In special cases and with the approval of the MCRP Program Chair, a student may study an advanced topic under the direction of a faculty member.

The instructor will offer an overview of benchmarks in the evolution of planning theory, and its relationship with political movements and transitions in governance and policy values and models, as well as principal urban theory drawn from the fields of sociology, geography, anthropology, political science, and cultural studies.

The purposes of this course are to develop understanding and skill in the design of empirical research used in the analysis of policy and planning problems, as well as to develop the ability to critically evaluate policy-related research products.

The format will be an interactive workshop. Course structure and content will include discussion on the scope of the master’s thesis in planning; the role of informing theory and relationship with the larger planning and urban studies discourses and debates; and a reading list drawn from planning, the humanities and social sciences, and urban/community policy studies. 

Public health, transportation, and the built environment introduces students to the impacts that the urban built environment has on public health, with an emphasis on how the built environment affects travel behaviour which, in turn, affects health. Students will gain both a framework for assessing the built environment of urban areas, as well as gain a perspective on the many pathways by which the built environment relates to multiple health outcomes, including both physical and mental health. Students will be exposed to a wide selection of research papers establishing the links between the built environment and public health outcomes and it is expected that students will be able to apply these findings to specific transportation planning processes and projects. This course will be of interest to graduate and upper-level students in planning, public health, geography and real estate development.

This course is about how decisions regarding the shape of our communities and its supporting transportation infrastructure, services, information, policies, and oversight can help enable the ‘good’ cities we strive for. This course will provide broad foundational knowledge of urban transportation infrastructure, service, and policy matters, through lenses of equity (affordability, access to opportunity, housing), reconciliation (access to opportunity, land rights, economic self-determination, among others), climate action, and resilience. The course will be delivered in the form of lectures, guest lectures, seminar-style dialogues and hands on tours and workshops.

Homes and communities are a focus of public policy for local and senior governments. This course will provide an overview of past and current policies and best practices addressing the design and development of homes and communities.

This course interactively introduces and analyzes basic urban design precepts with a particular emphasis on the strengthening of natural, social/cultural and economic systems. Students explore these precepts culminating in a design investigation. The course introduces related urban design strategies appropriate to prevailing issues/challenges, contexts, and stakeholders with a focus on the City of Vancouver as the “laboratory”.

Additional prerequisite: PLAN 587A

This course requires students to think deeply about the intellectual place in the field of planning. By reviewing the bodies of work of leading planning theorists of the past fifty years students will understand which streams of planning thought to identify with, and why, and begin to imagine their own trajectory in and contribution to this field.

The PhD Colloquium is intended to provide a collegial setting in which students can discuss their research ideas and related issues with their peers.