2009-2010 FSU Undergraduate Bulletin
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
College of Social Sciences and Public Policy
Chair: Tim Chapin; Professors: Deyle, Thompson; Associate Professors: Audirac-Zazueta, Chapin, Doan, Miles; Assistant Professors: Brown, Coutts, Lowe; Research Associate: Saunders; Assistant in Planning: Koeppel; Professors Emeriti: Cowart, Frank, RuBino
Urban and regional planning is an interdisciplinary field that is concerned with the management of population growth and decline in urban, suburban, and rural areas. It is concerned with the uses of land to accommodate population; the provision of employment, services, and facilities needed by this population (for example, housing, hospitals, roads and other transportation facilities, schools, parks and recreation, and health services); and the impacts of this population on the environment (air, water, and land), society, and governance.
Planners study these issues and develop policies and plans to accommodate population growth and the problems that arise from this growth. Planners are concerned with the development of coordinated policy responses to these issues; they practice a broad view that focuses on the interrelationships between problems and the necessary interrelatedness of solutions. Above all, planners are concerned with improvements to the quality of life of our communities. They attempt to address these issues in ways that recognize the diverse interests of both genders and those of varying social and economic groups.
Planning is practiced at all levels of government, including local, regional, state, multistate, and national levels. Planners are also found in the private sector; in the employment of development firms, law firms, banks, and specialized resource firms (mining, forestry, etc.); in public interest organizations; and in international settings.
The Department of Urban and Regional Planning offers three nonmajor programs for undergraduates interested in planning and urban affairs. These programs are designed to complement an existing major for those students who wish to develop an appreciation of planning or who wish to lay the foundation for graduate study in planning. These programs are the undergraduate planning studies minor, certificate and pregraduate programs. Within each of these three programs, students may satisfy their minor requirements.
Because of the variety of issues and contexts within which planners work, there is no one undergraduate background that is universally more important than others. Students may combine their interests in planning and urban affairs with undergraduate majors in the variety of social sciences, physical or natural sciences, business, engineering, design professions, communications, criminology and criminal justice, and others.
Planning Studies Minor Program
This program is designed for students who wish to apply their major field to problems and issues in planning and urban affairs. The program consists of a series of courses at the 3000 and 4000 levels that provide an overview of planning and that introduce the student to issues, organizations, policies, and implementation strategies. Students may earn a minor in urban and regional planning by completing a four-course sequence that is composed of three required courses and one elective course. URP 3000 is a prerequisite for all of the required and elective courses. Electives are chosen from among a set of introductory courses representing the major policy areas taught by the department. These include growth management and comprehensive planning, planning for developing areas, environmental planning and resource management, housing and community development, and transportation planning.
Students interested in the planning studies minor program are advised to see the department's Director of Undergraduate Programs for advice on the availability of courses.
Required Courses
URS 1006 World Cities
URP 3000 Introduction to Planning and Urban Development
URP 4022 Collective Decision Making
Elective Courses (Choose One)
URP 4314 Introduction to Growth Management and Comprehensive Planning
URP 4318 Growth Management and Environmental Planning
URP 4402 Sustainable Development Planning in the Americas
URP 4404 River Basin Management and Planning
URP 4423 Introduction to Environmental Planning and Resource Management
URP 4618 Introduction to Planning for Developing Regions
URP 4710 Introduction to Transportation Issues and Transportation Planning
URP 4741 Introduction to Issues in Housing and Community Development
URP 4936r Special Topics in Urban and Regional Planning
The Certificate Program in Urban and Regional Planning
The certificate program is intended for undergraduate students who want to delve more deeply into the field of planning. The program requires two courses in addition to the four required for the minor and is issued only in conjunction with the applicant's receipt of a Bachelor of Arts (BA) Bachelor or Science (BS) degree and a grade of "C–" or better in all courses. One of these two courses is ECO 2023 Principles of Microeconomics (3). The second course should be chosen from a list available from the undergraduate program adviser.
Pre-Graduate Program
This undergraduate program is designed for students who anticipate continuing to graduate school to earn the professional Master's degree in planning. Students in this program are given the opportunity to begin graduate-level course work in their senior year and thereby may satisfy some of the requirements of a graduate degree while still completing their undergraduate credit hour requirements. This program is closely coordinated with the department's graduate program, offering students the possibility of preferred admission with advanced standing at the graduate level. Students make application for advanced standing after admission to the master's program.
The pre-graduate program allows acceleration toward the Master of Science (MS) in planning degree upon satisfactory completion of one required undergraduate course and one to four of the eligible URP graduate courses. URP 3000 is a prerequisite/corequisite for all courses.
Admission to the pregraduate program is available only to those undergraduates who are beginning or in their senior year and who have maintained a cumulative FSU grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.2 or who have earned a score of at least 1000 on the combined verbal and quantitative portions of the GRE and who have taken or are registered for URP 3000. Students completing this program with an upper-division GPA of at least 3.0 may be offered admission to the master's program in planning with advanced standing for up to twelve semester hours of course work in which the grade of "B" or higher was earned.
Required Course
URP 3000 Introduction to Planning and Urban Development (3)
Elective Courses (Choose One to Four)
Students interested in the pre-graduate program are advised to see the department's Director of Undergraduate Programs for advising on appropriate courses to take.
A guide to undergraduate studies in urban and regional planning is available from the department and should be consulted by all students enrolling in the minor in planning studies or pre-graduate programs.
A minor can be earned concurrent with work on the pre-graduate program. The minor is composed of a four-course sequence: URS 1006, URP 3000, URP 4022, and at least one additional graduate course.
Multicultural Studies
A variety of urban and regional planning undergraduate courses explore perspectives of different cultural groups on questions related to urban life and the development of human settlements. Approved for credit under the University's baccalaureate multicultural requirement for cross-cultural (X) courses are: URS 1006 World Cities; and URP 4618 Planning for Developing Regions. Approved under the requirement for diversity in western cultures (Y) is: URP 4402 Sustainable Development Planning in the Americas.
Definition of Prefixes
URP—Urban and Regional Planning
URS—Urban and Regional Studies
Undergraduate Courses
Liberal Studies Area III
URS 1006. World Cities: Quality of Life (3). Major world cities are examined in terms of their natural, social, and built environments in order to assess those factors that promote quality-of-life and sustainability. Prospects for future growth and change are considered in light of demographic, cultural, economic and political trends.
Upper Division Courses
URP 3000. Introduction to Planning and Urban Development (3). Introduces planning concepts and the role of planning in formulating policy, meeting critical problems, and shaping the future urban environment.
URP 3949r. Cooperative Education Work Experience (0). (S/U grade only.)
URP 4022. Collective Decision Making (3). Prerequisite: URP 3000 or instructor permission. This course provides an introduction to planning as a collective decision-making tool, and introduces the concepts of efficiency, equity, and environmental quality as competing bases for public decisions. The course examines tools for contributing to public decisions in varying circumstances, including unitary and diverse decision makers, certain and uncertain environments, and simple and complex goals.
URP 4314. Introduction to Growth Management and Comprehensive Planning (3). Prerequisite: URP 3000 or instructor permission. An introduction to the problems and needs for growth management and comprehensive planning for U.S. cities, highlighting various planning approaches and strategies available for meeting development, growth, and land-use problems.
URP 4318. Growth Management and Environmental Planning (3). Prerequisites: URP 3000. This course provides a general introduction to growth management and environmental planning through an overview of general planning history, basic legal theory, principles of growth mgmt/land use planning, and introductory environmental management approaches. The first portion of the course covers basic growth management principles, both to identify issues and to study current trends in planning. The second portion of this course covers current practices and approaches to environmental planning that are important to defining environmental planning problems and evaluating alternative courses of action.
URP 4402. Sustainable Development Planning in the Americas (3). Prerequisite: URP 3000 or instructor permission. Examines various dimensions of the "sustainable development" paradigm and its local-global policy implications, issues, and controversies with a focus upon North America and Latin America. Organized in three modules: 1) environmental philosophies that have influenced the movement; 2) North American approaches to planning for sustainable development; and 3) critical issues of sustainable development in Latin America.
URP 4404. River Basin Management and Planning (3). This course introduces river basin management and planning and takes a systemic approach from biological, hydrological, and geopolitical viewpoints. Special emphasis is placed on the planning and management of transboundary (interstate and international) basins. The focus is on world river basin systems as well as on the local Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint basin. Students are introduced to technical concepts and tools, including negotiation and math simulation tools.
URP 4423. Introduction to Environmental Planning and Resource Management (3). Prerequisite: URP 3000 or instructor permission. A general introduction to the problems of resource management and environmental planning, with an overview of problems and potential solutions and their relation to other public policy areas such as land-use control and regional development.
URP 4531. Policy and Planning for the Aged (3). This course examines issues faced by older people and the current federal and state policies designed to address these issues. It explores these policies and issues in the context of both political economy and the long-term care continuum from independence to dependence.
URP 4618. Planning for Developing Regions (3). Prerequisite: URP 3000 or instructor permission. This course will introduce the student to the field of development planning and give the student exposure to the interplay between theory and practice. Topics include concepts of development, measurement and indicators of patterns of development, rural development, urban development, preparation of development plans, and implementation of development plans.
URP 4710. Introduction to Transportation Issues and Transportation Planning (3). Prerequisite: URP 3000 or instructor permission. An introduction to contemporary U.S. transportation problems, sources of funding, and legislation. Presents the theory and methods employed by planners in the process of resolving transportation problems.
URP 4741. Introduction to Issues in Housing and Community Development (3). Prerequisite: URP 3000 or instructor permission. Focuses on the operation of the housing market, the nature of the housing and community development problem, and the gradual development of a national housing and community development policy since the 1930s. Relationships between public and private sectors are examined.
URP 4936r. Special Topics in Urban and Regional Planning (3). A selected topics seminar for the discussion of unique and timely planning related issues. Content varies. May be repeated to a maximum of six (6) semester hours.
Graduate Courses
Planning Theory and Practice
URP 5101. Planning Theory and Practice (3).
URP 5122. Planning Dispute Resolution (3).
URP 5123. Collaborative Governance: Consensus Building for Planners (3).
URP 5125. Plan Implementation (3).
URP 5342. Advanced Planning Problems (3).
URP 5944. Dispute Resolution Practicum (3).
URP 6102. Seminar in Planning Theory (3).
Planning Methods
URP 5201. Planning Research Methods (3).
URP 5211. Planning Statistics (3).
URP 5222. Planning Alternatives Evaluation (3).
URP 5261. Forecasting for Plan Development (3).
URP 5272. Urban and Regional Information Systems (3).
URP 5279. Urban and Regional Information Systems Practicum (3).
URP 5885. Graphics Communication for Urban Planning and Design (3).
URP 6202. Design of Policy-Oriented Research (3).
Urban Growth Process
URP 5847. Growth and Development of Cities (3).
URP 6844. Seminar in Regional Theory (3).
URP 6846. Seminar in Urban Theory (3).
Planning for Developing Regions
URP 5544. Gender and Development (3).
URP 5610. Introduction to Planning for Developing Regions (3).
URP 5611. Strategies for Urban and Regional Development in Less-Developed Countries (3).
URP 5614. Population and Development Planning (3).
URP 5615. Infrastructure and Housing in Less Developed Countries (3).
URP 5616. Project Planning in Developing Countries (3).
Planning for Health and Aging
URP 5521. Public Health Epidemiology (3).
Environmental Planning and Natural Resource Management
URP 5405. River Basin Planning and Management (3).
URP 5421. Introduction to Environmental Planning and Natural Resource Management (3).
URP 5422. Coastal Planning (3).
URP 5424. Sustainable Development Planning in the Americas (3).
URP 5425. Methods of Environmental Analysis (3).
URP 5427. Environmental Legislation and Policy (3).
URP 5429r. Special Topics in Environmental Planning and Resource Management (3).
Growth Management and Comprehensive Planning
URP 5312. Perspective and Issues of Comprehensive Planning and Growth Management (3).
URP 5316. Land-Use Planning (3).
URP 5319r. Special Topics in Comprehensive Planning and Growth Management (3).
URP 5350. Pedestrian-Oriented Communities (3).
URP 5731. The Planning of Community Infrastructure (3).
URP 5873. Site Design and Land-Use Analysis (3).
URP 5881. Urban Design (3).
Transportation Planning
URP 5711. The Transportation Planning Process (3).
URP 5716. Transportation and Land Use (3).
URP 5717. Methods of Transportation Planning (3).
Housing and Community Development
URP 5540. State and Local Economic Development Planning (3).
URP 5615. Infrastructure and Housing in Less Developed Countries (3).
URP 5742. Problems and Issues in Housing and Community Development (3).
URP 5743. Neighborhood Planning (3).
URP 5749r. Special Topics in Housing and Community Development (3).
Health Planning
URP 5522. Regulatory Aspects of Health Care (3).
URP 5530. Policy and Planning for the Aging (3).
Other Courses for Graduate Students
URP 5905r. Directed Individual Study (1–3). (S/U grade only.)
URP 5910r. Directed Individual Research (1–3). (S/U grade only.)
URP 5930r. Professional Topics in Urban and Regional Planning (0). (S/U grade only.)
URP 5939r. Special Topics in Urban and Regional Planning (0–3).
URP 5971r. Thesis (1-6). (S/U grade only.)
URP 6938. Doctoral Research Colloquium (0). (S/U grade only.)
URP 6981r. Supervised Teaching (1–3). (S/U grade only.)
For listings relating to graduate course work for thesis, dissertation, and master's and doctoral examinations and defense, consult the Graduate Bulletin.