PLAN-810 Studio: Sustainable Communities

5 Credits

The neighborhood (as defined by a number of physical, political, and socioeconomic criteria) is the level at which most planning efforts affect citizens. Increasingly, the neighborhood has also become the official focal point for city, state and federal programs in both service delivery and physical development planning and implementation. This studio introduces the student to basic techniques in neighborhood needs analysis and comprehensive planning. Utilizing a neighborhood of appropriate size and type, the students, working in teams, develop an area-wide plan (based on primary and secondary research and needs analysis) providing for residential, commercial and industrial land use and related services and infrastructure. In order to maximize the usefulness of the semester's work, as well as to provide a realistic assessment of plans produced by the studio, written and graphic materials are prepared for presentation to the "client" - usually a locally-based nonprofit organization representing the neighborhood under study.