Programs

The Urban Design Program focuses on cities and regions as agents of resilient change, and on the role of design in redefining 21st century landscapes. The one-year postgraduate degree spans three intensive semesters and is open to young professionals holding architecture or landscape architecture degrees. The Program frames Urban Design as both an inclusive, activist, tools-based practice for specific sites and communities, and as a critical project examining urban form, knowledge and research.

The Columbia University Master of Science in Urban Planning is an accredited two-year program of professional education. Actively engaged in practice, our curriculum connects the study of the urban built environment with grounded analysis of socioeconomic and political conditions. We explore the tensions between market forces, civil society, and the goals of planning, paying special attention to the role of urban analytics and the quest for social justice. Students learn to evaluate and shape efforts to develop and enhance cities and their communities in ways that foster healthy and sustainable living.

The Ph.D. in Urban Planning prepares students for careers in teaching, research and policy in the field of urban planning. In consultation with faculty, students develop individual study programs anchored in advanced knowledge concerning the socioeconomic, political, and environmental processes that shape cities and regions, and the quality of life within them. Organizing this inquiry are questions related to the effectiveness, justice and democracy, and ethics. The goal is to educate and train individuals with advanced theoretical and methodological skills that can be applied to important contemporary issues.