PLAN - Urban Planning

PLAN 604 Planning Methods I

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Fundamental concepts and methods used in urban and regional research; qualitative and quantitative research designs; measurement and scaling; sampling; data collection; data file construction; introduction to data analysis and statistical inference. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

PLAN 610 Structure and Function of Urban Settlements

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. The study of urbanization and how geographic, economic, sociological and political factors give rise to changes in the structure and functions of cities; how the movement of people, products, services and capital create unique urban patterns of land use and infrastructure with implications for long-term livability and sustainability. Prerequisites: Graduate classification.

PLAN 612 Transportation in City Planning

Credits 3. 2 Lecture Hours. 3 Lab Hours. Influence of transportation in shaping urban form; relationships between land use and transportation; conceptual layout of street systems; trends in urban development, site development, circulation and relationships to the street system; guidelines for the redevelopment of existing streets and the adjacent land.

PLAN 613 Planning Methods and Techniques

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Methods and techniques of research, data collection and analysis; coordination of planning process with public policy and plan implementation.

PLAN 622/LAND 622 Critical Place Studies: Theory, Research and Practice

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Introduction to historic preservation regulations; ethnographic and archival research methods, cultural landscape identification and documentations strategies, and critical theories; application of digital humanities tools and platforms to preservation practice and outreach to communities. Cross Listing: LAND 622/PLAN 622.

PLAN 623 Development Planning in Third World Countries

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Examines historical, political, economic, social and cultural dimensions of "Third World" development problems; application of planning methods and techniques toward long-term solutions in the context of unfolding contemporary world events; considers the role of international lending institutions, technical assistance and funding requirements in developing countries.

PLAN 624 Digital Communication in Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning

Credits 3. 2 Lecture Hours. 4 Lab Hours. Learn, develop, and apply fundamental knowledge and skills throughout the process of environmental design and planning; base map preparing, site plan designing, cross-section drawing, 2-dimensional plan rendering, 3-dimensional model rendering and poster presentation.

PLAN 625 Geographical Information Systems in Landscape and Urban Planning

Credits 3. 2 Lecture Hours. 2 Lab Hours. Provides an understanding of GIS fundamentals; basic concepts, principles and functions; essential skills for applying GIS in various fields such as urban planning, landscape architecture, land development, environment studies, transportation and hazard management; based on learning through class projects. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

PLAN 626 Advanced GIS in Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning

Credits 3. 2 Lecture Hours. 2 Lab Hours. Continuation of GIS in Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning PLAN 625; topics include advanced spatial analysis technology: emphasis on urban planning, landscape architecture, land development, hazard management and related applications to issues. Prerequisite: PLAN 625.

PLAN 627 Economic Development

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Examines the strategies employed in the pursuit of local economic development. Discusses basic principals for critically assessing alternative development policies and programs; reflects on the goals and objectives of economic development efforts; and identifies tools for structure and financing local projects.

PLAN 629 Neighborhood Revitalization

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Addresses the social, political and economic theory of neighborhoods-their growth, function and design; an understanding of how neighborhoods experience change, as well as the consequences of this change for residents.

PLAN 631 Health Systems Planning and Policy

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Specific health planning issues; distribution of manpower and facilities, financial resources, local-federal partnership, system's organization and governance.

PLAN 632 Design for Active Living

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. 0 Lab Hours. Understanding the forms and characteristics of the built environment and the influence on human behaviors, lifestyles and health; theoretical and empirical insights into the issues of physical activity, obesity, and automobile dependency; focus on how changes in the built environment help address these issues. Prerequisite: Graduate classification or approval of instructor. Cross Listing: ARCH 673 and LAND 632.

PLAN 633 Planning for Healthy Communities

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. An introduction to issues involved in planning healthy cities/communities; by exploring experiences initiated by the World Health Organization and subsequent international experiences, attention is given to the healthy cities/communities movement in the United States and the case studies of programs at local, state and national levels.

PLAN 634 Environmental Health Policy and Planning

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Interdisciplinary perspective of environmental risk analysis methods and policy implications; federal and state agencies and programs involved in developing and implementing environmental health policies and monitoring environmental health hazards; historical and economic context of environmental health legislation; framework for policy making process and criteria to determine effectiveness and outcomes. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

PLAN 635/LAND 635 Concepts in Ecological Planning and Design

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Reviews selected ecological concepts and explores integration into ecological/landscape planning, design using a historical perspective; historical and contemporary approach to provide and in-depth understanding of how they can better mediate between human actions and natural process. Prerequisite: Graduate classification. Cross Listing: LAND 635/PLAN 635.

PLAN 640 Law and Legislation Related to Planning

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Legislative process and planning legislation; enabling legislation and legal tools of planner: zoning, subdivision ordinances, eminent domain, extraterritorial jurisdiction and other related planning instruments.

PLAN 641 Problems of Environmental Planning Administration

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. State and federal legislation pertaining to environmental consumer protective aspects of urban planning; review of administrative procedures; major judicial decisions; also taught at Galveston campus.

PLAN 642 Planning for Coastal Sustainability and Resiliency

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Principles of resiliency and sustainability in coastal areas; examination of issues from ecological, social, economic, organizational, planning and built-environment perspectives; application of principles to realistic problems, settings and solutions. Prerequisite: Graduate classification; also taught at Galveston campus.

PLAN 647 Disaster Recovery and Hazard Mitigation

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Interdisciplinary study of the impacts of environmental disasters; describes process of disaster recovery and examines methods of reducing future vulnerability; analyzes regulation, market mechanisms, and public education as methods for implementing mitigation measures. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

PLAN 649 Organizational and Community Response to Crises and Disasters

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Introduction to the study of organized and community planning and response to natural and technological disasters and social crisis; focus upon emergency preparedness and response; practical issues, planning for emergency management and existing research literature of basic disaster at the organization and community levels. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

PLAN 650 Disaster Response Planning

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery strategies; roles of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Governor's Division of Emergency Management, the National Weather Service and the American Red Cross.

PLAN 656 Housing and Community

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Housing, its development, planning, marketing, designing, financing, and production; social and design history and contemporary issues of American housing development, urban renewal, neighborhood structure and community facilities.

PLAN 658 Plan Implementation

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Techniques of implementing major urban development programs and plans; capital improvements programming and budgeting; overview of regulatory measures including zoning and subdivision regulations; public involvement process; and fiscal planning.

PLAN 661 Information and Communication in Planning

Credits 3. 2 Lecture Hours. 2 Lab Hours. Types and sources of planning related information; use of verbal, printed and electronic media in communicating planning information and formulating alternative solutions to community development problems.

PLAN 662 Applied Planning I

Credits 3. 1 Lecture Hour. 6 Lab Hours. Acquisition, analysis, and management of information pertaining to urban and regional planning in a case specific scenario; issue analysis; formulation of goals and objectives, and policies; consensus building; includes all tasks leading up to the preparation of an urban, regional or strategic plan.

PLAN 664 Planning Theory and History

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. A critical examination of the justifications for and major alternative approaches to planning in the public domain, beginning with the fundamental historical intentions of and projects in city planning within industrial societies and tracing the subsequent development of planning as political reform, political analysis, social mobilization and other modern variants.

PLAN 665 Plan Making

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Introduction to a wide variety of styles and methodologies employed by the urban and regional planner; planning styles reviewed include: comprehensive land use planning; policies planning; strategic planning; regional planning; and private sector corporate planning. Emphasis is given to the actual review and content analysis of plans.

PLAN 667 Site Planning

Credits 3. 2 Lecture Hours. 4 Lab Hours. Introduction to physical planning and design aspects of city planning; the relationship between urban design and city/regional planning; the history of design paradigm; essential tools and applications for physical planning; and site planning and design of physical attributes.

PLAN 670 Urban Public Transportation Planning

Credits 3. 2 Lecture Hours. 3 Lab Hours. Planning, operations, fiscal, management and legal aspects of urban, rural and regional public transportation modes; preparation of transportation systems program elements.

PLAN 673 Design for Sustainable Transportation

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Introduce planning and design principles, techniques, and examples for achieving sustainable transportation; transit-oriented development, neo-traditional design, traffic calming, non-motorized travel, and smart growth; car sharing, parking pricing, location efficient mortgage, and alternative vehicles and fuel technologies. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

PLAN 674 Transportation System Analysis

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Introduces basic concepts and techniques of modeling, analyzing and solving problems in transportation systems planning, operations, management and design within a unified framework for transportation systems analysis; includes: disaggregate demand theory and application, activity analysis and land use forecasting, network optimization stochastic processes, queuing models and simulation. Prerequisite: CVEN 672 or approval of instructor.

PLAN 676 Transportation Investment Decisions

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. The course provides the graduate-level student with an overview of the elements of transportation investment decisions including transportation supply, demand, finance, and economic impact.

PLAN 678 Applied Transportation Studio: Site Planning and Traffic Impact

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Practical overview of urban planning and transportation topics including transportation-land use, functional classification, thoroughfare and land use planning, site planning, traffic impact analysis, access management and site design. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

PLAN 681 Seminar

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Reports and discussions of current research and selected topics in urban and regional planning. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

PLAN 684 Professional Internship

Credits 1 to 8. 1 to 8 Other Hours. Professional practice under approved arrangement with public or private agencies.

PLAN 685 Directed Studies

Credits 1 to 6. 1 to 6 Other Hours. Individual and group problems dealing with application of planning theory and practice. Opportunities to select foreign and domestic planning project of special interest.

PLAN 689 Special Topics in...

Credits 1 to 4. 1 to 4 Lecture Hours. 0 to 4 Lab Hours. Selected topics in an identified area of urban and regional planning. May be repeated for credit.

PLAN 691 Research

Credits 1 to 23. 1 to 23 Other Hours. Research for thesis or dissertation.

PLAN 693 Professional Study

Credits 1 to 6. 1-1 Other Hours. Approved professional study project undertaken as the terminal requirement for the Master of Urban Planning degree; preparation of a record of study summarizing rationale, procedure and results of the completed activity. Prerequisite: Approval of committee chair.