The Master of Science in Urban Planning and Policy (MUPP) program trains leaders interested in building just and sustainable solutions to today’s critical urban problems. Students in the program develop the theoretical and analytical tools to understand contemporary challenges of social and environmental injustice in cities and urban regions. They develop professional tools to work effectively in the realms of planning, policy, politics, and advocacy to impact urban challenges, including affordable housing provision, equitable and sustainable economic growth, sustainable transportation, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. This innovative program combines the expertise in urban planning and policy analysis data analytics of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs with expertise in physical planning, design, and data visualization at the School of Architecture. The core curriculum of the program provides students with a solid foundation in essential skills and concepts, including techniques of effective community engagement, research design and statistics, economic analysis, legal foundations of urban planning and policy, and the history of urban development and urban planning. Students also have the opportunity to develop substantial expertise in a specialization area, including urban analytics, urban sustainability and resilience, urban design and physical planning, and urban development policy and planning.
The optional cooperative education experience (co-op) is available to eligible students. Cooperative education is central to both the Northeastern experience and to the College of Social Sciences and Humanities experiential liberal arts framework. Northeastern’s signature co-op ecosystem provides qualified master's students with six-month work experiences in businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies in Boston and across the United States. Graduate students take their work from campus learning spaces, apply their knowledge outside of the classroom, and then bring knowledge and skills gained in community learning spaces back to our campus learning spaces during the cocurricular experiential integration course.
In addition to the co-op option, students in the MUPP program have opportunities to gain experience in the application of their knowledge and skills via internships, class projects, and a capstone research report. They graduate prepared for careers working for state and local government, federal agencies, community development corporations and other nonprofit organizations, research institutes, and as private-sector planning consultants.
Complete all courses and requirements listed below unless otherwise indicated.
Core Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Planning and Policy | ||
| LPSC 5201 | Law and the City | 4 |
| PPUA 6201 | The 21st-Century City: Urban Opportunities and Challenges in a Global Context | 4 |
| PPUA 6502 | Economic Analysis for Policy and Planning | 4 |
| SUEN 6340 | Topics in Urban Environmental Design | 4 |
| Research Design | ||
| INSH 6300 | Research Methods in the Social Sciences | 4 |
| Quantitative Techniques | ||
| Students in the urban analytics focus area are encouraged to take INSH 5301. | ||
| Choose one from the following: | 4 | |
| Introduction to Computational Statistics | ||
| Statistical Analysis | ||
Focus Areas
Complete one of the following focus areas:
- Urban Design and Physical Planning
- Urban Analytics
- Sustainability and Resilience
- Urban Development Policy and Planning
Urban Design and Physical Planning
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Gateway Course | ||
| ARCH 6340 | Graduate Topics in Architecture | 4 |
| Tracks | ||
| Complete one of the following tracks: | 8 | |
| Urban Design and Real Estate | ||
| Design Tactics and Operations | ||
| Innovative Models in Real Estate Development and Design | ||
| Physical Planning and Design for Sustainable Urbanism | ||
| Urban Ecologies and Technologies 1 | ||
| Urban Ecologies and Technologies 2 | ||
| Urban Experience Track | ||
| Information Visualization Principles and Practices and Information Design Critique Seminar | ||
| Design for Behavior and Experience | ||
| Capstone | ||
| SUEN 6120 | Graduate Studio 2: Sustainable Urban Systems | 6 |
Urban Analytics
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Gateway Course | ||
| PPUA 5262 | Big Data for Cities | 4 |
| Required Courses | ||
| ARTG 5150 and ARTG 5151 | Information Visualization Principles and Practices and Information Design Critique Seminar | 4 |
| PPUA 5263 | Geographic Information Systems for Urban and Regional Policy | 4 |
| Capstone | ||
| PPUA 7673 | Capstone in Public Policy and Urban Affairs | 4 |
Sustainability and Resilience
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Gateway Course | ||
| LPSC 7312 | Cities, Sustainability, and Climate Change | 4 |
| or SUEN 6310 | Cities, Nature, and Design in Contemporary History and Theory | |
| Methods | ||
| Complete one of the following: | 4 | |
| Dynamic Modeling for Environmental Decision Making | ||
| Geographic Information Systems for Urban and Regional Policy | ||
| Urban Ecologies and Technologies 1 | ||
| Capstone | ||
| PPUA 7673 | Capstone in Public Policy and Urban Affairs | 4 |
| Elective | ||
| Complete one of the following: | 4 | |
| Transportation Policy | ||
| Land Use and Urban Growth Policy | ||
| Climate Change and Global Urbanization | ||
| Sustainable Urban Coastal Policy | ||
| Ecological Economics | ||
| Dynamic Modeling for Environmental Decision Making | ||
| Graduate Studio 1: Sustainable Urban Sites | ||
| Graduate Studio 2: Sustainable Urban Systems | ||
| Implementation and Visualization for Urban Environments 2 | ||
| Cities, Nature, and Design in Contemporary History and Theory | ||
| Topics in Urban Environmental Design | ||
| Urban Ecologies and Technologies 1 | ||
| Urban Ecologies and Technologies 2 | ||
| Pro-Seminar: Issues in Designed Urban Environments | ||
Urban Development Policy and Planning
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Gateway Course | ||
| Complete one of the following: | 4 | |
| Housing Policy | ||
| Transportation Policy | ||
| Contemporary Community Development | ||
| Urban and Regional Policy in Developing Countries | ||
| Methods | ||
| PPUA 5263 | Geographic Information Systems for Urban and Regional Policy | 4 |
| or PPUA 5236 | Introduction to Real Estate Development for Urban Policy Makers | |
| Capstone | ||
| PPUA 7673 | Capstone in Public Policy and Urban Affairs | 4 |
| Elective | ||
| Complete one of the following: | 4 | |
| Housing Policy | ||
| Transportation Policy | ||
| Immigration and Urban America | ||
| Contemporary Community Development | ||
| Land Use and Urban Growth Policy | ||
| Introduction to Real Estate Development for Urban Policy Makers | ||
| Food Systems and Public Policy | ||
| Techniques of Policy Analysis | ||
| State and Local Public Finance | ||
| Nonprofit Organizations and Social Change | ||
| Graduate Studio 1: Sustainable Urban Sites | ||
| Graduate Studio 2: Sustainable Urban Systems | ||
| Topics in Urban Environmental Design | ||
Electives
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Complete two of the following: | 8 | |
| Design Tactics and Operations | ||
| Innovative Models in Real Estate Development and Design | ||
| Graduate Skills Studio | ||
| Seminar in Modern Architecture | ||
| Graduate Topics in Architecture | ||
| Information Design Studio 1: Principles | ||
| Research Methods for Design | ||
| Visual Communication for Information Design | ||
| Visualization Technologies 1: Fundamentals | ||
| Information Design Mapping Strategies | ||
| Collecting, Storing, and Retrieving Data | ||
| Introduction to Data Mining/Machine Learning | ||
| Information Design and Visual Analytics | ||
| Housing Policy | ||
| Transportation Policy | ||
| Immigration and Urban America | ||
| Contemporary Community Development | ||
| Land Use and Urban Growth Policy | ||
| Introduction to Real Estate Development for Urban Policy Makers | ||
| Climate Change and Global Urbanization | ||
| Education Policy in the United States | ||
| Sustainable Urban Coastal Policy | ||
| Ecological Economics | ||
| Dynamic Modeling for Environmental Decision Making | ||
| Geographic Information Systems for Urban and Regional Policy | ||
| Urban and Regional Policy in Developing Countries | ||
| Food Systems and Public Policy | ||
| Techniques of Policy Analysis | ||
| State and Local Public Finance | ||
| Nonprofit Organizations and Social Change | ||
| Advanced Spatial Analysis of Urban Systems | ||
| Graduate Studio 1: Sustainable Urban Sites | ||
| Graduate Studio 2: Sustainable Urban Systems | ||
| Implementation and Visualization for Urban Environments 1 | ||
| Implementation and Visualization for Urban Environments 2 | ||
| Cities, Nature, and Design in Contemporary History and Theory | ||
| Topics in Urban Environmental Design | ||
| Urban Ecologies and Technologies 1 | ||
| Urban Ecologies and Technologies 2 | ||
| Pro-Seminar: Issues in Designed Urban Environments | ||
Optional Co-op Experience
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Requires two consecutive semesters of Co-op Work Experience and Experiential Integration: | 2 | |
| Co-op Work Experience and Experiential Integration | ||
Program Credit/GPA Requirements
48 total semester hours required (50 with optional co-op)
Minimum 3.000 GPA required