Undergraduate Course Offerings in Urban Planning
120. Introduction to Cities and Planning. (4)
(Formerly numbered 191.)
Lecture, three hours. Survey of urban history and evolution in the
U.S., urban social theory, current growth trends, system of cities,
urban economy and economic restructuring, traditional and alternative
location theories, urban transportation, and residential location and
segregation. P/NP or letter grading.
121. Urban Policy and Planning. (4)
(Formerly numbered 192.)
Lecture, three hours. Examination of current urban planning and policy
issues and debates, such as normative theories of good urban form,
metropolitan organization and governance, economic development and
growth management, edge cities, spatial mismatch hypothesis, urban
poverty, racial/ethnic inequality, gender and urban structure,
sustainability, and future of cities. P/NP or letter grading.
M122. Policy, Planning, and Community. (4)
(Formerly numbered M195.)
(Same as Asian American Studies M108.) Lecture, three hours; field
laboratory. Project-oriented methods course on conducting needs
assessment in Asian American communities. Geographic information
systems to be used to define problems and needs. Letter grading.
129. Special Topics in Urban Policy and Research. (4)
(Formerly numbered 193.)
Lecture, three hours. Examination of particular planning/policy
subfield (e.g., economic development, environmental planning, housing
and community development, international planning and development, land
use, or urban design) in some depth. Specific topic area rotates
depending on instructor. May be repeated for credit with topic change.
P/NP or letter grading.
130. Fundamentals of Urban and Regional Economics. (4)
Lecture, three hours.
Preparation: one introduction to microeconomics course. Most U.S.
population lives and works in urbanized areas, and world's population is
becoming more urbanized with each passing decade. National, state, and
local governments are engaged in managing, planning, policy-making,
and governance in urban context. Ultimate efficacy of those public
activities can be enhanced by understanding of economic forces acting
on urban areas. Basic concepts related to location choice,
agglomeration effects, economies of scale, and specialization by cities
and transportation. P/NP or letter grading.
C133. Political Economy of Urbanization. (4)
Lecture, three hours.
Introduction to new approaches to urban studies, basic concepts and
analytical approaches of urban political economy, with major emphasis
on American urban problems and restructuring of modern metropolis.
Topics include historical geography of urbanization, development and
transformation of urban spatial structure, suburbanization and
metropolitan political fragmentation, urban fiscal crisis, and role of
urban social movements. Concurrently scheduled with course C233. P/NP
or letter grading.
CM137. Southern California Regional Economy. (4)
(Formerly numbered CM196.)
(Same as Labor and Workplace Studies M180.) Lecture, three hours.
Introduction to regional economy, with emphasis on Los Angeles. Key
economic sectors, labor market composition, and review of conflicting
portrayals depicting dynamics of region. Two all-day bus tours of key
economic regions and guest lectures by regional experts included.
Concurrently scheduled with course C237C. Letter grading.
M140. Issues in Latina/Latino Poverty. (4)
(Formerly numbered M121.)
(Same as Chicana and Chicano Studies M121.) Lecture, three hours.
Examination of nature and extent of urban and rural poverty confronting
Latina/Latino population in the U.S. Special emphasis on antipoverty
policies of government and nonprofit organizations and social planning
and economic development strategies. Attention also to literature on
the underclass. Letter grading.
141. Planning for Minority Communities. (4)
(Formerly numbered 187.)
Lecture, three hours. Introduction to inner-city policy issues on three
separate levels: (1) each student develops comprehensive inner-city
urban program using materials from Alternatives Inner-City Future
Exercise, (2) each student is expected to identify value assumptions
and theories of social justice implicit or explicit in alternative
intervention programs, and (3) each student is expected to participate
in class discussions that emphasize minority issues which affect
implementation. P/NP or letter grading.
M150. Transportation Geography. (4)
(Formerly numbered M149.)
(Same as Geography M149.) Lecture, three hours. Designed for
juniors/seniors. Study of geographical aspects of transportation, with
focus on characteristics and functions of various modes and on
complexities of intra-urban transport. P/NP or letter grading.
CM160. Environmental Politics and Governance. (4)
(Same as Environment M164.)
Lecture, three hours. Environmental planning is more than simply
finding problems and fixing them. Each policy must be negotiated and
implemented within multiple, complex systems of governance.
Institutions and politics matter deeply. Overview of how environmental
governance works in practice and how it might be improved. Concurrently
scheduled with course C260. Letter grading.
M161. Environmental Policies and Politics. (4)
(Same as Environment M168.)
Lecture, four hours. Exploration of origins of major environmental
laws, how they have evolved over past two decades, and how they have
been implemented, with particular focus on California. Rise of
environmental movement and its importance in shaping climate for
passage of these laws in response to growing understanding of effects of
industrial pollution and urbanization, and subsequent rise of
environmental justice movement and its influence on legislation. Letter
grading.
M162. Land Use and Development. (4)
(Same as Environment M162.)
Lecture, four hours. Examination of institutional and historical
evolution of land use in the U.S. Comparison and contrasting of how
cities have evolved in different parts of the U.S. and some recent
trends in urbanization. Relationship of state-level land use policies
and politics and ways in which localities plan. Environmental, social,
and equity aspects of different patterns of urbanization and likely
trends into future. Letter grading.
CM165. Environmentalism: Past, Present, and Future. (4 to 6)
(Formerly numbered CM189.)
(Same as Environment M132 and Geography M115.) Lecture, three hours;
optional field study, five to 10 hours. Exploration of history,
politics, and theories of environmental movements, dynamics of race,
class, and gender in relation to environmental agendas, and potential
role of environmentalism in reshaping our society. Concurrently
scheduled with course C265. Letter grading.
CM166. Global Environment and Development: Problems and Issues. (4)
(Formerly numbered CM128.)
(Same as Geography M128.) Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour.
Requisite: Geography 5. Designed for juniors/seniors. Questions of
population, resource use, Third World poverty, and environment.
Analysis of global economic restructuring and its connections to
changing organization of production and resulting environmental
impacts. Examination of emergent local and regional coalitions for
self-reliance and sustainable development. Case studies from Africa,
Latin America, Asia, and the U.S. Concurrently scheduled with course
C266. P/NP or letter grading.
M170. Human Environment: Introduction to Architecture and Urban Planning. (4)
(Formerly numbered M190.)
(Same as Architecture and Urban Design M170.) Lecture, three hours;
outside study, nine hours. Kinds of problems that arise in creating and
maintaining environment for urban activities, and approaches and
methods of architecture and urban planning in helping to cope with such
problems. Complexities involved in giving expression to human needs
and desires in provision of shelters and movement systems, to
possibilities and limitations of technology and building forms, and to
issues involved in relating human-made to natural environment. Students
encouraged to comprehend major urban issues both as citizens and as
potential technical experts. P/NP or letter grading.
M171. Planning Issues in Latina/Latino Communities. (4)
(Formerly numbered M122.)
(Same as Chicana and Chicano Studies M122.) Lecture, three hours.
Exploration of socioeconomic, demographic, and political forces that
shape low-income communities and analyses of planning intervention
strategies. Emphasis on community and economic development and
environmental equity. Letter grading.
M175. Women and the City. (4)
(Formerly numbered M194.)
(Same as Women's Studies M175.) Lecture, three hours. Limited to
juniors/seniors. Examination of relationship between women and cities:
(1) how cities have affected women's opportunities for economic and
social equality, (2) women's contributions to development of U.S.
cities, and (3) contemporary strategies and efforts to create urban
environments that reflect women's needs and interests. P/NP or letter
grading.
C184. Looking at Los Angeles. (4)
Lecture, three hours.
Introduction to history and physical form of Los Angeles, with emphasis
on understanding social, economic, and political issues in development
of Los Angeles. Concurrently scheduled with course C284. Letter
grading.
199. Directed Research in Urban Planning. (2 to 8)
Tutorial, three hours.
Limited to juniors/seniors. Supervised individual research or
investigation under guidance of faculty mentor. Culminating paper or
project required. May be repeated for credit. Individual contract
required. P/NP or letter grading.