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School of Urban and Public Affairs

School of Urban and Public Affairs

Ph.D. in Urban Planning and Public Policy

campus picThe UPPP Ph.D. program requires a minimum of 48 credit hours beyond the master's degree, including 39 credit hours of coursework and a minimum of 9 dissertation credit hours. The 39 credit hours of coursework include: 6 hours of leveling courses, 9 hours in the required core of urban planning and public policy, 6 hours of methods courses and 18 hours of elected specialization courses. Courses and credit hours may be waived for students with relevant previous coursework upon approval of the Dissertation Supervisor and Program Director.

Coursework in the required core, which covers core knowledge and competencies in planning and policy, as well as the courses in the selected field areas prepares students for the field exam. In their first semester, students select their Supervisory Committee based on their interests and take a diagnostic exam. The student’s Supervisory Committee will then guide their course work, including any extra courses needed based on their diagnostic exam.

Curriculum and Degree Requirements

Leveling Courses (6 hours)

  • CIRP 5303 Planning History and Theory
  • CIRP 5310 Planning, Urban Development and Structure

Required Core Courses (9 credit hours)

  • UPPP 6300 Advanced Urban Theory
  • UPPP 6311 Spatial Theory and Policy
  • URPA 5306 The Urban Economy

Methods Courses (6 hours)

  • CIRP 5317 Intermediate Data Analysis (also offered as URPA 5342)
  • CIRP 5346 Qualitative Methods (also offered as URPA 5344) or
  • URPA/CIRP 6346 Advanced Data Analysis (based on the Dissertation Committee decision)

Urban Planning and Public Policy Fields Courses (18 hours)

Students take 18 hours of courses in their elected field area of planning and/or policy, preparing the student for the dissertation and beyond. Courses are determined in consultation and approval with the student's Dissertation Supervisor and Supervisory Committee.

Students are encouraged to use faculty resources and the opportunities offered in SUPA and UTA to specialize in following field areas or their combinations:

  • Urban Policy and Planning
  • Physical Planning, Development and Urban Design
  • Land Use/Transportation Analysis, Planning and policy
  • Environmental Planning Policy/Sustainability

Dissertation (minimum 9 hours)

Organization

UPPP Diagnostic

Students take a diagnostic exam in their first semester or minimum 9 hours of course work so that their Supervisory Committee can be selected and guide them in their selection of courses.  When a student has completed their coursework, they will be given a field exam by their Supervisory Committee.  Once the field exam is successfully completed, the student must start work on their dissertation proposal which must be defended within 6 months of their field exam.

Deficiency & Field Courses

The Supervisory Committee decides and guides on needed field areas and additional course work based on the deficiencies beginning from the diagnostics process, but more so during the proposal preparation stage and also in the Proposal Defense.

Deficiency courses can be on the selected field area or other needed courses. The final decision on deficiencies will be determined in the proposal defense session.

POSSIBLE COURSES TO ENHANCE FIELD AREAS

  • CIRP 6301 Theoretical Foundations and Ph.D. Workshop (also offered as URPA 6301)

Urban Policy and Planning

  • URPA 5304 Urban Politics
  • URPA 5305 Theories of Urban Society
  • URPA 5311 Social Policy Formation
  • URPA 5309 Intergovernmental Relations
  • All SUPA policy courses

Physical Planning, Development and Urban Design

  Physical Planning

  •  CIRP 5305 Land Use, Management and Development
  •  CIRP 5306 Urban Revitalization
  •  CIRP 5313 Urban Growth Policies
  •  CIRP 5340 Environmental/Land-Use Suitability Analysis Using GIS
  •  CIRP 5358 Intelligent Transportation Systems and Transportation Planning 

Urban Design

  • CIRP 5311 Urban Design
  • ARCH 5306 Urban Design
  • LARC 5301 Site Planning and Development Processes
  • LARC 5302 Land Development Planning
  • LARC 5382 Seminar in Urban Design

Real Estate Development

  • CIRP 5345 Planning and Real Estate Development
  • CIRP 5313 Urban Growth Policies
  • REAE6390 – Seminar in Special Topics in Real Estate
  • REAE5350 – Quantitative Methods for Real Estate

Land Use/Transportation Analysis, Planning & Policy

  Urban Economics

  •  CIRP 5305 Land Use, Management and Development
  •  CIRP 5306 Urban Revitalization
  •  CIRP 5313 Urban Growth Policies
  •  CIRP 5340 Environmental/Land-Use Suitability Analysis Using GIS
  •  CIRP 5358 Intelligent Transportation Systems and Transportation Planning 

Land Use/Transportation 

  • CIRP 5309 Land Use Transportation Analysis & Modeling
  • CIRP 5315 Transportation Policies, Programs and History
  • CIRP 5305 Land Use, Management and Development
  • CIRP 5340 Environmental/Land-Use Suitability Analysis Using GIS
  • CIRP 5358 Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and Transportation  Planning
  • CE  5328 Air Pollution
  • CE 5338 System Evaluation
  • CE 6306 Public Transit Planning and Operations
  • CE 6308 Analytical Models in Transportation

Environmental Planning Policy/Sustainability

Environmental Policy Planning

  • CIRP 5342 Environmental Policy (also listed as URPA 5317)
  • CIRP 5341 Environmental Regulations: Laws and Planning
  • CIRP 5350 Environmental Planning 
  • CIRP 5340 Environmental/Land-Use Suitability Analysis Using GIS
  • CIRP 5351 Techniques of Environmental Assessment

Environmental Science & Engineering

  • EVSE  5310 Environmental Systems – Chemical  Aspects
  • EVSE 5311 Environmental Systems – Geological Aspects
  • CE 5324 Transportation and Air Quality
  • CE 5329 Environmental Risk Based Corrective Action
  • CE 5355 Environmental Permitting

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