M.S. Urban Planning

Weijian Bi, Faraz Butte, Whigham Covington, Augustus Haney, Angela Li, Melinda Martinus, Lingran Meng, Tola Oniyangi, You Wan, Guanglin Yang, Adede Amenyah, Tonks Chen, Steven Kyle Cook, Yanling Deng, Madeleine Haslam, Abraham Murrell, Edward Palka, Coco Ke

Spring 2017 - Planning Studio
Richard Plunz, Nick Klein

Up plunz weijian bi faraz butte whigham covington augustus haney angela li melinda martinus lingran meng tola oniyangi you wan guanglin yang adede amenyah tonks chen steven kyle cook yanling deng madeleine haslam abraham murrell edward palka coco ke

Pauline Claramunt Torche, Sean Nelsen, and Anna Stokes
Spring 2018 Course
Leah Meisterlin

The Columbia University Master of Science in Urban Planning is an accredited two-year program of professional education. Actively engaged in practice, our curriculum connects the study of the urban built environment with grounded analysis of socioeconomic and political conditions. We explore the tensions between market forces, civil society, and the goals of planning, paying special attention to the role of urban analytics and the quest for social justice. Students learn to evaluate and shape efforts to develop and enhance cities and their communities in ways that foster healthy and sustainable living.

Located in New York City, our program promotes a global outlook. We look to planning issues locally and internationally for studio projects, classroom case studies, and thesis research. By studying the impact of global linked processes (e.g. immigration and climate change) as well as local conditions on cities and communities, we think creatively about planning and policy approaches to improve processes and outcomes in cities around the world.

Planning education promotes the redistribution of resources and social justice in cities as much as the creation of wealth. Our students connect challenges of urban development, sustainability and equity with the political and socioeconomic conditions that define them. They learn to engage and assess the increasing abundance and availability of data to address urban problems and inform planning efforts. Throughout the curriculum, the emphasis is on real-world problems and how planners can act to improve the lives of urban residents.

Being part of GSAPP, our program connects with design, preservation, and real estate faculty and professionals to add to ideas and techniques developed by planners and social activists. We also offer a range of curriculum and dual-degree options within and beyond GSAPP for students interested in additional content expertise and skills. Our graduates work in critical and leading roles in government, private firms, nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, multilateral institutions, and international NGOs.

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View the 2018 M.S. Urban Planning Public Information

View the Program Information booklet

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People

Weiping Wu, Director

Margaret Wiryaman, Program Manager

M.S. UP Class of 2018 at Commencement

Curriculum

The faculty shares a core pedagogic belief that the best professional education takes place in an environment of learning by doing, reinforced by classroom work and group projects. Planners must have a thorough understanding of the economic, social, political, legal, and physical forces that shape the built environment.

Curriculum offerings equip students with familiarity with the range of analytic and research techniques used by planners, practical skills through a semester-long studio project and other class projects, and competency in both general and specialized knowledge of planning. Students are required to choose at least one concentration area among four options: Built Environment, Community and Economic Development, International Planning and Development, and Urban Analytics. Students take a minimum of four courses and 12 points in a concentration.

Studios

In the Urban Planning studio, there is a real client with a real-world issue that will be analyzed by students working as a team under the direction of faculty. The deliverables that results will reflect critical analysis of socioeconomic, environmental, and political conditions as well as stakeholder engagement, and encourage students to consider “best practices” in planning and innovative thinking. Studio takes place in the spring of the students’ first year, and is thus not a “capstone” project but a way of integrating classroom learning with practical experience early in the students’ education.

Current Faculty

Fall 2018 Courses

Course	Semester	Title	Instructor	Requirements & Sequence	Location & Time	Session & Points	Call No.
Pla4008‑1	Fall 2018	History and Theory of Planning	Hiba Bou Akar	UP Required	114 Avery; (201 Fayerweather, 200 Buell, 300 North) M 10 AM - 12 PM; 12 PM - 1 PM (201 Fayerweather, 200 Buell, 300 North)	Full Semester 3 Points	66947
Pla4022‑1	Fall 2018	Fundamentals of Urban Digital Design	Jennifer Chang, Andrew McGee	UP Elective	201 Fayerweather, UP Computer Lab F 2 PM - 4 PM, LAB F 4 PM - 6 PM	Full Semester 3 Points	67696
Pla4050‑1	Fall 2018	UP Elective Internship	Margaret Wiryaman	Open to M.S. UP 2nd Year With Approval Only - Via Application UP Elective		Full Semester 1.5 Points	68546
Pla4208‑1	Fall 2018	Planning Methods	Malo Hutson	Required for 1st Year, One Lab is Required UP Required	200 South Fayerweather W 11 AM - 1 PM	Full Semester 3 Points	88146
Pla4209‑1	Fall 2018	Planning Methods Lab		Required for 1st Year, CAP 18	UP Computer Lab M 2 PM - 4 PM	Full Semester 0 Points	91346
Pla4209‑2	Fall 2018	Planning Methods Lab		Required for 1st Year, CAP 18	UP Computer Lab M 4 PM - 6 PM	Full Semester 0 Points	92346
Pla4209‑3	Fall 2018	Planning Methods Lab		Required for 1st Year, CAP 18	UP Computer Lab TH 4 PM - 6 PM	Full Semester 0 Points	92846
Pla4577‑1	Fall 2018	Geographic Information Systems	Leah Meisterlin	Required for M.S. UP 1st Year Visual Studies UP Required	113 Avery TU 9 AM - 11 AM	Full Semester 3 Points	95896
Pla4578‑3	Fall 2018	GIS Lab	Clara Chung	Required for 1st Year, Cap 22 Visual Studies UP Required	UP Computer Lab TH 6 PM - 8 PM	Full Semester 0 Points	76279
Pla4578‑4	Fall 2018	GIS Lab for Architecture and Urban Design	Grga Basic	Cap 20 Visual Studies UP Required	UP Computer Lab W 1 - 3 PM	Full Semester 0 Points	79529
Pla4578‑1	Fall 2018	GIS Lab	Kaz Sakamoto	Required for 1st Year, Cap 22 Visual Studies UP Required	UP Computer Lab TU 7 PM - 9 PM	Full Semester 0 Points	97046
Pla4578‑2	Fall 2018	GIS Lab	Kaz Sakamoto	Required for 1st Year, Cap 22 Visual Studies UP Required	UP Computer Lab W 6 PM - 8 PM	Full Semester 0 Points	98396
PLA6003‑1	Fall 2018	Genesis and Development of Zoning	Douglas Woodward, Purnima Kapur	Built Environment	201 Fayerweather TH 6 PM - 8 PM	Full Semester 3 Points	63496
PLA6009‑1	Fall 2018	Introduction to Environmental Analysis	Peter Marcotullio	Analytics	408 Avery & 200 Fayerweather North TH 9 AM - 10 AM & TH 10 AM - 11 AM	Full Semester 3 Points	81046
Pla6067‑1	Fall 2018	On Spatial Exclusion and Planning	Hiba Bou Akar	Built Environment International	201 Fayerweather M 2PM - 4PM	Full Semester 3 Points	16446
Pla6088‑1	Fall 2018	Introduction to International Development	Marcela Tovar-Restrepo	International	201 Fayerweather TU 5 PM - 7 PM	Full Semester 3 Points	85030
Pla6330‑1	Fall 2018	Site Planning & Support Systems	Graham Trelstad	Built Environment	115 Avery F 9 AM - 11 AM	Full Semester 3 Points	90941
Pla6434‑1	Fall 2018	Introduction to Transportation Planning	Floyd Lapp	Built Environment	115 Avery TU 3 PM - 5 PM	Full Semester 3 Points	13443
Pla6526‑1	Fall 2018	Chinese Urbanism in Global Context	Weiping Wu	International	300 Buell South W 3 PM - 5 PM	Full Semester 3 Points	13279
Pla6573‑1	Fall 2018	Community Development Planning	Lance Freeman	Community & Economic Development	200 Buell TU 11 AM - 1 PM	Full Semester 3 Points	11196
Pla6581‑1	Fall 2018	Practicum: Planning & Mega Projects In Global Cities	Adam Lubinsky	Community & Economic Development	300 Buell South W 6 PM - 8 PM	Ses B= 10/22-11/30 1.5 Points	12596
Pla6586‑1	Fall 2018	Writing the City	Charles Euchner	UP Elective	201 Fayerweather M 4 PM - 6 PM	Full Semester 3 Points	13596
PLA6615‑1	Fall 2018	Planning for Resilience: Practicum on Santiago de Los Caballeros	Marcela Tovar-Restrepo	CAP 12 International	201 Fayerweather TH 2 PM - 4 PM	Full Semester 3 Points	88696
PLA6617‑1	Fall 2018	Resilient Urban Systems: Practicum on Transit	Thaddeus Pawlowski	Built Environment International	200 Buell TU 3 PM - 5 PM	Full Semester 3 Points	16346
PLA6619‑1	Fall 2018	Urban Informatics I	Anthony Vanky	Cap 23 Analytics	201 Fayerweather M 6 PM - 8 PM	Full Semester 3 Points	27546
PLA6619‑2	Fall 2018	Urban Informatics I	Anthony Vanky	Analytics	201 Fayerweather TU 11 AM - 1 PM	Full Semester 3 Points	76201
Pla6918‑1	Fall 2018	Thesis I Workshop	Lance Freeman	Required for M.S. UP 2nd Year UP Required	114 Avery W 9 AM - 11 AM	Full Semester 3 Points	20896
Pla6919‑1	Fall 2018	Urban Planning Thesis II		UP Required			11146
Pla6930‑1	Fall 2018	Advanced Quantitative Techniques	Lance Freeman	Analytics	200 Buell & Urban Planning Computer Lab TH 11 AM - 1 PM; TH 2 PM - 4 PM (Lab)	Full Semester 3 Points	26096
PLA6939‑1	Fall 2018	Sustainable Urban Planning and Design	Jonathan Martin	Built Environment	300 Buell South F 11 AM - 1 PM	Full Semester 3 Points	76646
PLA6943‑1	Fall 2018	Politics of Community Planning and Participation	Ethel Sheffer	Community & Economic Development	115 Avery TH 11 AM - 1 PM	Full Semester 3 Points	92046
Pla6909‑1	Fall 2018	Advanced Studio III - Joint Historic Preservation/Urban Planning Studio	Erica Avrami, William Raynolds	HP Studio HP Elective Community & Economic Development	300 Buell North TU 2 PM - 6 PM	Full Semester 6 Points	66096
Pla6925‑1	Fall 2018	Advanced Research I	Weiping Wu	By Appointment	N/A N/A	Full Semester 2 or 3 Points	21546
A6708‑1	Fall 2018	Sustainable Retrofits	Michael Adlerstein	HP Elective	655 Schermerhorn TH 11 AM - 1 PM	Ses B= 10/22-11/30 1.5 Points	76781
A6785‑1	Fall 2018	Theory of City Form	Vishaan Chakrabarti	All GSAPP Interdisciplinary History & Theory Urban	200 Fayerweather South F 11 AM - 1 PM	Full Semester 3 Points	66446
A6783‑1	Fall 2018	Narrative Urbanism: Strategic Storytelling For Designers and Planners	Cassim Shepard	All GSAPP Interdisciplinary, GSAS Visual Studies	115 Avery F 11 AM - 1 PM	Full Semester 3 Points	72191

See all

Introduction to Columbia’s Urban Planning Program

Video produced by Urban Planning students as part of the course “Hong Kong as a Palimpsest: Transit-Induced Redevelopment in To Kwa Wan” led by Weiping Wu and Jose Luis Vallejo.

RIO: DESIGN THINKING FOR HEALTH URBAN ENVIRONMENT

Video produced by Urban Planning students of the Spring 2017 course “Rio: Design Thinking for Health Urban Environment”, taught by Belinda Tato and Jose Luis Vallejo.