl and enjoy it)? Is it the result of the market place producing what people want, or in fact the product of poorly-conceived public planning, policy and regulatory decisions from the past, or both? If it is a problem, what do we do about it and how do we ensure that the cure does not end up being worse than the disease?

This concentration prepares planners to work toward the long-term environmental and social sustainability of land use. The concentration focuses on training students to better inform private and public decision making processes related to land development, especially within the context of these ongoing issues of urban decline and suburban sprawl.

Students are taught to recognize the value-based and analytical conflicts that are common to land development and environmental planning debates and to creatively employ planning and policy making approaches designed to resolve those disputes. The challenge is to guide land development in ways that preserve and restore the ecological integrity of urban and rural systems while improving the quality of life for residents, facilitating a vital economy, promoting the efficient use of land and community facilities, and respecting fiscal and legal requirements.

Land use and environmental planners address a wide array of overlapping issues such as sprawl and intergovernmental growth management; the relationships between land use and transportation systems; the relationships between economic development and environmental protection; open space and farmland preservation; brownfield redevelopment; transboundary environmental issues; and environmental justice. Land use and environmental planners find employment in local, regional, state, and federal government agencies, as private sector planning consultants, and in environmental nonprofit organizations.

A student in this concentration should take two of the four foundational courses and the two techniques/methods courses noted below. The student should then select from other courses (especially those recommended below) to complete a program of study that best fits his or her interests.

Faculty associated with the concentration:

• Richard Norton (concentration coordinator)
• Scott Campbell
• Larissa Larsen
• Jonathan Levine
• June Thomas
• Margaret Dewar
• Bunyan Bryant
• Matthew Lassiter

PLANNING IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Many cities in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Caribbean face challenges of rapid population growth, resource scarcity, rural-urban migration, and severe poverty and socioeconomic inequality. Yet they also exhibit significant opportunities, including inventiveness borne out of necessities of survival (e.g. self-help housing, group micro-credit programs), and a highly effective use of resources. Development planners focus on understanding these issues and opportunities and formulating appropriate interventions, and on achieving social justice and redistribution of development benefits. They work in project management, administration, finance, as and urban policy. This concentration prepares planners to work in the diverse and rapidly changing contexts of the developing world.

The curriculum in this concentration focuses on assisting students to develop the tools and ideas to understand issues confronting cities in diverse socioeconomic, political, and cultural circumstances; understand how globalization impacts the local space of cities and regions; work effectively in multicultural settings; and understand how the international development industry functions. Students may choose to focus on specific themes and substantive areas such as community development, transportation, environmental planning, land use and physical planning, or economic development. They may also choose to structure their coursework to focus on one of two distinct career trajectories within the field:

Project and Program Planning for Development: Students may take courses that prepare them to work with non-governmental organizations such as Oxfam, the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), and the Grameen Bank. Such organizations generally work at the community level to achieve social justice, empower marginalized populations, and facilitate collaborative practice at the local level. Coursework appropriate for this career trajectory may include development, program, and project administration; housing, infrastructure, and community development; economic development; environment and development; and theories of economic, social, and political development.

International Systems of Administration, Management and Finance: Students may also choose coursework that prepares them to work on issues of macro concern such as structures of governance and politics, legal systems, and matters of finance and administration. The objective is to practice in international agencies such as the World Bank and USAID, private consulting firms, and UN agencies. Here, the appropriate training may include coursework in development program and project administration; the international economy and financial policy; and theories of economic, social, and political development.

Students may also choose to pursue regional interests by taking courses listed by the National Resource Centers and Area Studies Programs in the International Institute which include regional seminars and courses in geographic areas of interest such as Latin America, Africa, China, Japan, South and Southeast Asia.

Students in the concentration should take UP 658, Urban and Regional Planning in Developing Countries, one other foundational course, one techniques course, and one or two additional courses in their specific area of interest. Students should be aware that not all of the foundational courses are offered regularly, and should consult with the relevant faculty to find out when they are likely to be taught so they can plan accordingly. The list of courses below is not comprehensive—students are encouraged to seek additional coursework that might count towards the concentration subject to approval by the concentration coordinator.

Summer Internship

Students are encouraged to seek summer internships abroad at the end of their first year. Financial assistance for travel and research support is available on a competitive basis at the International Institute, Rackham Graduate School and at various Area Centers. Students are encouraged to expand on work initiated in a summer internship abroad through the thesis or professional project option for meeting the capstone requirement.

Faculty associated with the concentration:

• Gavin Shatkin (concentration coordinator)
• Scott Campbell
• Lan Deng
• Joe Grengs
• Will Glover

PHYSCIAL PLANNING + URBAN DESIGN

“Each generation writes its own biography in the cities it creates.”
Lewis Mumford,
The Culture of Cities

What will our cities say about this generation? While technology has allowed us to create virtual worlds of interaction, our collective need for memorable places, meaningful communities, and ecologically appropriate settlements has never been greater. The purpose of this concentration is to enable planning students to contribute to the design, function, and sustainability of our communities. In this concentration, students undertake activities that require them to:

1. visualize scale, density, and the physical dimensions of different built structures, transportation systems, and infrastructure requirements;
2. create and critique site plans with regards to their contextual appropriateness (from diverse perspectives that include aesthetics, function, inclusion, and environment);
3. understand how different design philosophies and traditions have influenced form, configuration, and the distribution of uses and users;
4. recognize how development and real estate influence the products and processes of urban design;
5. respect present and future inhabitants of the neighborhoods we hope to build and recognize how meaningful community participation can enhance their design.

Classes in this concentration range include lectures, seminars, field trips, and studios. Students in this concentration (other than those with a previous degree in architecture or landscape architecture)must participate in UP 518 (Physical Planning and Urban Design Studio). In this foundational studio class, students propose change on real sites, with real clients, and consider a myriad of constraints. Increasingly, computer representation is an important communication tool. Students in UP 518 who are unfamiliar with some of these visualization and graphic design tools will receive an introduction.

Students who concentrate in physical planning and urban design normally take UP 631 (Land Use and Physical Planning Workshop) for their capstone requirement. In this course, architecture and planning students work together on a large-scale urban design project. However, some students may opt to participate in other capstone projects (UP 634), professional projects of their own design, or complete a thesis. Students who opt not to participate in UP 631 should discuss this with their advisor and the concentration coordinator.

Students in the concentration complete at least one of the Foundational Courses and two Techniques/Methods course.

Foundation Courses

Students in the concentration normally take the following courses that provide a basic foundation:

Additional Opportunities for Students in the Physical Planning and Urban Design Concentration

Hines Competition

Sponsored by the Urban Land Institute, this annual project engages multidisciplinary student teams in proposing development concepts and financing. This project occurs in late January/early February each year. Team organization begins in the fall.

Post-professional Master of Urban Design

Students who want greater depth in urban design can apply for admission to the Urban Design Program after completing their MUP degree.

Dual Degree in M. Arch/MUP Urban and Regional Planning Program

Students who want much greater depth in architecture and structures can apply for admission to the Architecture Program and the dual degree program between Architecture and Urban Planning.

Student-Initiated Dual Degree in Landscape Architecture and MUP

Students who are interested in site planning and design at a range of scale that consider the built and natural environment may apply for admission to the School of Natural Resources and Environment for admission to the Landscape Architecture Program (three year graduate program).

Real Estate Certificate Program

Design and Development are closely intertwined. Students in the physical planning and urban design concentration will be encouraged to consider participation in the real estate certificate program.

Faculty associated with the concentration:

• Larissa Larsen (concentration coordinator)
• Robert Fishman
• Douglas Kelbaugh
• Roy Strickland

TRANSPORTATION PLANNING

Movement has always been central to the economies and quality of life in cities and regions. The importance of connecting physically disparate locations spawned professions in transportation engineering and transportation planning in early 20th-century America —professions that were subsequently exported worldwide. Transportation planning has opened up previously inaccessibile territory and distributed an unprecented level of mobility throughout a broad range of society. At the same time, the transportation system’s rapid growth has had serious societal, environmental, and economic side-effects. The transportation professions have frequently treated mobility as inherently desirable, neglecting the fact that access, not movement, is what people seek in a transportation and land-use system.

The transportation planning concentration builds an interdisciplinary range of skills and perspectives in transportation planning, including understandings of transportation planning’s societal roles, applied technical and evaluation skills, historical uses and misuses of transportation planning techniques, and the rich interdependencies between transportation planning and other areas of urban and regional planning.

Major themes in transportation planning include the interaction of transportation and land use planning, transportation needs of the poor, alternative approaches to public transit policy, the role of technology in improvement of transportation systems, transportation's role in environmental quality planning, and the intergovernmental and interjurisdictional dimensions of transportation problems.

The transportation planning concentration prepares Master of Urban Planning students for professional work in transportation related organizations at local, regional and national levels, and in private planning/engineering firms that are engaged in transportation planning. Transportation planners develop transportation and traffic plans, forecast travel conditions and prepare transportation demand management programs for their jurisdictions. At the broader level, transportation planners provide input into transportation policy questions, such as the relative benefit of alternative approaches to transit investment, pricing of public and private transportation, or innovative approaches to addressing needs in “welfare-to-work” transportation. New transportation technologies and institutions create opportunities that eventually change land use patterns. Conversely, new land use patterns change the burden on the transportation system and affect available transportation strategies. Transportation planners anticipate and plan for these interactions.

The concentration requires the completion of three courses, including the two foundation courses UP 572 and UP 671, and one techniques course in introductory Geographic Information Systems . Also recommended for students in the transportation planning concentration are UP 507 and an additional course from the list of Other Related Courses.

Foundation Courses

Some students complement their concentration in transportation planning by earning a Certificate in Spatial Analysis from the Rackham Graduate School.

Faculty associated with the Transportation Planning concentration:

• Joe Grengs (concentration coordinator)
• Jonathan Levine

Others associated with the concentration:

• Lidia Kostyniuk, University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute and Adjunct Professor of Urban and Regional Planning.
• Susan Zielinski, Managing Director of Sustainable Mobility and Accessibility Research and Transformation (SMART), University of Michigan Institute for Social Research

HOUSING, COMMUNITY + ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HCED)

Healthy cities and regions need affordable housing, safe, vibrant and diverse neighborhoods, and good jobs and public services. The tasks are complex and challenging: reconciling affluence and equity; mobility and a sense of place; global markets and local traditions; retaining manufacturing jobs while embracing post-industrial digital technologies; providing housing as both a market commodity and a social need. Moreover, these various tasks work best if interconnected: housing integrated into the larger neighborhood, economic activity embedded into local communities, and equal partnerships between public and private actors.

The Housing, Community and Economic Development (HCED) concentration takes on these challenges: planning housing, neighborhoods, and economic well-being of a community and the larger region. The goals are to increase social and economic capital and improve the quality of life generally but particularly in low-income, minority and other disadvantaged communities.

Planners with this background work with local residents, neighborhood and community organizations, community development corporations (CDCs), and nonprofit housing developers, as well as municipal, regional, state and federal agencies and the private sector in efforts directed toward securing decent, affordable housing, improving job opportunities, increasing safety, and restoring or maintaining community stability. They work for state departments of commerce or economic development, city departments and mayors’ offices, and federal agencies to plan and implement development projects, strengthen tax base, improve employment opportunities, and enhance housing policy.

HCED is a broad concentration consisting of three tracks: housing; community development; and urban & regional economic development. HCED Students may choose to specialize in one or more of these interrelated but distinctive tracks (and do not need to take courses across all three areas). Students acquire fundamental knowledge of political/economic/social systems that lead to urban growth and decline, low incomes, inadequate housing, unemployment, uneven development, deindustrialization, and poor neighborhoods. Students may further specialize in particular skills and techniques, such as: local and regional economic analysis; real estate finance and development; neighborhood planning; site planning; nonprofit management; public-private partnerships; and community participation (to facilitate an open planning process with people and organizations of multiple backgrounds and interests).

Students in this concentration should complete the economics requirement (UP 510) early in their programs, if they have not taken microeconomics elsewhere. Students in this concentration normally take UP 634 (Integrative Field Experience), a course in which students work in teams on community-based planning projects, to meet the capstone requirement. The concentration requires the completion of three courses. These normally include at least two foundational courses and at least one techniques/methods course. One foundation course should be UP 573: Urban and Regional Theory (although this is not required); the other can be selected from the following list, depending on the student’s particular interest within the concentration.

Other Opportunities Related to Housing, Community and Economic Development

Dual degree in Social Work and Urban and Regional Planning

The student-initiated dual degree, MUP/MSW, enables students to study community planning in greater depth and to obtain two master’s degrees in about three years of study.

Dual degree in Business Administration and Urban and Regional Planning

The MBA/MUP degree provides much more extensive background for students who would like to work in urban revitalization through business development or in real estate development.

Dual degree in Public Policy and Urban and Regional Planning

The student-initiated dual MUP/MPP degree provides the student with additional background for going into housing and economic development policy making at the state or the federal government levels.

Dual degree in Law and Urban and Regional Planning

The JD/MUP degree prepares students for community development advocacy, affordable housing development, and other areas related to the concentration.

The Non-Profit and Public Management Program

Students may also want to take courses associated with this program that prepares students to go into work in community-based nonprofits as well as other nonprofits.

The Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development

This program admits students who want to gain the background for implementing development ideas to create better neighborhoods, stronger cities, and better housing.

The Michigan AmeriCorps Partnership offers internships in community-based organizations in Detroit.

Faculty associated with the Housing, Community and Economic Development concentration:

• Margaret Dewar and Scott Campbell (concentration coordinators)
• Peter Allen (lecturer)
• Phillip Bowman
• Barry Checkoway
• Lan Deng
• Joseph Grengs
• Chris Leinberger
• Gavin Shatkin
• David Thacher
• June Thomas

Ready to apply?

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Page links

• Land Use and Environmental Planning
• Planning in Developing Countries
• Physical Planning and Urban Design
• Transportation Planning
• Housing Community and Economic Development