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M.S. Urban Planning

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Candice Ji, Nikolas Michael, Sabina Sethi Unni

Fall 2022 - Urban Design For Planners

Jeffrey Shumaker

Meng Yao Chen, Soichiro Harada, Yan Qian, Xuyan Zhao

Spring 2024 - Urban Informatics II

Anthony Vanky

Kirthi Balakrishnan, Lizzie Lee

Fall 2022 - Mobility Workshop

Anthony Vanky

Otis Emslie

Fall 2023 - Geographic Information Systems

Jonathan Stiles

Timothy Small

Fall 2023 - Geographic Information Systems

Jonathan Stiles

Reclaiming Space and Identity in La Chacarita: An Exploration of Alternative Planning Paradigms, a studio report from Urban & Civic Activation in the Center of Asunción, Paraguay: Learning from the Global South in the Heart of Latin America taught by José Luis Vallejo and Ryan Devlin

Jaron Kaplan, Dhwani Laddha, Sharon Mathews

Spring 2024 - Advanced GIS

Leah Meisterlin

The Master of Science in Urban Planning is a two-year accredited professional degree. Our program takes a comparative, global perspective to urban planning, centering social justice and critical practice. It connects the study of the urban built environment with grounded analysis of socioeconomic and political conditions to inform planning practice and praxis toward social, racial, and climate justice. We prepare students to confront and break down structures and practices of oppression rooted in class inequality, racism, and sexism. By studying the impact of global processes (such as immigration, climate change, and public health) on cities, neighborhoods, and communities—across the Global North and Global South—the program aims to foster new, creative planning and policy approaches that will improve processes and outcomes in cities around the world.

The program pays close attention to a range of methodological approaches bringing together urban analytics, grounded field research, and community engagement to address real-world planning issues. It builds on our record as one of the first planning programs in the United States to engage data science and visualization alongside spatial analysis to tackle today’s urban problems and inform planning solutions for the future. 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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Apply by January 15, 2025

People

Weiping Wu, Professor and Program Director

Douglas Woodward, Associate Director, Professional Development and Practice

Kian Goldman, Assistant Director

IMPORTANT LINKS AND INFORMATION

Information for Prospective Students
View the 2024 M.S. Urban Planning Public Information
View the Program Information Booklet
View Urban Planning student work in the 2024 End of Year Show.

For more information about the program, please email the Assistant Director: Kian Goldman.

UP Students Visit HR&A November, 2023

UP Students Visit Bronx Pro, March 2024

Summer Workshop Visit IJburg Island Developer w Planner Frits Palmboom, June 2024

Urban Planning Coney Island Studio, Spring 2024

GSAPP Career Fair, February 2024

Class of 2023 Commencement Ceremony

Alumni reception in Shanghai, June 2023

Projects from the Spring 2023 course “Urban Sensing and Data” on display at the End of Year Show 2023

GIS Day, November 2022

Urban Planning PhD Student Picnic Spring 2022

Urban Planning “Indigenous Roots” studio, Spring 2023

2019 Urban China Forum

Urban Planning Students enjoying a picnic on campus, 2023

Urban Planning Lounge in Fayerweather Hall, 2023

APA Reception Minneapolis, April 2024

Urban Planning Paraguay Studio Spring 2024

Curriculum

The Master of Science in Urban Planning program offers five distinctive clusters: Built Environment, Climate Adaptation, Community and Economic Development, International Planning and Development, and Urban Analytics. At the core of the program are a team-based studio course, which takes place in the first year, and a thesis or professional capstone, which is carried out throughout the second year. The Urban Planning Studio is a way of modeling what it means to incorporate intellectual questions into practical proposals. The studio revolves around a real client with a real-world issue. Students work as a group under the direction of faculty, producing critical and innovative analysis of socioeconomic, environmental, and political conditions as well as stakeholder engagement. In many ways, the studio introduces, considers, and evaluates a range of scenarios in approaching complex problems.

Recently, the program has significantly updated the contents of its electives and core curriculum courses to introduce more knowledge related to the global dimensions of planning, more systematic understanding of racism and spatial inequality, and more critical assessment on the use of analytical tools. For electives, in particular, the program now offers new, knowledge- and skill-based courses on data analytics, machine learning, equitable climate action, adaptation to climate change, urban mobility and accessibility in a global context, inclusion and housing, and healthy global cities. Students can also take case-based practicums, grounded in a coherent conceptual framework, to better connect with modes of practice.

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Studios

In the Urban Planning studio, under faculty direction students work as a team with a client on a real-world project. The ensuing deliverables will reflect stakeholder engagement and analyses of socioeconomic, environmental, and political conditions. We encourage students to engage in critical thinking in order to challenge practices of oppression in planning and beyond. Recognizing the wide-ranging student interests, we offer a variety of projects each year, including community-focused issues that provide opportunities to build relations with clients and partners. Studio takes place in the Spring of the students’ first year and aims to integrate classroom learning with practical experience early in the students’ education.

Current Faculty

Summer 2025 Courses

Course	Semester	Title	Student Work	Instructor	Syllabus	Requirements & Sequence	Location & Time	Session & Points	Call No.
Pla4050	Summer 2025	UP Elective Internship		Douglas Woodward		UP Elective		FULL SEMESTER , 5/27-8/8 1.5 Points	10649
Pla6330	Summer 2025	Site Planning & Support Systems		Adam Lubinsky		Real Estate Required Built Environment	113 AVERY W 3 PM - 5 PM	FULL SEMESTER , 5/27-8/8 3 Points	10671

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Introduction to Columbia’s Urban Planning Program

Lectures in Planning Series (LiPS)

LiPS
Tom Slater, Joe Schaffers
April 2, 2024

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LiPS
Tom Slater, Joe Schaffers
April 2, 2024

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LiPS
Anthony Vanky
March 19, 2024

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LiPS
Melissa Checker
January 1, 2024

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Fall 2023 Lectures in Planning Series

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Fall 2023 Lectures in Planning Series

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Fall 2023 Lectures in Planning Series

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Spring 2022 Lectures in Planning Series

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Spring 2022 Lectures in Planning Series

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Fall 2022 Lectures in Planning Series

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Fall 2021 Lectures in Planning Series

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Fall 2021 Lectures in Planning Series

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Fall 2021 Lectures in Planning Series

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Fall 2021 Lectures in Planning Series

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Fall 2021 Lectures in Planning Series

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Fall 2021 Lectures in Planning Series

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