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Department of City and Regional Planning

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City and Regional Planning

Department of City and Regional Planning

About the Department

The Department of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University provides a dynamic, rigorous, and supportive context to address the most urgent planning questions of our time.

Our faculty and students plan for a sustainable future through work on climate adaptation, sustainable transportation and infrastructure systems, affordable housing, economic development, and environmental justice. We challenge inequality by embedding justice and equity in plans, policies, and processes that shape governance and institutions. We transform the built environment through urban design, historic preservation, and reuse. We map, model, and analyze cities using GIS, urban data analytics, spatial and statistical analysis, qualitative methods, and storytelling. We engage communities through ethical and accountable collaborative partnerships and participatory research and teaching.

At CRP, the next generation of planners and urbanists are equipped to work across multiple scales, inspired by global practice, and make local impact to shape cities and regions, now and in the future.

  • A person points to drawings scattered on a set of stone stairs.
  • An old stone archway frames a group of people looking at a row of yellow buildings.
  • Pavement with a white stripe and an orange chain.
  • Aerial view of a park with a fountain and trees.
  • People gather to look outside of a building window, and the view is of the New York City skyline.
  • A person takes a photo of a wall of sticky notes.
  • Three people converse while two are seated and one stands.

Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico.

New York City.

New York City.

New York City.

It’s a fantastic time to be a planner and urban scholar. We have an invitation to think and work differently, to draw on interdisciplinary approaches to face and engage the crises and creativity that define cities across the world.

CRP Chair Sophie Oldfield

Our Approach

Group of people look at a mural on a brick wall that says
Global Practice, Local Impact
Two people look at a map on a table and the map has written notes on it.
Connecting Multiple Scales
People stand in a garden while looking at industrial building structures.
Justice, Equity, Sustainability
Two people put sticky notes on a wall.
Place-Based Collaborative Research

Degree Programs

CRP Faculty Collaborate with

  • 95

    Universities and Research Institutes Around the World

  • 80

    Non-profits and NGOs

  • 54

    Policymaking Agencies

  • 38

    Institutes and Programs Across Cornell

  • 31

    Cities and Municipalities

  • 12

    Companies

Upcoming and Ongoing Events

Latest News and Research

Stories US Communities Are Getting Older — And More Livable

An woman with short gray hair gazes thoughtfully out a window, resting her hands lightly on the windowsill as soft daylight illuminates her face.

CRP Professor Mildred Warner and Xue Zhang (M.S. RS '16, Ph.D. RS '19) lead a national analysis showing that US communities are becoming more age-friendly, with AARP-network localities achieving the greatest improvements in livability, transportation, and civic engagement as the nation's population grows older.

Stories New Cohorts of Engaged Fellows Contribute to Campus Community-Engaged Learning Network

students collaborate around a workshop table

Cornell AAP faculty Caitlin Blanchfield, John Ponstingel, and Hanna Tulis, and postdoctoral fellow Julian Hartman, were selected for the 2025–26 Engaged Faculty Fellows cohort, contributing to Cornell's campuswide network advancing community-engaged learning and scholarship.

In the Media Cities Made a Bet on Millennials — But Forgot One Key Thing

Vox — CRP Professor Mildred Warner argues that exclusionary zoning and political resistance have prevented cities from building family-friendly housing, driving millennials with children away and undermining urban stability.

In the Media Iran’s Capital Is Moving. The Reason Is an Ecological Catastrophe

Scientific American — CRP Associate Professor Linda Shi comments on the political motivations behind relocating Iran's capital, noting that Tehran's severe water shortages stem not only from drought but also from decades of mismanagement and land subsidence, which the government is now using to justify moving the capital to the Makran coast.

In the Media Ulysses Unveils First Community Park Draft Designs Following Public Survey

Tompkins Weekly — The Town of Ulysses unveiled two draft designs for a new 15-acre community park, developed with resident input and a Cornell Design Connect team featuring AAP students Reiley Cahill-Steeg (B.S. URS '28), Maple Shang (B.S. URS '29), Jonah Yarbrough (B.S. URS '28), Upasana Patgiri (M.R.P. '27), and Brandon Chen (B.Arch. '28).

In the Media The Promise of the Bronx River Parkway

The New York Times — CRP Professor Thomas J. Campanella examines the transformation of the Bronx River Parkway from a scenic early-20th-century drive into a prototype for modern highways, revealing how its design and legacy reflect broader histories of social exclusion, urban inequity, and the need to reimagine infrastructure as a vehicle for restorative justice.

Stories Cornell AAP to Launch First New York City-based High School Summer Program

A person presents an architectural model on a table while other people watch them.

Cornell AAP recently announced an opportunity for rising high school juniors and seniors to join City Visionaries, the newest addition to the Gensler Family AAP NYC Center's (AAP NYC) immersive slate of New York City-based programs.

In the Media Ithaca Cemetery Preserves History, Welcomes Halloween Visitors

Tompkins Weekly — Graduate students in the Department of City and Regional Planning apply their studies in historic preservation planning through hands-on work at the Ithaca City Cemetery.

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