Close

This website uses cookies as well as similar tools and technologies to understand visitors' experiences. By continuing to use this website, you consent to Columbia University's usage of cookies and similar technologies, in accordance with the Columbia University Website Cookie Notice

Ph.D. in Urban Planning

Overview

The Ph.D. in Urban Planning is focused on training individuals for future careers as teachers, researchers, policy-makers, and business entrepreneurs in the field of urban planning—in academia, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and think tanks. The program equips individuals with the theoretical and methodological expertise to address important contemporary issues, such as climate change, transportation, immigration/forced migration, housing, spatial analysis, and poverty and inequality. It is a highly competitive doctoral program, accepting only three candidates each year. In consultation with faculty, candidates develop individual study programs anchored in advanced knowledge concerning the socioeconomic, political, and environmental processes that shape cities and regions, and the quality of life within them. Underlying these inquiries are questions related to the effectiveness of urban processes, and their justice, democracy, and ethics. The Ph.D. in Urban Planning is a program within the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) while the actual degree is granted by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS).

Core Urban Planning Doctoral Faculty

Hiba Bou Akar
Lance Freeman
Hugo Sarmiento
Weiping Wu, Director

More Info at Columbia GSAS

People

Weiping Wu, Program Director

Current Faculty

Recent News

Urban Planning PhD students Jenna Dublin and Michael Snidal awarded 2021 Curriculum Innovation Award from the ACSP and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy for the entry "Urban Planners and Communities Fighting for the Just City: An Introduction to Urban Planning for High School Students"

Urban Planning PhD Student Stefan Peter Norgaard publishes "Modernization through capitalization: The hidden costs of Ethiopia’s Gibe III Dam and NESTown initiative" in the journal Human Geography

BlackSpace, which includes GSAPP Faculty and Alumni Alicia O. Ajayi, Ifeoma Ebo, Sophonie M. Joseph '20 UP PhD, Justin Garrett Moore '04 MARCH '04 MSAUD, and Peter Robinson '04 MSAUD, named one of the 10 most innovative architecture companies of 2021 by FastCompany

UP PhD candidate Michael Snidal's report "Missed Opportunity: The West Baltimore Opportunity Zones Story" co-authored with Sandra Newman cited in The Baltimore Sun

Urban Planning PhD student Jenna Davis publishes "How do upzonings impact neighborhood demographic change? Examining the link between land use policy and gentrification in NYC" in Land Use Policy

UP PhD candidate Michael Snidal joins economic development scholars and experts to discuss his dissertation work "Missed Opportunity: The West Baltimore Opportunity Zones Story" at the Brookings Institution event "Opportunity Zones the Early Evidence"

Urban Planning PhD student Jenna Davis publishes book review of "The Affordable City" in the Journal of Planning Literature

The chinese city 2

MSUP Program Director and Professor Weiping Wu releases second edition of "The Chinese City," published by Routledge

MSUP Program Director and Professor Weiping Wu featured in article "China economy: will hot property market threaten post-pandemic rebound?" published by The Financial Times

Urban Planning PhD Candidate Tyler Haupert publishes "The Racial Landscape of Fintech Mortgage Lending" in the journal Housing Policy Debate

Show More