Urban Planning

  What is Urban Planning?

Urban planning and management are key municipal functions in the United States and Western Europe. In the rapidly growing developing world, urban expansion has far outstripped the capacity of city governments to cope with the bewildering array of problems this mass movement and spatial reorganization of the population generates. Huge, difficult to manage, multi-centered megacities continue to emerge worldwide, along with the proliferation of thousands of other smaller cities. Nevertheless, the attraction of urban life has never been greater. With more than 50 percent of the world’s population living in cities at the turn of the century, the 21st century will be the world’s first truly urban era.

The challenge this urbanized world poses is the substance of the planning profession. Planners are dedicated to developing innovative approaches to managing cities and planning their development. The constructive management of change is at the heart of the profession. Planners often work in local governments and communities, but their concerns are issues that affect the world -- land use, social policy, historic preservation, transportation, housing, economic development, policy planning, environmental protection, urban design and international development. Planners are visionaries working for a better future through improvements in the quality of life in one or more of these areas.

  Success Factors

People who are successful in urban planning have visual and kinesthetic/tactile learning. They possess an interest in design combined with a heightened social consciousness. Urban planners are people-oriented. They possess strong communication skills and are comfortable in meeting with many different types of people, as well as being attentive listeners. Urban planners are interested in multidisciplinary issues and enjoy working collaboratively. Many seek international opportunities.

  Career Possibilities

Urban planners develop solutions for many of society’s most pressing problems, providing a variety of services to cities, towns, states, regions and private clients interested in changing their physical, economic or social structures. A planner may generate plans for housing the poor, create jobs, design public parks, preserve historic buildings or resolve traffic congestion and environmental problems.

The future is bright in the field of planning. Graduates go on to both private- and public-sector jobs. Opportunities continue to grow, and salaries remain competitive. Additionally, planning graduates are often given significant professional responsibility and challenges quite early in their careers.

  Majoring in Urban Planning

The urban planning program in UC's College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) is one of the oldest and most respected programs in the United States. It has been accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board for nearly 30 years. The program stresses planning as a problem-solving activity oriented toward the future, with special emphasis on the built and natural environment and on improving the quality of life.

The goal of undergraduate planning education in the School of Planning is to introduce beginning students to the general knowledge required by the profession, as well as to ground students in physical, computer, graphic design and communication skills. All students in the urban planning program participate in a mandatory professional practice opportunity which permits students to have five semesters (or six quarters) of meaningful, professionally related experience integrated with academic quarters of study on campus.

Graduates earn a professional bachelor of urban planning degree and are qualified to apply for the American Institute of Certified Planners Board (AICP) examination.

The five-year curriculum consists of general and specialized professional planning lectures or seminar courses, a sequence of studio courses, and professional practice or co-op (alternating academic terms with paid work experience). Studios consist of real-world projects worked on by students in small groups. They provide students with an opportunity to try out techniques of urban planning in a creative team setting.

  Minoring in Urban Planning

While there is not a minor in urban planning, matriculated students may choose to earn a certificate in one of the following programs: urban planning, geographic information systems, or historic preservation. Please see the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning Bulletin at www.uc.edu/bulletins for further information.

  Curriculum

This curriculum information is intended as a general information guide for students considering enrollment in this program. These online tools are designed to assist you, but are not a substitute for planning with an academic or faculty advisor.

If you are currently confirmed or enrolled, you can check your degree requirements online. If you are considering transferring to this major from another school, use u.select to see how credits you have earned will transfer to UC. See course descriptions by college.

For an updated curriculum, please visit http://daap.uc.edu/academics/planning/b_urban_planning.html.

  UC Advantages and Special Opportunities

• The city of Cincinnati, once called the "Queen City of the West" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, provides an excellent array of cultural resources for students who intend to pursue a degree in the visual arts. It offers the energy and assets of a larger city, along with quiet neighborhoods steeped in rich traditions. Cincinnati offers live music venues that range from top-notch symphony and opera companies to a growing pop and rock community. Home to the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Taft Museum and the Contemporary Arts Center, the city also enjoys the presence of numerous art galleries and a strong support system among practicing artists. Cincinnati is situated within driving distance of Chicago, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and New York City, allowing DAAP students to take advantage of the rich cultural resources of these cities as well.
  

• DAAP students learn creative and technical skills in the studio environment, taught by a passionate faculty who interact with their students on a daily basis. The goal is to guide students as they grow both intellectually and professionally. Faculty are innovative in transforming the urban planning design discipline by applying the newest technologies. They inspire students to take advantage of interdisciplinary studio projects and work within corporate partnerships. This, along with a broad liberal arts background, prepares DAAP students to practice their art and design in both local and global markets.
  
•  The DAAP College Library has an outstanding collection of books, periodicals and visual resources supporting architecture, planning, design, art history and related subjects. Access to library holdings is provided by an automated online catalog, UCLID, which provides access to the University of Cincinnati Library information database, and through OhioLINK, the holdings of other academic libraries throughout Ohio. 
  
• The Computer Graphics Center is a state-of-the-art university facility with hardware that includes PCs, Apple computers and peripherals such as scanners, plotters and digital video-editing suites. Students have access to sophisticated graphics equipment and receive hands-on instruction to augment the use of laptops in the classroom. All computing equipment is linked by high-speed Ethernet to facilitate access across the campus.
  
•  The college supports a Rapid Prototyping Center, which is the home of state-of-the-art equipment that allows students to create communication aids for their design projects. Using CAD (computer-aided design) models, students are able to create physical models using three basic methods: 3-D printing, large format laser-cutting and CNC (computer numeric control) devices, including a Kuomo CNC Router. This facility is intended for all DAAP students to use in creating large-scale designs.

  Special Programs

• The University of Cincinnati's School of Planning is the only undergraduate urban planning program in the country that requires a cooperative education experience. Urban planning students work for both small and large businesses across the country. Students begin their co-op experiences during their sophomore year, and alternate semesters of full-time work and study on a year-round calendar until the final semester of the fifth year (there is no tuition for the semesters students work). They graduate with five semesters, or a year and a half, of work experience in their field.
• The School of Planning offers several alternative educational experiences available to its students. One is an exchange program wherein students may enroll for one quarter in another academic institution either here or abroad. Formal programs exist in the Netherlands and in Turkey. There is also a "Summer Field School in Sustainable Development" allowing students to spend one quarter in a work-study project. Recent projects have been in Greece. Students may also elect to participate in three-week summer studio programs offered in Sardinia, Italy, and Curitiba, Brazil.
  

• Computer Requirements: All undergraduate students entering the School of Planning in the urban planning program are required to purchase a personal laptop computer. Each discipline has its own specific requirements for hardware and software. You can review the current requirements at http://daap.uc.edu/admissions/computer_requirements.html. Please note that these requirements may be slightly altered as equipment evolves. The requirements listed on the Web site will always be the most recent and accurate. Therefore, students new to DAAP are encouraged to delay their computer purchase until the summer prior to entering to make the most informed computer purchase. Many of our programs have additional technology requirements for students in the later years of study.

  Admission Requirements

Admission criteria for this program vary based on the relative strength of test scores, class rank and GPA. Please see the Freshman Class Profile for this major in the Quick Facts sidebar on this page for the range of academic credentials typically accepted into this program. Test scores in the lower range may be acceptable with higher class rank and/or GPA.

Freshmen applying to this program should also have completed the following college-preparatory subjects:

• 4 units of college prep English
• 3 units of college preparatory math
• 2 units of science
• 2 units in one language
• 2 units of social studies
• 1 unit of fine arts
• 2 additional college prep subjects

  Transferring to UC Requirements

Students seeking to transfer from another regionally accredited university or college are guaranteed admission into the Bachelor of Urban Planning program within certain enrollment limits, if they complete the associate degree in pre-urban professions at a community college that has a transfer agreement with the UC School of Planning.

Students who have not earned the associate degree and who are seeking to transfer from another regionally accredited university or college must have at least a 2.6 cumulative grade point average in previous college work to be considered for admission. Transfer students are encouraged to apply for admission to the urban planning program up through the beginning of the third year. More advanced transfer students will be considered on a case-by-case basis and should contact the School of Planning office.

  Changing Majors within UC Requirements

Students seeking to transfer from other colleges or programs at UC are guaranteed admission into the bachelor of urban planning program within certain enrollment limits, if they complete the associate degree in pre-urban professions at either UC Raymond Walters College or UC Clermont College, which have transfer agreements with the School of Planning.

Students who have not earned the associate degree and who are seeking to transfer from another regionally accredited university or college must have at least a 2.6 cumulative grade point average in previous college work to be considered for admission. Transfer students are encouraged to apply for admission to the urban planning program up through the beginning of the third year. More advanced transfer students will be considered on a case-by-case basis and should contact the School of Planning office.

  Graduation Requirements

Students must complete a total of 120 credit hours for graduation. Students must also complete five semesters (or six quarters) of mandatory professional practice (co-op) and receive a satisfactory (S) for all required work quarters. Students must obtain a minimum overall grade point average of 2.0 and, in addition, must have at least a 2.0 grade point average for the senior year to be eligible for graduation. In order to be eligible for graduation with honors, a student must have earned at least a 3.6 grade point average.

  Application Deadlines

Prospective high school students are advised to apply as soon as possible after September 1 of their senior year for assured consideration. Enrollment in the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning is controlled, and therefore admission is selective. Admission to the urban planning program is on a rolling (first-come, first-served) basis; once all the available seats are filled, the program is closed.

Students seeking transfer from another college or program at UC or another regionally accredited university or college should also apply early in the academic year.

  Accreditation

The University of Cincinnati is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
The bachelor of urban planning program is accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board.