Urban Planning Commencement, 2019
M.S. Urban Planning
Nick Kunz and Suprima Bhele, Spring 2019
Madrid Future City Lab Studio, Spring 2019
Alanna Browdy, Shelby Smith, Jade Watkins
Spring 2019 Course
Leah Meisterlin
Spring 2019 Course
Leah Meisterlin
Tola Oniyangi, Rebecca Cook
Wastespace, Spring 2019
Wastespace, Spring 2019
Tola Oniyangi, Rebecca Cook
Wastespace, Spring 2019
Wastespace, Spring 2019
Jacey Chon, Zhengzhe Jia and Savannah Wu, Spring 2019
New Paradigms for a Resilient Vieques Studio, Spring 2019
Yue Dong
Exploring the Driving Forces of Urban Expansion in Beijing 1999-2013
Exploring the Driving Forces of Urban Expansion in Beijing 1999-2013
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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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 2019 Courses
| Course | Semester | Title | Student Work | Instructor | Syllabus | Requirements & Sequence | Location & Time | Session & Points | Call No. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pla4008‑1 | Fall 2019 |
History and Theory of Planning
|
Ryan Devlin | REQUIRED 1ST YEAR |
114 AVERY HALL; 203 FAY, 204 FAY , 320M FAY,
M 10 AM - 12 PM ; 12 PM - 1 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
41356 | ||
| Pla4022‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Fundamentals of Urban Digital Design
|
Jennifer Chang, Andrew McGee |
204 FAYERWEATHER; UP COMPUTER LAB
F 2 PM - 4 PM; LAB F 4 PM - 6 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
41512 | |||
| Pla4050‑1 | Fall 2019 |
UP Elective Internship
|
Mike Montilla | with approval only-via application |
N/A
|
FULL SEMESTER
1.5 Points
|
41513 | ||
| Pla4208‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Planning Methods
|
Malo Hutson, Valerie Stahl | REQUIRED 1ST YEAR |
209 FAYERWEATHER
W 9 AM -11 AM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
41413 | ||
| Pla4209‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Planning Methods Lab
|
UP COMPUTER LAB
M 2 PM - 4 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
0 Points
|
41357 | ||||
| Pla4209‑2 | Fall 2019 |
Planning Methods Lab
|
UP COMPUTER LAB
M 4 PM - 6 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
0 Points
|
41358 | ||||
| Pla4209‑3 | Fall 2019 |
Planning Methods Lab
|
UP COMPUTER LAB
TH 4 PM - 6 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
0 Points
|
41359 | ||||
| Pla4577‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Geographic Information Systems
|
Leah Meisterlin |
113 AVERY
TU 9 AM - 11 AM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
41514 | |||
| Pla4578‑1 | Fall 2019 |
GIS Lab I
|
Kaz Sakamoto |
UP COMPUTER LAB
TU 7 PM - 9 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
0 Points
|
41360 | |||
| Pla4578‑2 | Fall 2019 |
GIS Lab II
|
Clara Chung |
UP COMPUTER LAB
TH 6 PM - 8 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
0 Points
|
41361 | |||
| Pla4578‑3 | Fall 2019 |
GIS Lab for Architecture and Urban Design
|
Carsten Rodin | CAP 20 |
202 FAYERWEATHER
W 7 PM - 9 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
0 Points
|
41362 | ||
| Pla6014‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Public Space in the Private Realm
|
Ethel Sheffer |
300 BUELL SOUTH
TU 11 AM - 1 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
10315 | |||
| Pla6088‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Introduction to International Development
|
Ryan Devlin, Clarisa Bencomo |
204 FAYERWEATHER
TU 5 PM - 7 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
41417 | |||
| Pla6217‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Techniques of Project Evaluation
|
Moshe Adler |
204 FAYERWEATHER
TH 2 PM - 4 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
41533 | |||
| Pla6330‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Site Planning & Support Systems
|
Graham Trelstad |
204 FAYERWEATHER
F 9 AM - 11 AM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
41367 | |||
| Pla6434‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Introduction to Transportation Planning
|
Rachel Weinberger |
115 AVERY HALL
TU 3 PM - 5 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
41423 | |||
| Pla6526‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Chinese Urbanism in Global Context
|
Weiping Wu |
300 BUELL SOUTH
W 3 PM - 5 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
41528 | |||
| Pla6586‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Writing the City
|
Charles Euchner |
204 FAYERWEATHER
M 4 PM - 6 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
41535 | |||
| PLA6617‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Resilient Planning Practicum: A Green New Deal for Appalachia
|
Thaddeus Pawlowski |
WARE LOUNGE + 655 SCHERMERHORN
T 3 PM - 5 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
41426 | |||
| PLA6619‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Urban Informatics I
|
Anthony Vanky |
204 FAYERWEATHER
TU 11 AM - 1 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
41371 | |||
| Pla6641‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Global Practices & Policy in Urban Risk, Resilience & Crises
|
Ebru Gencer |
204 FAYERWEATHER
TH 11 AM - 1 PM
|
SESSION B
1.5 Points
|
41551 | |||
| PLA6642‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Metropolitan Planning
|
Thomas Wright |
209 FAYERWEATHER
TH 4 PM - 6 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
41552 | |||
| PLA6643‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Community Outreach & Engagement: A Harlem Practicum
|
Maxine Griffith, Victoria Mason-Ailey, Flores A. Forbes |
209 FAYERWEATHER
TH 11 AM - 1 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
41553 | |||
| PLA6645‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Prototyping for Urban Policy & Decision-Making
|
Clara Chung, Kaz Sakamoto |
UP COMPUTER LAB
M 6 PM - 8 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
41554 | |||
| PLA6646‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Affordable Housing in High Demand Cities
|
Purnima Kapur, Adam Weinstein |
204 FAYERWEATHER
W 5 PM - 7 PM
|
SESSION A
1.5 Points
|
41555 | |||
| PLA6647‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Project Management: From Idea to Execution
|
Rebecca Karp |
204 FAYERWEATHER
TH 9 AM - 11 AM
|
SESSION B
1.5 Points
|
41556 | |||
| PLA6648‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Delivering Urban Public Infrastructure: Practicum on Industrialized Cities
|
Jamie Torres Springer |
204 FAYERWEATHER
TH 6 PM - 8 PM
|
SESSION A
1.5 Points
|
41557 | |||
| PLA6649‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Planning and the New Green Deal: A Practicum
|
Douglas Woodward, Ariella Maron |
204 FAYERWEATHER
M 1 PM - 3 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
0 | |||
| Pla6918‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Thesis I/Capstone I Workshop
|
Lance Freeman | REQUIRED 2nd YR |
209 FAYERWEATHER
W 11 AM - 1 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
41516 | ||
| A6510‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Neighborhood Preservation and Zoning
|
Carol Clark |
300 BUELL NORTH
TU 6 PM - 8 PM
|
SESSION A
1.5 Points
|
41544 | |||
| A6767‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Preservation Planning and Policy
|
Erica Avrami |
505 AVERY HALL
W 11 AM - 1 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
41472 | |||
| Pla6909‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Advanced Studio III - Joint Historic Preservation/Urban Planning Studio
|
Erica Avrami, William Raynolds |
300 BUELL NORTH
TU 2 PM - 6 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
6 Points
|
41429 | |||
| Pla6925‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Advanced Research I
|
Weiping Wu | BY APPOINTMENT |
NA
NA
|
FULL SEMESTER
2-3 Points
|
41517 | ||
| A6708‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Sustainable Retrofits
|
Michael Adlerstein |
655 SCHER- CONSERVA LAB
W 11 AM- 1 PM
|
SESSION B
1.5 Points
|
41470 | |||
| A4892‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Data Visualization for Architecture, Urbanism and the Humanities
|
Jia Zhang | All GSAPP Interdisciplinary |
408 AVERY HALL
F 9 AM -11 AM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
15270 | ||
| A6785‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Theory of City Form
|
Vishaan Chakrabarti | All GSAPP Interdisciplinary |
209 FAYERWEATHER
F 11 AM -1 PM
|
FULL SEMSTER
3 Points
|
41412 | ||
| A4861‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Footprint: Carbon and Design
|
David Benjamin |
115 AVERY
TH 11 AM - 1 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
17879 | |||
| A6783‑1 | Fall 2019 |
Narrative Urbanism: Strategic Storytelling For Designers and Planners
|
Cassim Shepard | All GSAPP Interdisciplinary |
115 AVERY HALL
F 11 AM - 1 PM
|
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
|
41474 |
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.
Recent News
Apr 25
Assistant Professor Leah Meisterlin is honored with a 2019 Presidential Teaching Award by Columbia University
Dec 11, 2018
Columbia GSAPP launches Post-Conflict Cities Lab
Urban Planning Semester in Review
Dual Degree Programs