Introduction to City Planning

Catalog description

Cities are complex networks of transportation, housing, economic activity, social systems, infrastructure systems, natural features, and more. This course describes these networks and provides a broad introduction to cities and to the field of urban planning. Students explore the factors that have shaped the city, those that support the modern metropolis, and ideas that are inspiring the cities of the future. Students also analyze urban systems critically and become more informed consumers of their urban environment. The course draws on examples of innovative city planning in Ohio and throughout the world with a particular emphasis on communities seeking to craft livable and sustainable places. Students complete five field-based assignments that require them to assess some aspect of the community: hometown analysis, housing assessment, comparative transportation modes, park observation, water system analysis, and historic district assessment. Students must collect data, make inferences from their observations, and back up their conclusions about the systems with logical arguments.