City & Regional Planning: Smart Cities, MCP
The Master of City Planning core curriculum encompasses the basic skills and knowledge required of all planners regardless of their specialization, and is a hallmark of our cutting-edge and practical approach to educating city planners. Students who complete the core will understand the legal and historical basis of city planning; they will know how to use a wide variety of population and economic data to understand local communities; and they will understand the form and arrangement of cities and metropolitan areas around the world. Most important, they will understand which planning approaches work best in which contexts and circumstances.
Today's combination of portable-yet-powerful computing and communication devices and Internet-accessible "big data" are democratizing all aspects of urban planning and decision-making. In the process, these factors are transforming planners from central information gatekeepers into bottom-up enablers who are helping city dwellers take better advantage of the opportunities and richness of urban life. By giving constituents quick access to usable information, these new technologies are connecting planners, residents, businesses, and non-profits to make them smarter and more productive. The purpose of this concentration is to give MCP students the skills and abilities they will need to develop planning applications that seamlessly combine user-friendly data retrieval and modeling procedures with individual and collaborative urban planning and design tools.
For more information: https://www.design.upenn.edu/city-regional-planning/graduate/program
Curriculum
A total of 19 course units are required for graduation. 15 course units must be in City Planning (CPLN) courses.
| Code | Title | Course Units |
|---|---|---|
| City & Regional Planning Requirements | ||
| Core Requirements | ||
| CPLN 500 | Introduction to City Planning: Past, Present and Future | 1 |
| CPLN 501 | Quantitative Planning Analysis Methods | 1 |
| CPLN 502 | Public Finance and Public Policy | 1 |
| or CPLN 509 | Law of Planning and Urban Development | |
| CPLN 510 | Urban and Planning Theory | 1 |
| CPLN 600 | Planning Workshop | 2 |
| CPLN 7XX | Planning Studio | 2 |
| Spatial Analysis Requirement | ||
| Select one of the following: | 1 | |
| Modeling Geographical Objects | ||
| Modeling Geographic Space | ||
| Modeling Geographical Objects | ||
| Breadth Methods Requirement | ||
| Select one of the following: | 1 | |
| Site Planning | ||
| Planning by Numbers | ||
or CPLN 671 | Spatial Statistics and Data Analysis | |
| Negotiation and Conflict Resolution | ||
| Urban Research Methods | ||
| Introduction to Graphics for Urban Design | ||
| General Electives | ||
| Select 4-5 course units | 4-5 | |
| Smart Cities Requirements | ||
| Required Courses | ||
| MUSA 507 | Spatial Analysis for Urban and Environmental Planning 1 | 1 |
| CPLN 505 | Planning by Numbers 2 | 1 |
| CPLN 671 | Spatial Statistics and Data Analysis | 1 |
| Concentration Electives | ||
| Select one of the following: | 1 | |
| Geospatial Software Design | ||
| Java and Javascript Programming for Planning Applications | ||
| Land Use and Environmental Modeling | ||
| Sensing the City | ||
| Data Wrangling and Visualization | ||
| Total Course Units | 19 | |
| 1 | Smart Cities students who take this course in place of CPLN 503 in the core must take an additional Smart Cities elective. |
| 2 | Students who take CPLN 505 to meet this requirement may NOT use it to meet the Core Breadth Methods requirement. |
Internship Requirement
The degree and major requirements displayed are intended as a guide for students entering in the Fall of 2020 and later. Students should consult with their academic program regarding final certifications and requirements for graduation.