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All NYC Planning Schools Virtual Open House, Fall 2024

Collage of urban studies focused images
Anson Wigner / AAP and Matt Meyer / Pratt Institute

Admissions

Overview

Are You Passionate About Making Cities More Livable, Equitable, and Sustainable? Attend the All NYC Planning Schools Virtual Open House!

New York City can become your classroom! Join us for an open house bringing together all eight planning programs in the New York City region. Get inspired by alums working in the field, and hear from program directors about what makes their programs unique. Start your search here, then attend a future information session for your best fit.

Are you passionate about making cities more livable, equitable, and sustainable? Do you want to create healthy spaces for people of all generations and backgrounds? Do you want to help decarbonize cities and help them adapt to a changing climate? Are you concerned about congestion, gentrification, displacement, and the lack of affordable housing?

Consider a field that starts with people and unites policy, design, economics, environment, and society: Urban Planning! Planning students learn how and why cities function, strategies to transform cities, and skills like design software, economic modeling, and facilitation. Develop your career in government, the private sector, or with non-government agencies helping communities in the U.S. or abroad.

Confirm your attendance via the registration section of this page. See you soon!

Agenda

Wednesday, October 30, 2024, 7 to 8:30 p.m. ET

7 p.m. | Welcome & Introductions

We’ll kick off the session with an introduction to the second annual All NYC Planning Schools Open House.

7:05 p.m. | Alumni Panel: Why a Career in Planning? 

Four distinguished practitioners who have dedicated their lives to shaping cities from different approaches will share their thoughts on why they went to planning grad school, how it’s different from other fields, and what a career in planning has allowed them to do. 

  • Charley Cohen – Senior Accessibility Officer, Metropolitan Transportation Authority
  • Annette Massari – Project Manager, Tacoma Housing Authority 
  • Paul Lozito – President, American Planning Association Metro New York
  • TBA

7:35 p.m. | Snapshots of NYC Planning Schools

Faculty from eight different planning and urban design programs in the New York region share what makes their programs unique. 

8:30 p.m. | Thank you & Session Concludes

Participating Programs

There are many planning schools to pick from, including eight in the New York City region alone. We’ve made it easier for you by compiling a cheat sheet of the key features of these NYC-area schools.

City College of New York

Program Name:

  • Master of Urban Planning in Urban Design

Degree Conferred:

  • Master of Urban Planning

Location(s) & Study Abroad Opportunities:

  • New York, NY (Harlem)

Program Length:

  • 45 credits (1.5 years full-time)

Timing:

  • 3-4 days per week on campus, primarily daytime hours

Cohort Size:

  • 8–12 students

Faculty:

  • Within the Architecture Department, which has 25 full-time and 70 adjunct faculty
  • About six faculty teach in the Urban Design program each semester

Areas of Expertise / Concentration:

  • Urban Design towards social and environmental justice
  • Urban environmental, social, and technological systems
  • Space and alternate governance
  • Participatory urbanism

Communities Worked With:

  • Local communities in NYC and internationally in the Global North and South
  • Collaborations include NYC DDC, Sanitation Departments, Buenos Aires Urban Anthropology and Planning Office
  • Spring studio often includes a study trip to a distant urban site

Required Classes / Studios:

  • Urban Design Lab and Seminar (3 semesters)
  • Prescribed courses in Urban Histories and Theories, Urban Ecologies and Technologies, Socially Situated Practices
  • Elective options

More info & register: City College of New York Info Session

Columbia GSAPP

Program Name:

  • Master of Science in Urban Planning

Degree Conferred:

  • Master of Science in Urban Planning
  • Dual degrees available (Architecture, Historic Preservation, Real Estate Development, and others)

Location & Study Opportunities:

  • NYC campus
  • Urban Planning Studio projects domestically and internationally
  • GSAPP-wide summer workshops

Program Length:

  • 2 years

Timing:

  • Full-time, in-person and part-time options for those with 2+ years of experience

Cohort Size:

  • 50–60 students

Faculty:

  • 6 full-time, 40–45 part-time faculty

Areas of Concentration:

  • Built Environment
  • Climate Adaptation and Social Justice
  • Community and Economic Development
  • International Planning and Development
  • Urban Analytics

Communities Worked With:

  • NYC Department of City Planning, Buro Happold, HR&A Advisors, NYC agencies, international partners in China, India, Africa, etc.

Required Classes / Studios:

  • 27 points: History and Theory, GIS, Planning Methods, Economics, Law, Studio, Thesis/Capstone

More info & register: Columbia GSAPP Info Session

Cornell CRP

Program Name:

  • Master of Regional Planning (M.R.P.)

Additional Degrees:

  • Master of Arts in Historic Preservation Planning
  • MPS in Real Estate
  • Graduate Degrees in Regional Science

Location & Study Abroad:

  • Ithaca, NY
  • Semester options in NYC and Rome

Program Length:

  • 2 years

Timing:

  • Full-time, daytime courses

Cohort Size:

  • 40–60 students

Faculty:

  • 20 faculty members

Areas of Expertise / Concentration:

  • Climate adaptation, infrastructure, environmental justice
  • Governance, city histories, urban data analytics
  • International studies, participatory planning, policy-making

Communities Worked With:

  • NYC, Upstate NY, Chicago, LA, international cities including Shanghai, Addis Ababa, Cape Town

Required Classes / Studios:

  • Intro to Planning, Urban Theory, Methods, internship, exit project, electives in planning or related fields

More info & register: Cornell CRP Info Session

Hunter College

Program Name:

  • Master of Urban Planning (Department of Urban Policy and Planning)

Degree Conferred:

  • Master of Urban Planning

Location & Study Abroad:

  • NYC, Upper East Side, near 68th Street/Hunter Subway

Program Length:

  • 2 years full-time

Timing:

  • In-person, courses after 5:30 pm, Monday-Thursday, some courses at other CUNY campuses

Cohort Size:

  • 50–60 students

Faculty:

  • 13 faculty members

Areas of Expertise / Concentration:

  • Economic Development
  • Community Planning & Advocacy
  • Housing & Built Environment
  • Transportation & Infrastructure
  • Climate Change & Urban Environmental Futures
  • General Practice

Communities Worked With:

  • NYC and regional projects including Brooklyn Department of City Planning, NYC DOT, Towns of Mount Vernon and New Rochelle, Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn neighborhoods, and others

Required Classes / Studios:

  • 18 credits in Core Courses (Intro to Planning, GIS, Data Analysis)
  • 12 credits in Concentration
  • 12 credits Electives
  • 6 credits in Studio

More info & register: Hunter College Open House

NYU Wagner

Program Name:

  • Master of Urban Planning

Degree Conferred:

  • Master of Urban Planning with specializations in City & Community Planning or International Planning and Development

Location & Study Opportunities:

  • NYC (Global Field Intensives available)

Program Length:

  • 45 credits (2 years full-time, up to 5 years part-time)

Timing:

  • Full-time or part-time options
  • Classes mainly in late afternoons/evenings, some virtual core classes

Cohort Size:

  • 40–50 students

Faculty:

  • 11 faculty members

Areas of Expertise / Concentration:

  • City & Community Planning
  • International Development Planning
  • Data Science & Management
  • Environment & Climate Change
  • Health Policy, Inequality, Race & Poverty
  • International Development, Nonprofits, Philanthropy

Communities Worked With:

  • NYC, tristate area, international cities including Berlin, Seoul, Istanbul, Lagos
  • Collaborations with EPA, DHS, NSF, NYDOT, and others

Required Classes / Studios:

  • 5 core classes (Statistics, Microeconomics, Management, Financial Management, Planning Methods, History & Theory)
  • 3 specialization courses + electives
  • 8-week internship
  • Year-long Capstone project

More info & register: NYU Wagner Info Session

The New School

Program Name:

  • Design and Urban Ecologies (School of Design Strategies)

Degree Conferred:

  • Master of Science

Location & Study Abroad:

  • NYC, with optional Global Intensive Studios in Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen, New Delhi, Rio, Venice, Medellin

Program Length:

  • 2 years, 60 credits

Timing:

  • Full-time, in-person during the day

Cohort Size:

  • 12–17 students

Faculty:

  • 6 full-time, 20+ part-time faculty

Areas of Expertise / Concentration:

  • Urban & Community Planning
  • Community Advocacy & Organizing
  • Housing Policy & Development
  • Non-speculative Housing Models
  • Neighborhood Restructuring
  • Urban Mobilities
  • Political Ecology
  • Social Justice & Urban Design
  • Spatial Analysis & Visualization

Communities Worked With:

  • Community-based organizations, grassroots groups, NYC agencies, international hubs in Hong Kong, Rio, Medellin, Venice, etc.

Required Classes / Studios:

  • Urban Methods, Urban Studio, Urban Colloquium, Urban Theory & History Labs, Thesis Studio, electives for minors or customized paths

Pratt Institute

Program Name:

  • Urban and Community Planning

Degree Conferred:

  • Master of Science

Location:

  • Brooklyn, NY

Program Length:

  • 2 years, 50 credits

Timing:

  • Full-time or part-time, evening classes (2-3 nights/week, in person)

Cohort Size:

  • 16 students

Faculty:

  • 6 faculty members

Areas of Expertise / Concentration:

  • Community Development
  • Heritage & Cultural Conservation
  • Environmental & Climate Justice
  • Urban Placemaking & Management
  • Land Use Planning
  • Urban Design
  • Possible advanced certificates in related fields

Communities Worked With:

  • Neighborhoods across NYC, Newark, NJ, Havana, Tokyo, Rio, and others in Cuba, Japan, Brazil, and Mexico

Required Classes / Studios:

  • Up to 36 credits including skills, methods, history, law, research design, studios, thesis, and electives

Additional Events

Participating Institutions’ Fall Information Sessions & Open Houses

If you want to learn more about any of these schools, you can attend their fall 2024 information sessions and open houses. Click on the links below to find out more information and sign up to receive information about their schools.

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