Neighborhood Planning (Urban Planning)

The course focuses on concepts and issues that characterize community planning for neighborhoods and explores interdisciplinary approaches to neighborhood analysis and intervention.  The initiatives of community development corporations, city agencies, and the federal government are examined through lectures, readings, and guest speakers.  The central questions the course examines are: Why do neighborhoods experience prosperity and decline? Which approaches (e.g. economic development, urban design, social service delivery, housing rehabilitation, community organizing and empowerment) are likely to be most effective in revitalizing neighborhoods?  How do we assess existing approaches to neighborhood revitalization?  Emphasis is placed on discovering appropriate information sources, learning to ask relevant planning questions, and formulating program alternatives and recommendations.