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Master of Urban Planning / Concentrations

Land Use and Environmental Planning

At the heart of land use and environmental planning are a host of environmental and social sustainability implications related to the location and intensity of human activities across cities and regions. Many regions in the United States and worldwide are undergoing simultaneous processes of suburban sprawl and urban decline, along with other related challenges to the quality of urban areas, including ecosystem fragmentation and degradation, air and water pollution, and aesthetic decline – all yielding cities and regions that can be unhealthy, unjust, ugly, dull, and unfulfilling places to live. Within this context, this concentration seeks to enable students to inform decision-making processes related to land development and the ongoing use of land in both urban areas experiencing disinvestment and exurban/rural areas facing development pressure. The concentration aims to imbue the professional practice of land use and environmental planning with awareness of the sustainability and social justice implications of public decisions that shape place in cities and regions, toward the end of promoting cities and regions that are healthy, ecologically and economically vibrant, economically and socially just, and desirable places to live, work, and recreate.

Students learn to recognize the value-based and analytical conflicts common to land development and environmental planning debates and to employ planning and policymaking approaches to resolve those disputes. The challenge is to guide land development in some places and the adjustment to population loss in others in ways that preserve and restore the ecological integrity of urban and rural systems while improving the quality of life for all residents, facilitating a vital economy, promoting the efficient use of land and community facilities such as public buildings and parklands, and respecting fiscal and legal requirements. The skills of the land use and environmental planner include developing and deploying a solid understanding of: the policy tools for shaping land use, including regulation, investment, subsidy and others; the economic and political feasibility of alternative land use and land development schemes; and the societal and environmental implications of land-related decisions.

Through practice, land use and environmental planners address a wide array of overlapping issues such as sprawl and intergovernmental growth management; the relationship between land use and transportation systems; the relationship between economic development and environmental protection; open space and farmland preservation; brownfield redevelopment; transboundary environmental issues; and environmental justice. Land use and environmental planners find employment in local, regional, state, and federal government agencies; as private sector planning consultants; and in environmental and community nonprofit organizations.

A student in this concentration must take UP 524 plus one additional foundational course along with both of the two techniques/methods courses, noted below. The student should then select from other courses (especially those recommended below) to complete a program of study that best fits his or her interests.

Foundational Courses (UP 524 plus one additional of the following)

Techniques / Methods Courses (both of the following required)

Other Related Courses

Recommended Concentration Course Sequences (PDF 74KB)

Faculty associated with the concentration:

• Richard Norton (Concentration Coordinator)
• Scott Campbell
• Margaret Dewar
• Robert Goodspeed
• Lesli Hoey
• Douglas Kelbaugh
• Larissa Larsen
• Jonathan Levine
• Ana Paula Pimentel Walker
• June Thomas
• Jeff Kahan (Lecturer)
• Matthew Lassiter (College of Literature, Science, and the Arts)