Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning
Degree Information
Curriculum
The doctoral curriculum integrates analytical methods, research design, a rigorous understanding of urbanization dynamics, and an examination of broader social theories, processes and policies.
Students address complex systems that typically encompass an array of spatial, environmental, social, political, technical, and economic factors. The emphasis is on theory, analysis, and action.
Each student is also expected to demonstrate an understanding of the literature, theory, and research in a specialization area within the larger discipline of urban and regional planning.
Required Courses
Four courses are required of all Ph.D. students: two doctoral-level planning theory courses and a two-course research seminar sequence.
- Advanced Urban Theory (URP 700)
- Epistemology and Reasoning for Planning Research (URP 701)
- Research Design (URP 801)
- Ph.D. Research Seminar (URP 802)
Recent students have engaged in subjects as diverse as:
- The political economy of public transit, inner-city revitalization
- Global city urbanization
- Information technology and cyberspace
- The crisis of modernist urbanism
- Suburbanization in developing countries
- Regional planning institutions
- The effects of environmental contamination on patterns of urban and regional development
- The culture of suburban commuting
- The impact of tourism on historical Mediterranean cities
- The application of complex systems analysis to sustainable development
Pre-Candidacy Requirements
Doctoral students specialize in a wide range of possible topics.
- Planning theory
- Analytic methods
- Research design
- Primary area of specialization
Students meet these requirements through coursework and exams over a two-year period. During this time, a student’s cumulative grade point average may not fall below a B without academic discipline or probation.
Analytic Methods Courses
Students are expected to be skilled in statistics, in at least two analytic research techniques, and reasonably knowledgeable about several others. Students qualify in analytic techniques by completing the following:
Satisfactory performance (B or higher) in two cumulative graduate-level statistics courses.
Students entering with previous statistics experience may wish to enter directly into a second semester statistics course. In the past, students have typically selected one of the following sequences:
- Statistics 402 (Introduction to Statistics & Data Analysis), Statistics 403 (Statistics & Data Analysis II)
- Sociology 510 (Statistics); Sociology 610 (Statistical Methods)
- Natural Resources 438 (Natural Resources Biometrics), Natural Resources 538 (Natural Resources Data Analysis)
- Biostatistics 503 (Introductory Biostatistics), Biostatistics 523 (Biostatistical Analysis for Health-Related Fields)
- The sequence in political science
NOTE: Students wishing to study statistics during the spring or summer terms may want to investigate the Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research sponsored by the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and/or the Summer Institute in Survey Research Techniques conducted by the research staff of the Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research. Choice of courses to meet requirements should be discussed with your advisor.
Competence in at least two analytic/research methods satisfied through six credit hours of total coursework.
These are methods used in planning research and should prepare the student for their likely area of dissertation work. The requirement is met through completion of nine credits of course work in two analytic/research methods (in addition to statistics), to be defined by the student in conjunction with his or her advisor. (The two methods may be interrelated.) Depending on the research method and the student’s background, more courses may be needed. Courses in these two areas must be completed with a grade of B or higher in order to fulfill this requirement. Graduate level courses that are audited can count for this requirement, as long as the student completes all the work of the course and the instructor provides a letter indicating the grade the student would have received had he or she been enrolled. All plans for satisfying this requirement are the joint responsibility of the student and his or her advisor.
The methods a student selects should relate to their dissertation area. Below are several analytic/research methods in which students have been examined in recent years. Numerous analytic/research methods are appropriate, and students need not be restricted to choices on the list:
- Anthropological methods
- Case study methods
- Complex systems analysis
- Cost benefit & cost effectiveness analysis
- Decision theory & general risk analysis
- Demographic analysis
- Discrete choice analysis
- Differential equations
- Diffusion models
- Economic & other forecasting models
- Evaluation research
- Graph theory
- Historical analysis
- Institutional analysis
- Interview techniques
- Linear programming and general analysis using linear models
- Network & flow methods
- Population growth models
- Probability, both theoretical & heuristic
- Simulation/gaming & game theory
- Spatial analysis
- Survey research
- Time series
Annual Review of Progress
At the end of each year of study, students are required to complete an Annual Review. The advisor and the Director of Doctoral Studies may make recommendations for any modifications deemed necessary prior to the start of the following academic year. Note: financial support for the subsequent year, if applicable, depends on timely completion of a satisfactory annual review.
Annual Review Steps
Step 1
By April 15, the student submits:
- A draft annual review form to their advisor, including a concise
narrative of and goals for the upcoming summer and academic year. - An up-to-date CV
Step 2
The student and advisor meet; the advisor provides comments to the
student and, where necessary, recommends changes in the academic plan
in the annual review form.
Step 3
Once the advisor has approved the plan of study for the coming year, they
send the Director of Doctoral Studies a short narrative of student progress.
Step 4
The URP Ph.D. Advisory Committee reviews the materials, and sends a letter to the student, either confirming their good standing in the program or specifying additional requirements to be in good standing.
Comprehensive Exam
The comprehensive exam tests a student’s knowledge of both their primary and secondary areas of specialization. The exam consists of a take-home, written examination followed by an oral exam. The examination normally
occurs at the end of the student’s second year, after completion of all relevant
coursework.
The Committee
The student convenes an examination committee of three faculty members, choosing faculty who have expertise in the areas of specialization. At least one member of the committee should be a member of the urban and regional planning faculty. The chair or co-chair of the committee must be a regular member of the planning faculty and cannot be an affiliate faculty member. At least one committee member should represent the student’s secondary area of specialization. (If the student has identified a secondary area of specialization that is traditionally housed in another department on campus, then the student is encouraged to select a faculty member from that outside department as their third committee member.) On occasion, examiners from outside the university have served on students’ examining committees. While this practice is generally not encouraged, written requests for an outside examiner by students are treated on an individual basis by the director of doctoral studies.
The Field Statement
The student meets with the committee chair to plan for the exam and agree on expectations prior to the construction of the exam. In consultation with the chair and committee members, the student identifies appropriate readings and prepares a detailed “field statement” that defines the primary and secondary fields, contains a detailed bibliography of readings, organizes the readings into subfields, and outlines a set of major questions for the fields. The field statement is normally designed principally with the chair and is sometimes analogous to a detailed syllabus that one would prepare for a year-long graduate-level course on the selected specializations. The student often writes possible exam questions that he/she feels are appropriate for the area the exam will cover. The questions are not the questions the committee asks the student; their major function is to help the committee and the student to agree on the scope of the exam.
Scheduling the Exam
The exam must be completed by the end of May, at the end of a student’s second year in the program, and is scheduled on the student’s initiative. Prior to the exam, the student should have completed all coursework (including all incompletes). A student may delay the exam for exceptional circumstances with approval of the faculty adviser and the Director of Doctoral Studies. Students must notify the Director of Doctoral Studies of their intent to take the exam, with a date and time, location, and names of committee members at least one month prior to the exam.
The Exam
The written part of the exam is in the form of a take-home essay. The committee chair typically solicits exam questions from the committee, selects questions to be used, and composes the final examination. The allotted time period to write the exam is determined by the chair, and typically is over three days. The student must submit the exam in the form as directed by the chair (usually as a Word document submitted by email), plus one copy to the program administrator to be placed in the student’s records. The written exam is followed by a two-hour oral exam, generally scheduled to take place within about one week after the written exam. The exam is evaluated on a “Pass/Fail” or “Conditional Pass” basis. If the student does not achieve a passing evaluation, he/she may take the exam one additional time to achieve a “Pass” or “Conditional Pass” status. A “Conditional Pass” indicates that additional requirements must be met, but the exam need not be retaken. Upon completion of the oral portion of the exam, please refer to the Applying for Candidacy section for next steps.
Applying for Candidacy
A student advances to candidacy when all program requirements except the dissertation proposal and dissertation have been satisfied. The normal and expected time to achieve candidacy is two years from the date of first enrollment in the doctoral program. In addition to urban and regional planning program requirements, a student must also meet Rackham Candidacy Requirements. Any incomplete courses that are critical to satisfying requirements must be completed before applying for candidacy.
Once all required coursework and the comprehensive exam are successfully
completed, a student applies for Candidacy by sending a request by email to the URP Director of Doctoral Studies, along with a signed Comprehensive Exam Certification Form.
The Director of Doctoral Studies will recommend a doctoral student for candidacy by submitting a recommendation to the Rackham Graduate School. When candidacy is approved, a student is ready to begin work on the dissertation and is eligible for URP 995 candidacy registration.
Sample Schedule
Sample First Year
| Fall | |
|---|---|
| URP 700 or 701 | Advanced Urban Theory (700) or Epistemology and Reasoning for Planning Research (701) (offered fall term in odd number years) |
| URP 500 | URP 500 Planning Theory, if did not take during Master’s |
| [Statistics I] | |
| Elective (methods/specialization) | |
| Winter | |
|---|---|
| URP 612 | Directed Study (Literature Review) or Elective |
| [Statistics II] | |
| 2 Electives | |
| URP 801 | Research Design |
Sample Second Year
| Fall | |
|---|---|
| URP 700 or 701 | Theory |
| URP 612 | Directed Study (Literature Review) or Elective |
| Elective | |
| Winter | |
|---|---|
| URP 802 | Ph.D. Research Practicum |
| 3 Electives | |
| Spring – Summer | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Comprehensive Exam (scheduled by student; typically taken by the end of May) | |||
|
|||
Sample Years Three – Four
| Dissertation Proposal Presentation (reviewed and approved by the student’s dissertation committee and the URP Doctoral Committee) | |
| Dissertation research and writing | |
| Informal “Full Draft Review” (at least 6-8 weeks before the formal defense) | |
| Dissertation Defense | |
| Submittal of the final version of the dissertation |
Dissertation
Forming Dissertation Committee
After completing the comprehensive exam and advancing to candidacy, the student must form a dissertation committee, in accordance with the Rackham Graduate School’s “Guidelines for Dissertation Committee Service.”
The Dissertation Committee should be formed prior to defending the
dissertation proposal, which should be formed several months before the
student expects to defend their proposal URP. When prepared to do so, the
student should send the Director of Doctoral Studies and Lisa Hauser the
completed “Dissertation Committee Worksheet for Students to submit to
Program”, which can be obtained from the link above. The Director of
Doctoral Studies and Lisa Hauser will then submit the formal request to the
Rackham Graduate School.
Dissertation Proposal
Dissertation proposals can be defended anytime after taking the
Comprehensive Exam, but no later than the end of the fifth semester (i.e.
December). It is the student’s responsibility to schedule the proposal
defense attended by the dissertation committee.
The student must notify Lisa Hauser by email of the proposal defense date at least three weeks prior to the meeting, including the location of the defense meeting, a title, and an abstract. After gaining approval from the dissertation committee, the dissertation chair must send an email to the Director of Doctoral Studies that includes (a) the date of the proposal defense, (b) a list of all committee members present at the defense, (c) a title of the proposal, (d) an abstract of the proposal (250 – 350 words), and (e) a copy of the final dissertation proposal to be filed with URP records. Receipt of the email from the dissertation chair will constitute formal approval of the proposal by the committee and readiness to proceed with dissertation work.
Dissertation Process
The dissertation is prepared in accordance with the Rackham Graduate School’s Doctoral Dissertation Requirements, and as outlined in the URP Ph.D. Program Overview Schedule and Policies document.
The student is responsible for several steps: (a) scheduling and reserving rooms (and/or a Zoom link if virtual or hybrid) for the URP pre-defense hearing (which ordinarily should occur at least six weeks and no less than three weeks prior to the dissertation defense) and the defense meeting, both in a timely manner; (b) notifying Lisa Hauser by email of the defense date at least three weeks prior to the meeting, including the location of the defense meeting, (and Zoom link, if
relevant), a title, and an abstract; (c) providing a complete dissertation draft, including an abstract and bibliography, to committee members at least two weeks (longer is advised) before the defense date; and (d) registering for an eight-hour candidacy enrollment (995 Dissertation Research) for the term in which the defense is held.
A dissertation defense typically consists of two parts: the first is a formal, public presentation of the dissertation research, followed by questions and answers from both the dissertation committee and the audience. Defenses are advertised and open to the public, and other students and faculty are frequently in attendance. The second part is a closed session for the candidate and the dissertation committee. During the defense, the student may be asked to reconsider certain aspects of the work and to make changes or corrections in the dissertation. At the end of the session, the chair will discuss the oral defense with other members of the committee and inform the student of the outcome. The duration of a defense can vary, but the candidate should reserve the room for a three-hour period.
Formal approval of the dissertation (e.g., formatting of the final document) and applying for graduation are governed by the Rackham Graduate School.
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