About the Program

Urban Planning is a multi-disciplinary professional practice that focuses on the development of the built environment. Operating within a political environment, planners work to develop sustainable and equitable plans, programs, and policies that shape land use, housing, transportation, economic development, and the environment. The program emphasizes technical skill development as practiced in the real world, including courses in geographic information systems.

Evening study available.

About the Government, Planning, and Philosophy Department
Cassety Hall 202
1300 Elmwood Ave.
Buffalo, NY 14222
Phone: (716) 878-6116
gpp.buffalostate.edu

Learning Outcomes

Students will:
1. Appraise basic themes and theories in the planning field and the multidisciplinary aspects of the planning profession.
2. Defend ideas and information from prior planning practices and scholarship by their application in planning documents.
3. Explain the profession’s role in creating socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable and equitable communities.
4. Generate planning documents from maps, graphs, and other visual representations that analyze information by seeking patterns, relationships, and social connections.
5. Design and deliver clear and convincing written and oral presentations.

Program Requirements

General Education 23 Requirements
33 credit hours 33

Political Science Major Requirements (39 credit hours)

Required Courses (18 credit hours)
PSC 102 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN GOVT AND POLITICS
PLN 215 INTRODUCTION TO URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING
PLN 315 LAND USE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
PLN 325 MAPS AND MAPMAKING USING GIS
PLN 401 PLANS AND PLAN-MAKING

Select one capstone applied experience from below:
PLN 431 PLANNING PRACTICUM
oPLN 488 INTERNSHIP

Planning for Society Electives (9 credit hours)
Select three courses from below:
PHI 102 INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
PLN/GEG 309 URBAN GEOGRAPHY
PLN 341 HOUSING AND EQUITABLE URBANISM
PLN 350 PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES
PLN 380 NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
PHI 301 JUSTICE: LIBERTY VS. EQUALITY

Planning Analysis Electives (6 credit hours)
Select two courses from below:
PLN/GEG 405 URBAN ANALYSIS USING GIS
GEG 418 REMOTE SENSING
GEG 425 FUNDAMENTALS OF GIS
GEG 485 INTERACTIVE AND WEB-BASED MAPPING
SOC 240 ANALYZING SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Public Policy Electives (6 credit hours)
Select two courses from below:
PSC 215 URBAN GOVERNMENT
PSC 305 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
PSC 315 STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
PSC 415 URBAN PUBLIC POLICY

All College Electives
48-51 credit hours 48-51
Total Credit Hours 120