Contact
Department of City and Regional Planning
110 W. Sibley Hall
M–F, 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Fax: (607) 255-1971
Are you captivated by cities, curious about the factors that shape lives, and inspired to address social justice and create positive change? Get started on a course of study and career that help shape a better urban future for all this summer at Cornell.
The Department of City and Regional Planning offers summer courses online where students from all over the world can connect with scholars and planners to explore issues of justice and sustainability in cities and learn methods and techniques for urban data analysis and mapping.
Choose one or all of the courses offered to expand your understanding of the fascinating and dynamic world of planning.
It’s a fantastic time to be an urban scholar. We have an invitation to engage complex questions in big and small cities and towns, to draw on different disciplinary approaches and research techniques, and to face and engage both the crises and creativity that define cities around the world.
Sophie Oldfield, Professor and Chair of the Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University
Summer Program for High School Students
Explore urban issues, and engage with changing cities around the world.
The Just and Sustainable City (CRP 1111) and Maps, Mapping, and GIS (CRP 1112) are courses for high school students interested in exploring and addressing a range of critical issues that face and shape cities the world over. Courses are taught entirely online, connecting students from anywhere in the world to new peers with common interests and leading researchers who introduce students to questions and debates that shape our cities and communities.
Cornell’s summer program courses are credit-bearing, giving students a jump start on their college education. All students receive close instruction and are encouraged to thoughtfully engage in these exciting classes.
Application Deadlines
Applications open on January 12, 2026.
Past High School-Level Courses
Our summer offerings are offered virtually for high schoolers seeking a supportive, intensive introduction to key concepts and contemporary tools in planning.
CRP 1111
The Just and Sustainable City
June 23–August 1, 2025: This course introduces students to ideas and concepts that help explain the multi-faceted forces that shape cities, their growth, and urban life within them. Using a workshop format that includes brief lectures, readings and discussions, field trips, and a sequence of exercises, this class provides a comprehensive overview of basic methods and collaborative processes used in urban studies and planning. Students learn about issues related to urban sustainability and equity and explore ways to engage and act to make change and build better places.
CRP 11112
Maps, Mapping, and GIS
June 23–August 1, 2025: This course introduces students to maps as tools for understanding cities and their socioeconomic and environmental dynamics. Using tools such as GIS and other software, the course provides students with an understanding of mapmaking to engage, draw attention to, and address key urban issues through practice and research.
Summer Program for College Students
Explore new urban research methods. Expand your knowledge. Open possibilities.
College students worldwide have the opportunity to enroll in urban studies courses at Cornell. Leading researchers in the Department of City and Regional Planning teach courses for students from any background who are interested in both the wide-ranging challenges and opportunities facing cities around the world. Courses are taught entirely online, connecting students from anywhere in the world to new peers with common interests and faculty who introduce them to the current questions and debates that shape our cities and communities.
Registration Deadlines
Applications open on January 12, 2026.
Past College-level Courses
Urban studies classes for college students are taught entirely online and designed to introduce students to new concepts, tools, and the myriad ways of analyzing current urban conditions, challenges, and possible solutions.
CRP 1111
The Just and Sustainable City
June 23–August 1, 2025: This course introduces students to ideas and concepts that help explain the multi-faceted forces that shape cities, their growth, and urban life within them. Using a workshop format that includes brief lectures, readings and discussions, field trips, and a sequence of exercises, this class provides a comprehensive overview of basic methods and collaborative processes used in urban studies and planning. Students learn about issues related to urban sustainability and equity and explore ways to engage and act to make change and build better places.
CRP 11112
Maps, Mapping, and GIS
June 23–August 1, 2025: This course introduces students to maps as tools for understanding cities and their socioeconomic and environmental dynamics. Using tools such as GIS and other software, the course provides students with an understanding of mapmaking to engage, draw attention to, and address key urban issues through practice and research.
CRP 3850/5850
Special Topics: Introduction to Urban Big Data and Machine Learning
June 23–August 1, 2025: This course introduces students to a wide array of spatial data analytical techniques, including programming with Python and developing basic data skills to collect, manage, and visualize spatial information and integrate it into urban research. Topics may include exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA), spatial autocorrelation, and spatial regression, as well as clustering and classification using machine learning. Basic skills in GIS and Python are preferred but not required.
