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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.
  • People gather to look outside of a building window, and the view is of the New York City skyline.
  • Three people converse while two are seated and one stands.
  • A person takes a photo of a wall of sticky notes.
  • An old stone archway frames a group of people looking at a row of yellow buildings.

It’s an important time to be a planner and urban scholar. We have an imperative to think and work differently, to draw on interdisciplinary approaches, and to 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

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Latest News and Research

Latest News and Research

Stories How Two Alums Transformed the Landscape in NYC and Beyond

On the left: a book cover with a dark blue background. On the right: a smiling bald man with round glasses and a beard, wearing a purple button-down shirt and suit jacket, and a purple and orange striped bowtie.

An article in Cornellians highlights CRP Professor Thomas J. Campanella’s (M.L.A. ’91) latest book, Designing the American Century, which explores Cornell alums Gilmore Clarke (1913) and Michael Rapuano (1927) as the “unsung giants” of American landscape architecture.

In the Media As New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani Faces $7 Billion Budget Hole, Free Parking May Be History

CNBC — CRP Associate Professor Nicholas Klein weighs in on eliminating free parking to generate a revenue stream for New York City.

Paper Rights of Nature and the Need for Multi-Level Governance

An illustration of four pillars

A special issue in the Journal of Integrated Global STEM by CRP Professor Mildred Warner and Andrés Martínez-Moscoso presents cases where the courts and civil society have attempted to link ecological, social, and political approaches to environmental protection through a new, eco-centric paradigm of rights of nature.

Stories Alum Leads Urban Design Collective that Preserves Black Community

Woman standing in front of table showcasing books and sculptures.

Cornellians profiles Emma Osore (B.S. URS ’09) cofounder and executive director of BlackSpace, a collective of planners, architects, artists, and designers who work to protect, elevate, and create Black spaces.

Stories

Linda Shi headshot

Practice, Place, and Purpose: Preparing Future Planners for a Rapidly Changing World

CRP Associate Professor Linda Shi discusses the importance of planning careers and preparing students to work with communities to address common challenges, including climate change, aging populations, and growing inequity.

Announcements Explore Fall ’26 Classes for Non-Majors at AAP

multiple glass pillar sculptures on pedestal

Expand your disciplinary boundaries and enroll in courses that cultivate connection and catalyze actionable research. Options range from fundamentals to deep dives across architecture, art, city and regional planning, real estate, and design technology.

Announcements Cornell Atkinson Research Grants Support Future Sustainability Leaders

Gauri Nagpal (Ph.D. CRP ’31) is among the forty students awarded funding by the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability for their 2026 grant cycle.

Stories Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures Names 2026 Faculty Fellows

The Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures at Cornell University has named five faculty fellows from across three colleges to its inaugural cohort, including City and Regional Planning Assistant Professor Jocelyn Poe.

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.

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