City and Regional Planning

Field Description

City and regional planning (M.R.P., Ph.D.). Students learn to design, evaluate, and implement policies and programs that affect the social, economic, and physical development of urban and regional areas, including those in the Developing World.

The educational program fosters theoretical and conceptual knowledge relevant to urban and regional studies, and the acquisition of professional skills, including those in critical thinking, oral presentation, writing, statistical analysis and Geographical Information Systems.

The M.R.P. program normally requires four residence units, sixty credits, a set of core courses, and the completion of a satisfactory thesis, professional report, or research paper. At the discretion of the faculty, up to one residence unit and 15 credits may be granted, by petition after matriculation, for graduate work done elsewhere, including Cornell-supervised professional field experience. Doctoral degree candidates often begin in Cornell's Master of Regional Planning program; applications are also welcomed from outside the university.

Historic preservation planning (M.A.).
This program prepares students for work in the history and preservation of buildings in a variety of urban and rural contexts. Two years of course work normally are needed. Students are required to complete sixty credits, including a six-credit thesis. A basic core of three preservation courses and two semesters of course work in American architectural history is also required; if not satisfied by prior undergraduate work, it should be completed in the first year at Cornell. Students are strongly encouraged to seek summer employment in the field.

Contact Information

Website: https://aap.cornell.edu/admissions/graduate/city-and-regional-planning
Email: crp_admissions@cornell.edu
Phone: 607 255-4376

235 Sibley Dome
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-6701

Data and Statistics

• Professional Master's Program Statistics
• Research Master's Program Statistics
• Doctoral Program Statistics

Field Manual

• Manual

Subject and Degrees

City and Regional Planning

• City and Regional Planning (M.R.P.) (Ithaca)
• City and Regional Planning (M.R.P./M.L.A. (dual degree)) (Ithaca)
• City and Regional Planning (Ph.D.) (Ithaca)

Historic Preservation Planning

• Historic Preservation Planning (M.A.) (Ithaca)

Concentrations by Subject

City and Regional Planning

• designing the city (M.R.P. only)
• economic development planning: communities and regions (M.R.P. only)
• international studies in planning (M.R.P. only)
• land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)

Historic Preservation Planning

• historic preservation planning

Faculty

Victoria Beard

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: economic development planning: communities and regions (M.R.P. only); international studies in planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: International development planning, comparative urbanization, community development, poverty alleviation, community-level collective action, social movements, migration and transnational processes, Southeast Asian Studies.

Lourdes Beneria

• Campus: Ithaca - (Graduate School Professor)
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: economic development planning: communities and regions (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: labor markets; gender and work; regional and international development; global restructuring

Richard S Booth

• Campus: Ithaca - (Graduate School Professor)
• Concentrations: Historic Preservation Planning: historic preservation planning; City and Regional Planning: land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: land-use law; environmental planning; environmental politics; environmental law; critical-area preservation; administrative law

Sara Cecilia Bronin

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: Adaptive reuse; Cities; Community-based planning and development; Historic preservation planning; Housing; Infrastructure planning; Land use/spatial planning; Real estate development; Sustainability; Transportation planning; Urbanism

Nancy Brooks

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: economic development planning: communities and regions (M.R.P. only); land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: urban and environmental economics

Thomas J. Campanella

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: History of American Urbanism and City Planning, Cultural Landscape Studies, Contemporary Urbanism in China, History and Theory of Urban Design

John Carruthers

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: economic development planning: communities and regions (M.R.P. only); land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: urban and regional economics, sustainable urban development, environmental quality of life, economic geography, geospatial and econometric analysis

Suzanne Lanyi Charles

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: designing the city (M.R.P. only); economic development planning: communities and regions (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: Residential Redevelopment, Neighborhood Change, Gentrification, Suburban development/redevelopment.

Jeffrey M. Chusid

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Historic Preservation Planning: historic preservation planning; City and Regional Planning: international studies in planning (M.R.P. only); land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: historic preservation planning; land use; environmental planning; international studies in planning

Pierre Clavel

• Campus: Ithaca - (Graduate School Professor)
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: economic development planning: communities and regions (M.R.P. only); land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: city administration; politics; local economic development

Timur Kamil Dogan

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: computational design, sustainability, simulation

Kieran P. Donaghy

• Campus: Ithaca - (Graduate School Professor)
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: economic development planning: communities and regions (M.R.P. only); land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: applied econometrics; dynamic modeling; planning theory; applied ethics; urban and regional economics

Ding Fei

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: designing the city (M.R.P. only); economic development planning: communities and regions (M.R.P. only); international studies in planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: Cities, Economic development, Infrastructure, Infrastructure planning, International studies in planning, Social policy, Urbanism

John Francis Forester

• Campus: Ithaca - (Graduate School Professor)
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: planning practice and politics; ethics; critical social theory; negotiation and public dispute resolution

George R. Frantz

• Campus: Ithaca - (Minor Member)
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: international studies in planning (M.R.P. only); land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: agricultural land; open space protection; environmental sustainability; urban planning

Mitchell J Glass

• Campus: Ithaca - (Divisional Member)
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: designing the city (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: Revitalization, social/racial/environmental justice, and stakeholder engagement within upstate NY and rust-belt cities and neighborhoods

Richard C. Kiely

• Campus: Ithaca - (Divisional Member)
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: economic development planning: communities and regions (M.R.P. only); international studies in planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: community development; participatory planning and research; qualitative research; domestic and global service learning; community-university partnerships

Nicholas Klein

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: economic development planning: communities and regions (M.R.P. only); land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: transportation planning and policy; social and economic mobility

Neema Kudva

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: economic development planning: communities and regions (M.R.P. only); international studies in planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: land use and environmental planning; economic development planning; international studies in planning

Yael M. Levitte

• Campus: Ithaca - (Divisional Member)
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: economic development planning: communities and regions (M.R.P. only); land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: local and regional economic development policy, sustainable development (transportation emphasis)

David B Lewis

• Campus: Ithaca - (Graduate School Professor)
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: economic development planning: communities and regions (M.R.P. only); international studies in planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: planning analysis; rural development; regional planning and administrative decentralization in developing countries

Janet Elizabeth Loebach

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: designing the city (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: Children's and youth's relationships with the natural and built environment, design for diversity, research-informed design and planning

Jennifer S. Minner

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: economic development planning: communities and regions (M.R.P. only); land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: Land Use Planning, Participatory and Analytical Geographic Information Systems, Conservation and Sustainability Adaption of the Built Environment, Historic Preservation

Sophie Oldfield

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: international studies in planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: Urban studies, global southern cities, urban theory, collaborative research, urban politics, urban mobilities, community organizing, social movements

Porus D Olpadwala

• Campus: Ithaca - (Graduate School Professor)
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: economic development planning: communities and regions (M.R.P. only); international studies in planning (M.R.P. only); land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: political economy; technology development and transfer; international planning; environment and development

Jocelyn S Poe

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: designing the city (M.R.P. only); economic development planning: communities and regions (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: Collaborative Practice, Community-based Planning and Development, Participatory and Collaborative Planning, Planning History, Social Justice and Equity

Stephan J. Schmidt

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: international studies in planning (M.R.P. only); land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: land use and environmental planning; city and regional planning; international studies in planning

Linda Shi

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: international studies in planning (M.R.P. only); land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: environmental and metropolitan regional planning; climate change adaption; environment equity and justice, international development; water and sanitation

Michael Andrew Tomlan

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Historic Preservation Planning: historic preservation planning; City and Regional Planning: international studies in planning (M.R.P. only); land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: building conservation technology; survey and documentation methods for preservation; preservation economics and finance; urban history

Mildred Elaine Warner

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: economic development planning: communities and regions (M.R.P. only); international studies in planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: community development; economic development; state and local government policy

Wenfei Xu

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: City and Regional Planning: designing the city (M.R.P. only); land use and environmental planning (M.R.P. only)
• Research Interests: Housing, Planning History, Mapping, Neighborhood Change, Segregation, Urban Data Science