has anyone considered going into urban planning? i've been planning on finishing my bach of science in architecture but lately ive been more and more interested in urban planning as i wish to focus on designing communities as a whole vs. single buildings.
does anyone work for a town / city setting up urban guidelines and master plans?
what type of education do you possess? bach in urban planning? masters?
what is the reality of the job entail? ... i would like to work with the community, influence progressive neighborhood designs and curbing suburban sprawl, studying the social and economic effects of poor planning of the past decades and setting up new guidelines to revitalize cities.. is this a real expectation?
With those interests, you certainly sound like a good prospect for an urban planning program. Following up your architecture undergrad you should look into the various master in urban planning programs (ex. MIT, Berkeley, UCLA, UMichigan, NYU, Colorado, UWash, Harvard, etc.). The programs have different areas of emphasis, so you should look into what most closely aligns with your interests. You can also probably find opportunities to engage with your planning interests through non-profit community development agencies. The planning profession is a bit hard to define, which can be both a strength and a weakness. It does offer a wide range of opportunities.
shaner, you should be looking at urban design programs. UD is a marriage of sorts between architecture and planning, emphasizing design and the public realm.
I'm an urban designer and have degrees in all three (AR, UD, UP), and each has been important to my work. UD is practiced in both private firms and public agencies.
I (and others here) have written pages on the details of this important subject here on Archinect. Use the search command to find some of these earlier threads for a lot more information and opinion.
You might want to check out the several landscape architecture/landscape urbanism programs around: U Toronto, UPenn, AA, are a few of the best known. Also many MLA programs have a regional planning focus that overlap with Urban Design, but balance human environments with ecology.
A M Arch or M LA allow you to become a licensed professional. While their is an AICP test, archs and 'scapers can take it too. But UD or UP can't do architecture or landscape.
What im thinking is somewhat breaking out for the architectural field and redirecting my career more towards urban PLANNING, so im not sure u of torontos program is for me as it appears to be in urban design (something i never looked into... though this may be something that would be good for me too.. im going to look into it)
What about Ryerson's Urban Development (Master of Planning) program? the description seems right on the money as to what im looking to do, anyone know about that program? good or bad
urban planning
has anyone considered going into urban planning? i've been planning on finishing my bach of science in architecture but lately ive been more and more interested in urban planning as i wish to focus on designing communities as a whole vs. single buildings.
does anyone work for a town / city setting up urban guidelines and master plans?
what type of education do you possess? bach in urban planning? masters?
what is the reality of the job entail? ... i would like to work with the community, influence progressive neighborhood designs and curbing suburban sprawl, studying the social and economic effects of poor planning of the past decades and setting up new guidelines to revitalize cities.. is this a real expectation?
With those interests, you certainly sound like a good prospect for an urban planning program. Following up your architecture undergrad you should look into the various master in urban planning programs (ex. MIT, Berkeley, UCLA, UMichigan, NYU, Colorado, UWash, Harvard, etc.). The programs have different areas of emphasis, so you should look into what most closely aligns with your interests. You can also probably find opportunities to engage with your planning interests through non-profit community development agencies. The planning profession is a bit hard to define, which can be both a strength and a weakness. It does offer a wide range of opportunities.
shaner, you should be looking at urban design programs. UD is a marriage of sorts between architecture and planning, emphasizing design and the public realm.
I'm an urban designer and have degrees in all three (AR, UD, UP), and each has been important to my work. UD is practiced in both private firms and public agencies.
I (and others here) have written pages on the details of this important subject here on Archinect. Use the search command to find some of these earlier threads for a lot more information and opinion.
Good luck!
personally i'd go for the degree that'll more likely get you a job.
good luck
keep in mind urban planning and urban design are two very different things
You might want to check out the several landscape architecture/landscape urbanism programs around: U Toronto, UPenn, AA, are a few of the best known. Also many MLA programs have a regional planning focus that overlap with Urban Design, but balance human environments with ecology.
A M Arch or M LA allow you to become a licensed professional. While their is an AICP test, archs and 'scapers can take it too. But UD or UP can't do architecture or landscape.
What im thinking is somewhat breaking out for the architectural field and redirecting my career more towards urban PLANNING, so im not sure u of torontos program is for me as it appears to be in urban design (something i never looked into... though this may be something that would be good for me too.. im going to look into it)
What about Ryerson's Urban Development (Master of Planning) program? the description seems right on the money as to what im looking to do, anyone know about that program? good or bad
Not sure about Ryerson. But I can recommend a few planning websites to check out if you haven't already:
Planetizen (an all-around resource for planning related concerns including information on planning schools) - www.planetizen.com
APA (American Planning Association) - www.planning.org
ULI (Urban Land Institute) - www.uli.org
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