Applicable only to students admitted during the 2023-2024 academic year.

Urban Planning

UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Urban Planning offers the Master of Urban and Regional Planning (M.U.R.P.) degree and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Urban Planning. In addition, there is a dual degree program offered in cooperation with the Urban School, Institut d’Etudes de Paris (Sciences Po), that leads to the M.U.R.P. and Master of Governing the Large Metropolis degrees.

Urban Planning

Doctoral Degree

Admissions Requirements

Advising

Every entering student has an advisory committee composed of two faculty members, one of whom is the primary adviser. The advisory committee is selected at the time of admission.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Students choose a major field by the end of the first quarter in the program in consultation with his/her faculty adviser and the Ph.D. Program Chair. Expertise in the major field is primarily reflected in an ability to teach a sequence of Urban Planning courses at a major university, from introduction to the field to an advanced research seminar. Within each major field, students should identify two to three subdisciplines that reflect their particular interests and approach. Each of these sub-fields must have established body of research literature associated with it which the student is expected to master prior to the major field examination. Students are encouraged to select from the following list of major fields:

Community development: social, economic, and physical
Comparative international development
Critical studies of cities and regions
Economic development planning
Energy policy
Environmental policy
History of the built environment
Housing affordability
Housing markets
Housing policy
Labor markets and workforce policy
Land use policy and planning
Planning and designing the built environment
Planning history
Planning theory
Political economy and the built environment
Political economy of urban and/or regional development
Pollution and environmental hazards
Regional economic development
Resource-based development
Rural development
Social justice and the built environment
Social Policy
Transportation policy
Transportation, land use, and urban form
Urban Design
Urban policy
Urban public finance
Urban transportation planning
Urbanization in the developing world
Water policy and planning

Additional Major Fields. In special circumstances, students may devise their own field in consultation with appropriate faculty members. Final approval of the proposed additional major field must be obtained from the faculty adviser and department chair. Further details may be obtained from the graduate adviser.

Foreign Language Requirement

A foreign language is not required either for admission to or completion of the doctoral program. However, if students are expecting to do dissertation research abroad, they are strongly advised to obtain the necessary language skills prior to beginning such research. However, courses below 100-level cannot count towards a graduate degree.

Course Requirements

A high level of competence in a major field and in planning theory and history, as measured by course work and doctoral examinations, is required.

Required Courses
UP 208A, Colloquium in Planning Research	4 Units
UP 220B, Quantitative Analysis in UP II (can be waived)	4 Units
UP 222B, Advanced Planning Theory I	4 Units
UP 208B, Introduction to Research Design or UP M204, Research Design and Methods for Social Policy (quarter varies)	4 Units
UP 222C, Advanced Planning Theory II	4 Units
Three advanced research method courses related to your major field (choose in consultation with your adviser)	12 Units
Three related courses in an area outside the major field (choose in consultation with your adviser)*	12 Units
UP 208C is to be taken after completing the MAJOR FIELD EXAM. It must be taken every fall until Advancement to Candidacy	4 Units (minimum)
TOTAL REQUIRED UNITS	48 Units

*For students who do not have a Master’s degree in Urban Planning, the outside field course requirement will be satisfied by completion of the following Master’s core and required courses

Additional required Courses for those WITHOUT a Master’s in planning
UP 207, Applied Microeconomics for Urban Planning (can be waived)	4 Units
UP 211, Law & the Quality of Urban Life	4 Units
UP 220A, Quantitative Analysis in UP I (can be waived)	4 Units
UP 222A, Intro to Planning History and Theory	4 Units
One Urbanization Course from the following list (UP M236A, UP 242, UP M250, UP 2M65A, or UP 281).	4 Units
Three advanced research method courses related to your major field (choose in consultation with your adviser)	12 Units
UP 208C is to be taken after completing the MAJOR FIELD EXAM. It must be taken every fall until Advancement to Candidacy	4 Units (minimum)
TOTAL ADDITIONAL REQUIRED UNITS	36 Units

Please see your Graduate Adviser for details.

Research Design Requirement

The Ph.D. in Urban Planning requires a mastery of research design, with a focus on the applied questions central to the field of planning. To satisfy this requirement, students are required to complete a three-course sequence in research design: UP 208A, UP 208B, and UP 208C. The Ph.D. Plan of Study must be completed and approved in order to pass UP 208A. Only UP 208B may be waived with prior course work, with approval of the Ph.D. Program Director. Students who have passed their major field examination, but have not yet advanced to candidacy must take UP 208C each time it is offered. UP 208C may be waived if the student advances to candidacy before the term that UP 208C is offered.

Plan of Study.  During the first quarter of the Ph.D. program, students work with their advisers and the Ph.D. Program Director in order to develop a detailed Plan of Study for their doctoral program as part of UP 208A.  The plan details the student’s major field, course work plan, timeline, and proposed dissertation topic. Each plan must include: (1) a one to two-page description of the major field and its sub-fields; (2) a short indicative bibliography for each of the sub-fields; (3) a list of courses and research papers to be completed to help the student prepare for each of the sub-fields; (4) a course plan showing how the student plans to satisfy all of the Ph.D. course requirements; (5) a timetable indicating expected completion dates for all requirements and examinations; and (6) a brief statement identifying a possible dissertation research topic. Once approved, the plan is filed with the graduate adviser.

Planning Theory and History Requirement. Planning theory is concerned with the ways that philosophers and social scientists have examined the question of how scientific and technical knowledge is to be joined to practice and action, with particular emphasis on the field of urban and regional planning. Planning history looks at how planning has evolved in the U.S., Western Europe, and elsewhere in the world as a form of institutionalized practice. Students are expected to acquire an understanding of both and become familiar with the several styles and forms of planning and the major debates in the field. To satisfy the planning theory and history requirement students must complete a three-course sequence in planning theory and history: UP 222A, UP 222B, and UP 222C. UP 222A may be waived by prior course work with approval of the Ph.D. Program Director.

Research Methods Requirement. Urban Planning Ph.D. students must complete or waive out of UP 220A (if they do not have a masters in urban planning) and UP 220B and, in addition, must complete three graduate-level methods courses beyond basic statistics with grades of B or better. These three courses must be related to the major field, must be approved in advance by the student’s adviser and the Ph.D. Program Director, and cannot be waived by prior course work. A list of recommended methods courses is included in the Ph.D. handbook. One of the three methods courses may be an upper division undergraduate course, if approved in advance by the Ph.D. Program Director.

Outside Field Requirement. Urban Planning is an explicitly multi-disciplinary field that draws from a variety of intellectual traditions and academic disciplines. As such, part of the training of Urban Planning Ph.D. students at UCLA includes in-depth study of an outside field that supports and supplements the student’s chosen field of study in planning. To satisfy this requirement, students must take and complete at least three closely related graduate courses in departments outside of the Urban Planning program with a grade of B+ or better. These courses may all be taken in one department or in multiple departments, as long as they are closely related to one another and the student’s defined outside field. For example, students studying community organizing might take three graduate courses in labor organizing offered in Law, Management, and Sociology to satisfy their outside field requirement. Alternatively, students interested in environmental policy might take three graduate courses in atmospheric sciences and air pollution in Environmental Sciences and Engineering, the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, and Public Health.

With advance approval of both the student’s Faculty Adviser and the Ph.D. Program Director, one of these three outside field courses may be an upper division undergraduate course offered by a department outside of Urban Planning and one may be a graduate Urban Planning course – provided that the Urban Planning course is logically part of the student’s outside field defined in the Plan of Study and is closely related to the other two outside field courses*. Methodology courses taken in other departments do not count toward satisfying the outside field requirement. Ph.D. students who hold a master’s degree in a field other than planning are exempt from this outside field requirement. But otherwise, none of the three outside field courses may be waived by prior course work.

* An Urban Planning course that is cross-listed with another department counts as an Urban Planning course, even if the student enrolls in the course through the other department.

Major Field Requirement. The major field is the planning subject area in which a student will be prepared to teach three courses and conduct advanced research. The Major Field subject area should be generally recognized by academics in other planning schools and should be substantially broader than a dissertation topic. The normal time for completion of the major field requirement is two academic years. The actual timing for the Major Field Examination is set by agreement between the student and the advisory committee.

Teaching Experience

Not required. Because not all Urban Planning Ph.D. graduates go into teaching following graduation, there are no formal teaching training requirements. However, those students planning a career in teaching following graduation should work out a plan for teaching training with their advisers.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

Major Field Examination (program requirement). Urban Planning students are required to take a written and oral Major Field examination prior to advancing to doctoral candidacy. These exams are administered by an advisory committee; the two advisers assigned at the time of admission, plus one additional member that is selected by the student, in conjunction with their advisory committee chair. A student observer, who is selected by the student and Graduate Adviser, is also required to attend to oral portion of the examination. Both the written and oral exams are typically taken during the second year in the program and must be completed on campus.

Ph.D. Oral Qualifying Examination (university requirement). After successful completion of the required course work and the major field examinations, students may nominate their doctoral committee. The doctoral committee administers the University Oral Qualifying Examination. At this examination the student defends the dissertation proposal. The University Oral Qualifying Examination should be taken by the end of the third year of doctoral study.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

Not required for all students in the program. The decision as to whether a defense is required is made by the doctoral committee.

Time-to-Degree

Normal progress toward the Ph.D. degree, from admission to the doctoral program to award of the degree: fifteen quarters (five years).

(1) The planning theory and history requirement should be completed during the first year of study.

(2) Students are expected to pass the major field requirements/examination by the end of the second year, and to finish all other requirements and take the University Oral Qualifying Examination by the end of the third year.

(3) Students who have not taken their oral qualifying examination by the end of the third year must submit a written explanation to their advisory committee with a copy to the department chair.

(4) Students who have not passed the oral qualifying examination by the end of the fifth year (excepting approved leaves of absence), may be subject to a recommendation for academic disqualification. However, students are entitled to request that a review board be established to consider their case.

(5) Dissertation work typically requires two full years of work, including field research (if any) and the final writing. To enable students to devote this time to their research, every effort should be made to obtain extramural funding.

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
Ph.D.	9	15	18

Academic Disqualification and Appeal of Disqualification

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for academic disqualification from graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing academic disqualification of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

A counseling board of three faculty members is established for every student whose grade point average is below 3.0 or who fails to make sufficient progress toward the degree. The board is responsible for reviewing the student’s record, determining strengths and weaknesses, and aiding the student to raise academic performance to minimum standards. In addition, the faculty and the graduate counselor meet each winter and spring quarter to discuss the progress of all registered students.

A student whose grade point average is below 3.0 for any three quarters may be subject to a recommendation for academic disqualification. Recommendations for academic disqualification based on other reasons may be made by (1) the counseling board submits a written statement to the department chair; and (2) the department chair, acting in consultation with the student’s adviser, recommends academic disqualification. In certain circumstances a student may be given the option to withdraw from the program. A student may appeal a recommendation for academic disqualification to the three-person faculty review board.