United StatesThe mission of the Department of City and Regional Planning is to improve equity, the economy and the environment in neighborhoods, communities, cities, and metropolitan regions by creating knowledge and engagement through our teaching, research and service. We aim to design and create cities, infrastructure, and public services that are sustainable, affordable, enjoyable, and accessible to all. Our goal is also to sustain a diverse, inclusive, and equitable department.
Wisely and successfully intervening in the public realm, whether locally, nationally, or globally, is a challenge. Our urban future is complex and rapidly changing. Resource scarcity and conflict, technological innovation, retrofitting of existing built environments, and social empowerment will alter the ways in which planning has conventionally been carried out.
We believe the planning academy has a special responsibility to always address social justice, equity, and ethics; to teach and research means of public participation, collective decision making, and advocacy; and to focus on reforming institutions, urban governance, policy and planning practices to make these
goals possible.
The MCP is a two-year nationally accredited professional-degree STEM program. We aim to provide our students with:
-Lifelong analytical, research, and communication skills;
-The knowledge and skill sets to successfully practice planning in a variety of urban, metropolitan, and regional settings;
-An understanding of the history and theory of planning and of cities and urban regions;
-Expertise in various fields and sub-fields of city and regional planning;
-Sensitivity to the human impacts of planning decisions, with particular attention to equity, diversity, and social justice.
The Master of City Planning (M.C.P.) degree combines a common core curriculum with the opportunity to specialize in one or more of the following concentration areas:
-Environmental Planning and Healthy Cities
-Housing, Community, and Economic Development
-Transportation Policy and Planning
-Urban Design
DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
To earn the M.C.P. degree, a student must complete:
-48 units of in-residence coursework or 36 units in concurrent/dual degree programs
-Successful completion of the core curriculum
-Courses in at least one concentration area
-A capstone project consisting of either a client report, a professional report, or a master’s thesis
PROGRAM SELECTION AND ADVISING
Students plan their individual programs with the help of their faculty advisor. All new graduate students are paired with an advisor, whose role is to help students structure their first-semester program. First-year students set up an intial meeting with their assigned adviors during the first three weeks of the fall semester.
Students declare a concentration at the end of the first semester by completing a Concentration Declaration Form and submitting it to the Graduate Student Affairs Officer (GSAO). Advisors are chosen within the area of concentration.
INTERNSHIPS
All students are expected to complete a three-month internship in a planning-related position, usually between their first and second years of study unless exempted by previous work experience. Frequently, the work completed during a summer internship forms the basis for the the Professional Report, Client Report or Thesis. International students who hold an F-1 or J-1 visa must complete an internship during their two years of study.
