Master of Urban Planning (MUP), Univesity of Louisville

The Department of Urban and Public Affairs offers a Master of Urban Planning (MUP) degree in cooperation with the Department of Geography and Geosciences. The MUP Program prepares students to work in a wide variety of fields, including land use and environmental planning, housing and community development, real estate development, parks and recreation planning, economic development, urban design, historic preservation, transportation planning, regional planning, and in the development of geographic information systems. With the continuing expansion of Louisville and the nation's other metropolitan areas, urban planning is one of the leading professional fields in terms of demand and job satisfaction, according to surveys by Jobs Rated Almanac and Encyclopedia of Careers and Vocational Guidance. The MUP program is fully accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board.

Students can specialize in one or two of four areas: land use and environmental planning; administration of planning organizations; spatial analysis for planning; and housing and community development. Students have the opportunity to benefit from working on real planning problems through the required internship and studio courses. Studio courses are taught at the Urban Design Studio (UDS), located in downtown Louisville and operated by the MUP Program.  The UDS serves as a classroom, meeting point, resource base, and exhibition space. Professors and practitioners cultivate various research endeavors throughout the year and periodically join forces on special issues. The UDS frequently holds planning and design charrettes and discussion forums that help increase the level of public involvement.  It is a wonderful asset and resource of the Department of Urban and Public Affairs.

The MUP degree requires 48 hours (two years of full-time study or the equivalent in part-time study), although up to 12 hours of relevant graduate course work may be transferred into the program. Students may enroll on a part-time or full-time basis.  A Master of Public Administration/Master of Urban Planning joint-degree, Master of Urban Planning/Juris Doctor joint-degree, and Master of Urban Planning/Master of Public Health joint-degree programs are available.

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more master programs:

Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP)-Portland State University

MSc in Spatial Planning- University of Dundee

International Master in Sustainable Urban Design in Lunds University, Sweden

M.A. in Town and Regional Planning the University of Liverpool

Master in Urban Planning (MUP) in Harvard University

The 10 Best Graduate Programs In Urban And Regional Planning

Urban Planning Master's Program in Rutgers University

Master of City Planning (MCP) in Boston University

The Master of City Planning (MCP) at Boston University’s Metropolitan College helps address these questions and, more importantly, prepares students for a wide variety of professional roles in planning for urban and regional development. City planners specialize in an array of complex sub-topics that include: land-use regulation; community and local economic development; infrastructure planning and budgeting; transportation planning; sustainable development; and urban design. The planning field is intensely political, dealing with core issues of resource distribution and the co-habitation of diverse communities. In this context, city planners are also called upon to be savvy mediators or advocates for an array of social, economic, and cultural issues. In addition, an acute sense of the public policy process is a hallmark trait of most city planners. The professional city planner frequently functions as a member of a multidisciplinary team and may be involved in such tasks as the analysis of policy alternatives, formulation of public investment programs, forecasting and monitoring urban and regional systems performance, development of joint programs among various public and private sector institutions, and plan design and implementation. 

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more master programs:

Urban Environmental Management in (M.Sc.) Wageningen University, The Netherlands

Research M.Sc. in Urban Studies, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Master's programme in Sustainable Urban Planning and Design in KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

Master of Architecture, Urban Design, University of Delhi, India

Master of Landscape Architecture, University of Texas, Arlington

Master of architecture, University of Sydney, Australia

Master of Urban Design Studies- University of Toronto

MODELLING AND PROSPECTS OF THE AUDIENCE MEASUREMENT FOR OUTDOOR ADVERTISING BASED ON DATA COLLECTION USING GPS DEVICES (ELECTRONIC PASSIVE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM)

by Prof. Martial Pasquier, Urs Hofmann, Felix H. Mende, Michael May, Dirk Hecker, and Christine Körner

The paper describes how to integrate audience measurement and site visibility as the main research approaches in outdoor advertising research in a single concept. Details are given about how GPS is used on a large scale in Switzerland for mobility analysis and audience measurement. Furthermore, the development of a software solution that allows the integration of all mobility data and poster location information is introduced. Finally a model and its results are presented for the calculation of individual poster campaign coverage and for the calculation of the number of contacts generated by each billboard.

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more about travel behavior:

The Causal Influence of Neighborhood Design on Physical Activity Within the Neighborhood: Evidence from Northern CaHfornia

Modelling Perceived Accessibility to Urban Amenities Using Fuzzy Logic, Transportation GIS and Origin-Destination Surveys

The Effects of Teleshopping on Travel Behavior and Urban Form

The impacts of telecommunication technologies on travel behavior

The characteristics, causes and costs of urban sprawl: a lecture by Reid Ewing

Dynamic GPS-position correction for mobile pedestrian navigation and orientation

GPS in pedestrian and spatial behaviour surveys

QUALITATIVE METHODS IN TRAVEL BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH

QUALITATIVE METHODS IN TRAVEL BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH

By Kelly J. Clifton and Susan L. Handy

This purpose of this paper is to both demonstrate the importance of qualitative methods in travel behaviour research and explore the challenges researchers face in employing them. Qualitative methods offer a powerful tool for helping us understand the complexities of travel behavior. Methods such as focus groups, interviews, and participant-observer techniques can be used in conjunction with quantitative approaches or on their own to fill the gaps left by quantitative techniques. Some of the most interesting research in travel behaviour in recent years has made use of qualitative methods of one sort or another. This paper provides an overview of the types of tudies being done and some of the important results being generated. These studies have produced important new insights into travel behaviour that increase our ability to understand and address transportation problems. But doing qualitative research well is more challenging than transportation researchers might think. The nature of qualitative research raises several issues concerning theoretical frameworks, data collection, management, and analysis. While these issues are also pertinent to quantitative research, qualitative research has been criticized for lack of scientific rigor and the threat of subjective interpretation. Increasing the quantity and quality of qualitative research in transportation requires two things, an increase in the acceptance and appreciation of these techniques, and an increase in training in their use among travel behaviour researchers. Recognition of what qualitative research has contributed to the field so far is a starting point. We believe that without more widespread use of qualitative techniques in travel behaviour research, we will make little meaningful progress towards improving our fundamental understanding of travel behaviour.

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more about travel behavior research:

Dynamic GPS-position correction for mobile pedestrian navigation and orientation

GPS in pedestrian and spatial behaviour surveys

Lecture on sampling methods by Prof. Murtaza Haider

Opportunities for transport mode change: an exploration of a disaggregated approach

The Impact of Bicycling Facilities on Commute Mode Share

Travel mode choice: affected by objective or subjective determinants?

Measuring Perceived Accessibility to Urban Green Space: An Integration of GIS and Participatory Map

Journey-to-Work Patterns in the Age of Sprawl: Evidence from Two Midsize Southern Metropolitan Areas

Reduction of CO2 emissions of transport by reorganisation of urban activities

Skyline photos of Jakarta, Indonesia

more skyline photos:

Skyline photos of Edmonton, Canada

Skyline photos of Birmingham, Alabama

Skyline photos of Portland, Oregon (3)

Skyline photos of Sacramento, California

Skyline photos of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1)

Skyline photos of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1)

Skyline photos of Prague, Czech Republic (1)

Skyline photos of Montreal 1

Skyline photos of Manchester 1

Call for papers: Global climate change, biodiversity and sustainability: challenged and opportunity, April 15-18, 2013, Egypt

Presented by the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (conference host), the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, and the University of Prince Edward Island, this international conference will examine the challenges and opportunities for integrating the three issues of global climate change, biodiversity and sustainability. The conference will provide a collection of keynote speakers, paper and poster sessions, training opportunities, discussion workshops, as well as study tours.

Join leading academics, Nobel laureates, and environment practitioners April 15 to 18, 2013to explore the challenges and opportunities faced by our World.

Global Climate Change – Thousands of scientists, as part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), have concluded that the future will be a warmer and wetter world. And as Michael Oppenheimer, a Princeton University climate scientist says, “A hotter, moister atmosphere is an atmosphere primed to trigger disasters. As the world gets hotter, the risks get higher.” The risks include more intense and longer droughts; hot days become even hotter and occur more often; heavy precipitation will occur more often; wind speed of tropical cyclones will increase; and mean sea level rise will contribute to upward trends in extreme coastal high water levels.

Biodiversity – According to the most recent Global Biodiversity Outlook, the state of biodiversity continues to decline despite an increase in conservation efforts, largely because the pressures on biodiversity continue to increase. Biodiversity underpins a wide range of services to humans that support economies, food production systems and secure living conditions. The loss of biodiversity (at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels) also affects human health in many ways. Directly, medicinal plants face a high risk of extinction in those parts of the world where people are most dependent on them for health care and income from wild collection – namely Africa, Asia, the Pacific and South America. Plant and animal species in all groups are presently threatened with extinction.

Sustainability – Coming 20 years following the seminal UN Conference on Environment and Development, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development concluded by stating that the World needs to move towards achieving sustainable development. This is to be accomplished by promoting sustained, inclusive and equitable economic growth; creating greater opportunities for all; reducing inequalities; raising basic standards of living; and fostering equitable social development and inclusion. Most importantly, the World needs to promote integrated and sustainable management of natural resources and ecosystems that support economic, social and human development while  facilitating ecosystem conservation, regeneration and restoration and resilience in the face of new and emerging challenges.

Global Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunities - An international conference focused on the Arab MENA region and EuroMed

Location: Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport in Abu Qir, Alexandria

Dates: April 15-18, 2013.

We are seeking innovative contributions to share results and information from researchers, industry representatives and managers of climate change, biodiversity, and sustainability activities under the following topics:

• Risk Management
• Water Availability
• Our Changing Climate
• Urban Planning for Resilience
• Biodiversity
• Sustainable Tourism
• Coastal Erosion
• Food Security
• Adaptation to Climate Change
• Renewable Energy (wind, solar, wave, biomass)
• Integrated Coastal Zone Management
• Eco-housing
• Human Health
• Climate Economics and Finance
• Disaster Management
• Agriculture
• Environmental Refugees
• Other

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more about the Middle East:

The impact of modernization on traditional Iranian cities the case of Kerman

THE IDENTITY OF OPEN SPACE: ADAPTING FROM THE MODEL OF TRADITIONAL NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER

TRADITIONAL SHOPPING: A Syntactic Comparison of Commercial Spaces in Iran and Turkey

A new approach to the Iranian urban planning, using neo-traditional development

URBAN SPRAWL IN IRANIAN CITIES AND ITS DIFFERENCES WITH THE WESTERN SPRAWL

MESSAGE FROM TRADITIONAL SETTLEMENTS FOR FUTURE CITIES

GATED COMMUNITIES: PHYSICAL CONSTRUCTION OR SOCIAL DESTRUCTION TOOL?

Good Governance, (as promoting in decision-making process) and its influence on urban strategic plans