Concentration

Design and Development / Redevelopment

This concentration includes two tracks: (1) Urban Design and (2) Development/ Redevelopment. Because of the connections between these two topics, many courses are listed in both tracks. Students may combine these two tracks for a custom concentration or focus on one.

Urban Design Track

The Urban Design track engages students in understanding, shaping, and transforming urban environments through spatial analysis, design thinking, and creative representation. Students explore how cities evolve and learn to envision and design places that are healthy, resilient, and socially equitable.

Urban design courses equip students with critical thinking skills and design tools to approach design issues and the spatiality of socio-economic challenges. For Urban Design students, courses are sequenced to provide a strong foundation in urban design theory and practice, the history of physical planning, and core design skills. The curriculum in visual communications and representation equips students with firsthand techniques to navigate the complex realm of digital programs. Through this framework, students develop fluency in both analog and digital techniques for representing, analyzing, and designing urban environments. The curriculum integrates drawing, mapping, visualization, and 3D modeling with spatial data analysis and parametric design workflows. Students work with widely used professional tools—including Autodesk Civil 3D, Rhino, Grasshopper, ArcGIS, and Adobe Creative Suite—while learning how digital modeling, simulation, and visualization support contemporary urban planning and design practice. Non-design students may take any course or set of courses to supplement their academic goals.

Graphic Communication and Design Representation (34:970:590) and Introduction to Urban Design (970 600) are required introductory courses for Urban Design students. There are two additional required classes detailed below for a total of four required classes. There are also optional but recommended classes (choices listed below) to complement the design track. Further, for students in this track, a graduate planning studio in design, redevelopment, or land use is recommended as one of the two studio choices (two studios are required for the MCRP). These studios support practice-based experiences that help students develop the confidence to interact with peers, faculty, clients, and public officials on real-world issues.

Introductory Required Courses (take all of these courses)

34:970:590 Graphic Communication & Design Representation (Spring/Fall)
34:970:600 Introduction to Urban Design for Planners (Fall)

Additional Required Course (take one of these two courses)

34:970:593 Design Representation & Visualization (S26, otherwise fall only)
34:970:601 Climate Adaptive Urban Design (Spring)

Recommended Courses (take at least one from the list; you can also pick the one course you did not take from the “Additional Required Course” list)

34:970:508 Comprehensive Planning (spring)
34:970:521 Historic Preservation (spring)
34:970:523 Environmental Law and Policy (spring)
34:970:530 International Urbanization and Housing Issues (TBD)
34:970:551 Transportation and Land Use (F26, S29, alt. years)
34:970:552 Transportation and Environment (F25, alt. years)
34:970:572 Green Building (F27 alt. years)
34:970:602 Zoning for Urban Planning (S26 alt. years)
34:970:622 Urban Redevelopment (fall)

Development/Redevelopment Track

A broad understanding of real estate development and redevelopment, including land, building, market and financial analysis, particularly in the United States, is gained through a sequence of courses in development/redevelopment planning and practice; real estate, finance, investment; and development impact analysis. This track meets the needs of students with varying interests, including planning for development/redevelopment, real estate market research and analysis, real estate finance and investment analysis, and relating land use planning and controls to the private development process. It is strongly recommended that students take at least one studio in urban redevelopment, neighborhood revitalization, urban design, housing, or community development.

Required Courses (take all of these courses)

34:970:605 Planning Real Estate Analysis (fall)
34:970:622 Urban Redevelopment (fall)

Recommended Courses (choose at least two additional courses for a total of four)

34:970:508 Comprehensive Planning (spring)
34:970:521 Historic Preservation (spring)
34:970:527 Affordable Housing (S27 alt. years)
34:970:523 Environmental Law and Policy (spring)
34:970:528 Housing Economics and Markets (S26 alt. years)
34:970:529 Principles of Housing (fall)
34:970:551 Transportation and Land Use (F26, S29, alt. years)
34:970:552 Transportation and Environment (F25, alt. years)
34:970:563 Community Development (fall)
34:970:572 Green Building (F27 alt. years)
34:970:590 Graphical Communication and Design Representation (fall, spring)
34:970:600 Introduction to Urban Design for Planners (fall)
34:970:601 Design for Climate Change Adaptation (spring)
34:970:602 Zoning for Urban Planning (S25 alt. years)
34:970:620 Energy Sustainability and Policy (F25)
34:833:540 State and Local Public Finance (S27)34:833:572 Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (F26)

Recommended Courses in other Programs

Students may substitute for any recommended course, with concentration coordinators’ approval. Students should check courses in these (and other) programs: Cultural Heritage and Preservation Studies (CHAPS) at Rutgers, New Brunswick; real estate program at the Rutgers Business School, Newark, and Piscataway).