Welcome

The Urban Studies and Planning Program at the University of Maryland is located in College Park, an ideal place to study city and regional planning. We are located within 30 minutes of the industrial city of Baltimore, the nation's capital of Washington, DC, and the state capital, historic Annapolis. We are also in close proximity to such well-known planned communities as Greenbelt, MD, Columbia, MD, and Reston, VA, along with several highly-regarded examples of the new urbanism such as Kentlands and King Farm (both in Maryland). Our location also contributes to the "hands-on" nature of our masters curriculum, which includes a community planning studio and in internship. Our interns can work in a diverse range of contexts, from international and national organizations, federal, state and local governments, private consulting firms and several innovative community-based organizations.

Our mission is to prepare planning practitioners who are generalists with a specialization. The curriculum emphasizes student understanding of the political, economic institutional and social context within which planners work with a diverse range of stakeholders to develop and implement plans, policies and programs. Specializations include housing and economic development, land use, growth management and environmental planning, urban design, transportation planning, international and regional development, and social planning, among others. Students can also customize their specializations. These areas reflect our 11 full time faculty members, who are nationally and internationally respected in their fields.

Our graduate students come from an array of undergraduate disciplines, including the social sciences, arts and humanities, and the physical sciences. Despite our different backgrounds, we share a commitment to analyze and address -- with creativity and rigor -- major issues facing metropolitan areas inside and outside the U.S. Our 48-credit hour curriculum can be completed in two years by full-time students, but we also have many students who work full-time in the Washington-Baltimore region and complete their degrees as part-time students.

Our program is housed in the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, which also supports graduate programs in Historic Preservation, Architecture and Real Estate Development, as well as a Ph.D. program in Urban and Regional Planning and Design. We are closely affiliated with the nationally-recognized Center for Smart Growth Research and Education. Our program's affiliations enable our students to take advantage of a rich interdisciplinary environment.

James Cohen
Director

Urban Studies and Planning News

• Planning Alumnus, Cathy Brown, Publishes Article in Urban Land Magazine

  Planning Alumnus, Cathy Brown, MCP '06, has published a feature article in the May issues of Urban Land, entitled Lithuania's Capital City Goes Modern.

• Planning Student, Lily Shoup, Wins APA Best Student Paper Award

  Lily Shoup, a first year Masters of Community Planning student, recently won an award from the American Planning Association's Transportation Planning Division for the best student paper of 2009.

• Two MCP Students Win APA's National Video Competition

  Master of Community Planning students Michael Lancaster and Catherine Walsh are the winners of the American Planning Association's "The Next 100 Years" student video competition.

• Collaborative Faculty/Student Urban Design Work Exhibited in Brooklyn

  The work of the Maryland Urban Research Studio will be exhibited in Brooklyn, NY, April 11–May 9, 2009. The exhibition will feature Ground Work/s, a project created by the studio in 2008.