DUSP Proposed Graduate Course Descriptions

Numbers in parentheses represent the proposed number of units.

USP 201. Planning Histories (4)

Histories and genealogies of urban and spatial planning, with an emphasis on the plural roots of contemporary planning practices and various historical alternatives.

USP 202. Social and Spatial Justice in Planning Theories (4)

Major theories of urban and spatial planning, including critical theories. Topics include the role of the planner in a diverse society, the relationship between knowledge and action, spatial justice and the implications of planning practices for social and spatial justice.

USP 209. Research Colloquium in Urban Studies and Planning (2)

Presentation and discussion of new and current research in the field.

USP 210. Introduction to Planning Research Methods (4)

Methods for collecting, analyzing, and presenting data for planning and public action. Surveying literature and engaging stakeholders to define research questions. Choosing appropriate research methods for particular planning and decision problems.

USP 211. Transdisciplinary Field Research (4)

Overview of the tools required to engage non-university actors in the research and planning process. This course examines how to integrate non-academic actors into research and planning, including participatory methods, forms of community engagement, stakeholder analysis, and workshop facilitation.

USP 212. Geographic Information Systems (4)

Overview of GIS as a tool for data integration, visualization, and analysis. Covers spatial statistics, technologies, and models for spatial data integration to support urban research and decision-making.

USP 213. Urban Analytics (4)

Fundamentals of applied data science in urban and regional planning, including the acquisition, integration, cleaning, and management of data. Application of statistical learning techniques.

USP 225. Planning Law and Policy (4)

Introduction to the law of planning, including urban and regional planning and transportation planning, with emphasis on federal and California law. Comparison of different legal regimes, including federal, state, and local planning law and regulation.

USP 230. Economic Analysis for Urban and Regional Planning (4)

Critical introduction to microeconomic concepts and methods used in planning. Application to case studies and problems in land use, transportation, and climate action planning.

USP 240. Climate Justice and Planning (4)

Planning for our climate future with attention to questions of justice, including who should bear responsibility for acting on climate change, who should share the impacts, whose priorities should guide such decisions, and whose knowledge counts in making them.

USP 245. Planning for Natural Hazards (4)

How institutions, policies, and politics affect planning for natural hazards and climate adaptation. Students will learn to assess the impact of current governance systems on hazard risk, evaluate existing mitigation and adaptation plans, and understand the barriers to equitable disaster readiness and recovery.

USP 246. Environmental Policy and Planning (4)

Environmental law and policy with attention to implications for urban and regional planning. Comparison of different environmental policy regimes, including state and federal regulation of air quality, water quality, and development impacts, especially climate impacts.

USP 248. Health and the Built Environment (4)

Examination of health impacts of land use and transportation planning and policy decisions, including indirect effects on infectious and chronic disease mediated by direct effects on transportation behavior. Application to particular planning and transportation investment decisions. May be co-scheduled with USP 148.

USP 253. Housing and Community Development (4)

History, theory, and practice of US housing and community development. How public, private, and nonprofit sectors shape and implement planning and policy decisions at the federal, state, local and neighborhood levels.

USP 254. Space, Place, and Inequality (4)

The analysis of poverty and inequality in the contemporary U.S., with particular attention to the causes and consequences of spatially concentrated poverty and affluence.

USP 255. Crime, Justice, and Planning (4)

Examines current events and justice systems, historical challenges, and case studies on the intersection between crime, justice and urban issues. Attention will be given to the role of planning, government, and community engagement in creating safe and healthy communities.

USP 256. Regional Planning (4)

Examines classic and 21st century regional planning ideas calling for ecological democracy, regeneration, reinhabitation, and sustainability. Explores the strengths and vulnerabilities of a city-region’s vital urban-rural linkages/interdependencies in the context of globalization and climate action planning. Constructively critiques conventional regional planning.

USP 257. Urbanisms in the Global South (4)

Introduction to urbanization and environmental change, including rapidly transforming places, infrastructures, and environments, in one or more regions of the global South. Focus is on the social, cultural, political and environmental aspects of urban transformations. Specific regional focus may vary.

USP 265A. Advanced Special Topics in Housing (4)

Special topics may include the analysis of particular housing developments; policy issues such as affordable housing, home finance, or fair housing law; or social issues such as displacement or housing inequality. Topics will vary. May be taken for credit up to three times. May be co-scheduled with 165A.

USP 265B. Advanced Special Topics in Sustainability (4)

Topics may include issues such as sea level rise, water conflicts, sustainable food systems; also public or private strategies for sustainable development such as green building or climate action planning. Topics will vary. May be taken for credit up to three times. May be co-scheduled with 165B.

USP 265D. Advanced Special Topics in Urban Design and Land Use (4)

Topics may include the analysis of particular landscapes or designs; policy tools such as inclusionary zoning, transit-oriented development, or community benefits agreements; or effects of the built environment, construed broadly. Topics may vary. May be taken for credit up to three times. May be co-scheduled with 165D.

USP 265E. Advanced Special Topics in Spatial Theory (4)

Topics may include the concepts of space and place; urbanism and modernity; critical theories of the built, social, and natural environments; or normative or positive theories of planning processes, construed broadly. Topics may vary. May be taken for credit up to three times.

USP 275. Gender and Environment (4)

Introducing critical feminist perspectives on the relationships among gender, sustainable development, and the built and natural environment. Students will learn from examples in the global South and global North and be introduced to feminist political ecology, ecofeminism, gendered expertise and knowledge.

USP 277. Urban Design Practicum (4)

The theory and practice of urban design, the form of the built environment and how it is created, including the design of streets and open space, buildings, and civic space. Emphasis on connections between people and place at multiple scales.

USP 280. Transportation Planning (4)

Introduction to the history and current state of urban transportation planning, including the relationship between transportation and urban form; roles of automotive, mass transit, and alternative modes; methods for transportation systems analysis; decision-making, regulatory, and financing mechanisms; and public attitudes. May be co-scheduled with USP 180.

USP 287. Practicum in Community Planning (4)

Application of planning theory and methods to solving problems in sustainable development, housing, land use, transportation, and climate justice, in partnership with civic organizations and community groups.

USP 288. Fieldwork in Migrant and Border Communities (4)

Application of planning theory and methods to solving problems faced by international migrants and refugees in the San Diego-Tijuana border region, in partnership with civic organizations and community groups.

USP 290. Thesis Preparation (4)

Research design for the thesis project, covering selection of a research question, systematic literature review, sampling, data collection and choice of analytical methods.

USP 296A. Capstone Studio I (4)

Students will apply their knowledge of planning ethics, methods, and theory to describe a real-world planning problem, apply appropriate analytical methods, evaluate alternative solutions, and propose a course of action.

USP 296B. Capstone Studio II (4)

Students will continue analysis of a real world planning problem, and will apply their knowledge of methods for research communication and visualization to prepare a professional report based on their analysis and their proposed course of action. Prerequisites: USP 296A.