Focus Area
Community and Economic Development Focus Area
Thriving cities and regions require safe, vibrant and diverse neighborhoods; good jobs; active business communities; and adequately funded public services. This focus area provides skills to promote increased social and economic capital and improve the quality of urban life, particularly in low-income, minority, and other disadvantaged communities. Students acquire an understanding of political, economic, financial, and social systems and strategies to address a range of conditions in economic development and policy. Planners with this background work with local residents, development professionals, neighborhood and community organizations, community development corporations, municipal, regional, state, and federal agencies and the private sector.
Coordinator: Scott Campbell
Primary Courses
- URP 580, Metropolitan Structure
- URP 581, Housing Policy and Economics
- URP 582, Neighborhood Revitalization Policy and Planning
- URP 583, Race, Difference, and Social Justice
- URP 584, Introduction to Economic Development Planning
- URP 585, Economic Development Planning Methods
- URP 595, Public Private Partnerships: Financing Equitable Development
Secondary Courses
- URP 523, Comparative Participatory Planning and Community Development
- URP 524, Program Evaluation for Urban Planning
- URP 532, Sustainability and Social Change
- URP 534, Crime and Community Development
- URP 573, Infrastructure Planning in the US and Developing Countries
- URP 590, Integrative Real Estate Seminar
Non-URP Courses
Many courses in Social Work, Public Policy, School for Environment and Sustainability and other fields may be relevant. Here is a selected list:
- SW 652, Organizing for Social and Political Action
- EAS 533, Negotiating Skills in Environmental Dispute Resolution
- PUBPOL 671, Policy and Management in the Non-Profit Sector
- PUBPOL 756, Local Government: Opportunity for Activism
- UD 716, Urban Economics, Finance and City Making
