PLAN A6354 Urban Planning: The Political Environment of Development Summer 2024

I. Course Overview

This course provides an intensive, twice-weekly introduction to the political and planning issues that characterize the environment in which development occurs across the world. Successful development projects must be framed within a range of government regulations, powers and incentives, including those associated with the environment, land use, historic preservation, sustainability and resilience, social equity and community development. Developers must be sensitive to the range of impacts their projects might have on existing communities, advocacy groups and public infrastructure and must be familiar with the processes that exist locally to evaluate these considerations prior to project initiation.

As a high-level introduction to urban planning, the course will use New York and other large global cities as the primary lens through which to explore these issues; students will also be asked to reflect on the political environment in their home country or city. Lectures will be accompanied by required readings and weekly student assignments, undertaken individually or in groups.  A final exam will be used to assess student learning, and will form a significant part of the final grade.

I. Course Requirements

This is an intensive three-credit course being taught in a half-semester, which means that students are expected to attend class twice a week and do approximately 12 hours of work outside of class  weekly. This includes time spent completing assigned readings or podcasts, preparing homework assignments, participating in group work, studying for the final exam, and completing other course-related tasks.

Students will be expected to attend all classes, including lectures, classrooms discussions and presentations, and to participate as appropriate. Absence requests must be submitted by email to the TA for approval by the professor in advance of class.

The class will be assigned readings on a weekly basis over the course of the semester; all will be either readily available on the internet or posted by the TA on Courseworks. Mandatory weekly  assignments will also be posted on Courseworks, and must be submitted by the specified deadline. Late assignments will lose points at the instructor’s discretion.

Course grading criteria are as follows:

● attendance: 20%

●   assignments: 30%

● final exam: 50%

III. Learning Outcomes

By the end of this semester, students should be able to understand the basic issues framing urban development today, including affordable housing, sustainability and resilience, changes in work and consumption patterns, transit and other physical infrastructure, historic preservation and social equity. They will be familiar with the planning tools and conventions used in the United States and conversant in those deployed in certain other major real estate markets.

Specific concepts that students should expect to understand by the end of the course, among others, include:

● Land use regulation, including zoning, eminent domain and condemnation

●   Affordable housing and other methods used to incentivize housing production

●    Public-private development and infrastructure partnerships

●   Gentrification and trends in downtown development

●    Discriminatory development practices and environmental justice

●   Community perspectives on development

●    Historic preservation and adaptive reuse

●    Public realm and space issues and incentives

● Environmental resilience and sustainability

IV. Disability Accommodations and Writing Assistance

Requests for academic accommodations must be made during the first two weeks of the course. Students must register with Office of Disability Services

http://www.health.columbia.edu/docs/services/ods/index.html (or call (212) 854-2388) for disability verification and determination of reasonable academic accommodation. If you are already registered with Columbia Disability Services, please use its online system to notify me of your accommodations and discuss your needs as early in the semester as possible.

Students are encouraged to contact the Columbia University Writing Center for writing assistance.

V. Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is expected of every Columbia University student. Plagiarism is defined as the use of work or concepts developed by other individuals without proper attribution or citation.

Unique ideas or materials taken from another source for either written or oral use must be fully acknowledged in academic work to be graded. Examples of sources expected to be referenced include (but are not limited to): text; graphic elements; mathematical or scientific data; or concepts or material derived from the work of another.

The use of generative Artificial Intelligence (A I) or machine learning tools (such as ChatGPT) to complete an assignment, exam or deliverable (in whole or in part) is strictly prohibited unless prior approval is given by the instructor. The unauthorized use of such tools shall be treated similarly to   unauthorized assistance and/or plagiarism.

Any academic integrity misconduct will be handled per Columbia University’s academic policy.

VI. Syllabus Overview

The class will be composed of 10 two-hour classes, including an hour-long final exam on the last day of class (July 2). Each class will typically consist of a one-hour lecture, with the second hour  spent discussing reading assignments, homework, or the lecture content.

Class 1 (May 30): Introducing Urban Planning

● definitions and roles

●    planning in history

●    planning today

●    institutional frameworks

● methods of government control

Readings for 6/4: TBD

Assignment for 6/4: TBD

Class 2 (June 4): Understanding National Planning

● evolution of American planning

●   colonialism and urban planning

●    national planning frameworks today

● case studies

Readings for 6/6: TBD

Assignment for 6/6: TBD