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Program Requirements for Urban Planning (Urban and Regional Planning)
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 and Regional Planning
Master’s Degree
Advising
The graduate adviser assigns a faculty adviser to new master’s degree students on the basis of similarities in student-faculty interests. Students are expected to meet with their adviser at least once during the fall quarter of their first year. Students should meet with their faculty advisers to determine a course of study that best suits their needs and interests within the context of the general departmental and University requirements.
Students in the M.U.R.P program at UCLA should inform the Urban Planning Associate Director of Admissions and Recruitment before December 1 of their second year if they intend on applying to the Ph.D. program for the following fall quarter.
Areas of Study
Students are required to declare an area of concentration by the fall quarter of their second year. Areas of concentration are fields in which planners characteristically become engaged, professionally or through research. They are not meant to be mutually exclusive. Courses are clustered in the following six areas:
Community Economic Development and Housing. This concentration addresses the social and economic forces affecting communities. Within this area, students can choose one of two streams: housing policies and development, or community economic development. Both streams highlight linkages to social, economic, and spatial justice; inequality; built form/physical environment; and applied research.
Design and Development. This concentration is intended to teach students how public and private market forces drive design and development of the built environment and how we can build in a smarter, more sustainable way that is respectful of varying cultural needs and practices. This area of concentration equips urban planners aspiring to enter the public sector with tools to craft rules and regulations that meet public goals, and trains planners who wish to work for the private or nonprofit development sectors in the skills needed to work with neighbors, community, and the public sector in the entitlement and development of complex projects.
Environmental Analysis and Policy. The natural environment is both the context within which all human activities take place and a social product of those activities. Environmental planning begins with analysis of the physical, biotic, socio-economic, and cultural context in which environmental conflicts occur. An array of analytic tools ranging from cultural to socio-economic and ecological approaches is then applied to specific questions. Some of these are locality specific, but many also involve larger-scale regional process and social movements. This multidisciplinary concentration engages resources within the program and the University to address the urgent questions inherent in environment and development. The program encourages broad training and use of the resources of many disciplines.
Regional and International Development. This concentration concerns the interrelated aspects of area development in both developed and developing countries. The perspective on questions of area development is that of political economy and spatial analysis. Industrialization, urbanization, and rural development are major focal points of interest. Within this area, students are expected to choose an emphasis on either developing or advanced economies.
Transportation Policy and Planning. This concentration emphasizes developing a broad, multi-faceted understanding of the historical, spatial, economic, social, and environmental factors affecting transportation issues. While the program emphasizes domestic urban transportation policy, all aspects of transportation policy are covered.
Additional Areas of Concentration. In special circumstances, students may devise their own area in consultation with appropriate faculty members. Final approval of the proposed additional area of concentration must be obtained from the department chair. Further details may be obtained from the Graduate Adviser.
Foreign Language Requirement
There is no foreign language requirement for the master’s degree, but students who expect to emphasize international development studies are encouraged to acquire proficiency in at least one foreign language. However, courses below 100-level cannot count towards a graduate degree.
Course Requirements
Students must complete a minimum of 72 units. Students should enroll in a minimum of 12 units per quarter, completing the program in two years. A minimum of 13 courses (52 units) must be graduate courses (all 200-series courses except for up to three courses or 12 units of 500-series courses) in Urban Planning or a related field. One course (4 units) of Urban Planning 496 (Field Projects) may be applied toward the degree. Students may enroll for S/U grading in one graduate or upper division course each term in a course offered outside of Urban Planning with the consent of the instructor. Such courses may apply toward Urban Planning degree requirements, subject to departmental approval. This limitation does not apply to courses that offer S/U grading only. S/U graded courses in Urban Planning may not be applied toward the MURP degree, with the exception of courses that offer S/U grading only.
Core Course Requirements. The core courses comprise knowledge common to all areas of planning, regardless of a student’s specific focus.
| Urban Planning Core Course Requirements | |
|---|---|
| Urban Planning 207 | 4 Units |
| Urban Planning 211 | 4 Units |
| Urban Planning 220A | 4 Units |
| Urban Planning 220B | 4 Units |
| Urban Planning 222A | 4 Units |
| Urban Planning 224 | 4 Units |
| Urban Planning 496 | 4 Units |
Urban Planning Urbanization Course specific to the area of concentration:
|
4 Units |
| CORE COURSE UNITS | 32 Units |
Workshops in writing and presentation skills are integrated into Urban Planning 207, 220A, and 222A. Urban Planning 207, 211, 220A, 220B, 222A and 224 should be completed during the first year of study. Exceptions to this timeline require the department approval. The Urbanization course is recommended but not required to be completed during the first year. Urban Planning core courses are sometimes waived with the instructor’s consent if the student can demonstrate mastery of the material. For Urban Planning 207, 220A, and 220B, mastery is demonstrated through a scheduled waiver examination. Additional details about the waiver exams can be obtained from the Graduate Advisers. All other courses are waived through satisfactory completion of previous course work that covered similar concepts, instructional materials, and content. Students are expected to present the relevant course syllabi when requesting waivers. Students who are approved to waive any Urban Planning course must make up the missing units with another Urban Planning course in order to meet the minimum unit requirement for the degree.
Undergraduate preparation in college algebra and microeconomics is recommended for students prior to their enrollment in the M.U.R.P. program. Before enrolling in the program, students must demonstrate the ability to master skills in quantitative methods. This requirement can be met by 1) achievement of a grade of B or better in a college mathematics course (at a minimum level of college algebra), 2) a minimum score of 600 on the Quantitative Test of the Graduate Record Examination, or 3) satisfactory completion of a three-week preparatory Math Camp offered by the department one-week prior to the beginning of fall quarter.
Upon entering the program, students must pass proficiency examinations in basic mathematics and microeconomics before enrolling in Urban Planning 220A and 207, respectively. Copies of sample examinations are emailed to applicants accepted into the program. An undergraduate course in college algebra or pre-calculus should provide suitable background to pass the basic mathematics examination. An undergraduate course in microeconomics should be sufficient preparation for the microeconomics examination. Students are strongly encouraged to prepare for the examinations before beginning the program so that they can enroll in Urban Planning 220A and 207 during their first year of study. If students do not pass either or both examinations, they are advised to take Mathematics 1 and/or Economics 1 or 5 at UCLA during their first year of study. (These courses do not count toward the master’s degree requirements.) Students are required to take and pass the proficiency examinations at the start of the second year in order to enroll in required courses Urban Planning 220A and 207, which are only offered in fall quarter.
Area Course Requirement. Each area of concentration has a five-course (20 units) requirement, except Design and Development which has a six-course (24 units) requirement. These courses are in addition to an Urbanization course which is offered within each area of concentration but is part of the core course requirement.
| Urban Planning Area of Concentration Courses | |
|---|---|
Students may choose from the following areas of concentration:
|
|
| AREA OF CONCENTRATION UNITS | 20-22 units |
Students may seek waivers for requirements that have been met through course work prior to entering the M.U.R.P. program but they must take at least four courses in their area of concentration. Therefore, if a student waives more than one area of concentration course, the additional waived course(s) must be replaced by another course (or courses) in their area of concentration.
Urban Planning, M.U.R.P./Architecture M.Arch. I
During the first year of this four-year program, students follow the required Urban Planning curriculum. The second year is entirely in Architecture/Urban Design. The third and fourth years comprise a mix of both Architecture/Urban Design and Urban Planning courses, with the final design or written thesis or client or comprehensive project carried out in the fourth year.
A total of 41 courses (26 four-unit, nine six-unit, and six two-unit courses) or 170 units of course work is required to graduate. A student will take at least 36 units in Urban Planning and 114 units in Architecture/Urban Design to satisfy the specific requirements of each degree, including core courses in both programs and area of concentration courses from each program. To fulfill the core requirements for the Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree a student must take six core courses, plus one course related to planning practice or fieldwork (Urban Planning 496). In Architecture/Urban Design a student will take 24 core courses (nine six-unit, nine four-unit, and six two-unit courses). In addition, a student will take eight elective courses including three electives in the area of critical studies in architectural culture and five electives that fulfill the needs of the selected area of concentration. These may be chosen from courses offered in Architecture/Urban Design and Urban Planning, which have been identified as acceptable to both programs. To fulfill the capstone plan requirement in Architecture/Urban Design, students are required to take Architecture and Urban Design 403C in the fourth year. An additional two courses are needed in the fourth year to meet the Urban Planning capstone plan requirement. 32 units of course work, or eight elective courses, are double-counted in both Architecture/Urban Design and Urban Planning.
If a student is in the concurrent degree program and decides not to complete either the M.Arch. I degree or the M.U.R.P. degree, all the regular requirements for the program that a student decides to complete must be met.
Urban Planning, M.U.R.P./Public Health, M.P.H. in Community Health Sciences
This three-year concurrent degree program requires completion of 116 units (as opposed to 132 units if the two degree programs were completed sequentially, as 16 units of course overlap is allowed between the two programs), comprising 56 units for the M.P.H. and 60 units for the M.U.R.P.
Required courses (76 units):
|
Community Health Sciences Required Courses |
|
| Public Health 200A | 8 units |
| Public Health 200B | 8 units |
| Community Health Sciences 210 | 4 units |
| Community Health Sciences 211A | 4 units |
| Community Health Sciences 211B | 4 units |
| Community Health Sciences 400 400 hours of fieldwork related to both Public Health and Urban Planning |
4 units |
| Community Health Sciences Public Health Practice Course (chosen from an approved list) |
4 units |
| Community Health Sciences Populations Course (chosen from an approved list) |
4 units |
| Community Health Sciences Individual and Structural Influences Course (chosen from an approved list) | 4 units |
| Community Health Sciences Elective (from within the department) |
4 units |
|
Urban Planning Required Courses |
|
| Urban Planning 207 | 4 units |
| Urban Planning 211 | 4 units |
| Urban Planning 220A | 4 units |
| Urban Planning 222A | 4 units |
Urban Planning Urbanization Course specific to the area of concentration. EAP students may choose any of the four options:
|
4 units |
Urban Planning Capstone Courses specific to the chosen capstone project:
|
8 units |
| REQUIRED COURSE UNITS | 76 units |
Concurrent degree program students are required to separately satisfy the capstone plan requirements for each program (the comprehensive examination option in Public Health AND one of three capstone plan options in Urban Planning).
Additional requirements to meet a total of 116 units:
| Community Health Sciences | |
| Community Health Sciences/Public Health Electives | 8 units |
|
Urban Planning |
|
Urban Planning Area of Concentration courses. Students may choose from the following areas of concentration
|
20-22 units |
| Urban Planning Electives (can be taken outside the department) | 10-12 units |
| ADDITIONAL REQUIRED UNITS | 40 units |
16 units from the above chart can be used towards both degree requirements:
- CHS 400 (4 units towards the M.U.R.P.)
- Any Community Health Sciences Elective (4 units towards the M.U.R.P.)
- Any Urban Planning Elective (4 units towards the M.P.H.)
Urban Planning, M.U.R.P./Public Health, M.P.H. in Environmental Health Sciences.
This three-year concurrent degree program requires completion of 120 units (as opposed to 136 units if the two degree programs were completed sequentially, as 16 units of course overlap is allowed between the two programs), comprising 64 units for the M.P.H. and 56 units for the M.U.R.P.
Required courses (84 units):
|
Environmental Health Sciences Required Courses |
|
| Public Health 200A | 8 units |
| Public Health 200B | 8 units |
| Biostatistics 100B | 4 units |
| Environmental Health Sciences C200B | 2 units |
| Environmental Health Sciences C200C | 6 units |
| Environmental Health Sciences 200D | 4 units |
| Environmental Health Sciences 207 | 4 units |
| Environmental Health Sciences 208 | 4 units |
| Environmental Health Sciences C240 | 4 units |
| Environmental Health Sciences C257 | 4 units |
| Environmental Health Sciences 400 | 4 units |
| Environmental Health Sciences 411 (2 unit course taken twice) | 4 units |
|
Urban Planning Required Courses |
|
| Urban Planning 207 | 4 units |
| Urban Planning 211 | 4 units |
| Urban Planning 222A | 4 units |
| Urban Planning M250 | 4 units |
| Urban Planning 281 | 4 units |
Urban Planning Capstone Courses specific to the chosen capstone project.
|
8 units |
| REQUIRED COURSE UNITS | 84 units |
Concurrent degree program students are required to separately satisfy the capstone plan requirements for each program (EHS 400 for the M.P.H. in Public Health AND one of three capstone plan options for the M.U.R.P. in Urban Planning).
Additional requirements to meet a total of 120 units:
|
Environmental Health Sciences |
|
| Environmental Health Sciences Electives | 8 units |
|
Urban Planning |
|
| Urban Planning Area of Concentration (AOC) courses. Students must choose 5 electives from the courses listed in the two areas of concentration below, with at least once elective in each AOC.
Design and Development Concentration
Environmental Analysis and Policy Concentration
|
20 units |
| Urban Planning Electives (at least one from inside the department) | 8 units |
| ADDITIONAL REQUIRED UNITS | 36 units |
16 units from the above chart can be used towards both degree requirements:
- EHS 208 (4 units towards the M.U.R.P.)
- EHS 400 (4 units towards the M.U.R.P.)
- Any Environmental Health Sciences Elective (8 units towards the M.U.R.P.)
Urban Planning, M.U.R.P /J.D.
This program requires a minimum of 72 quarter units in the department of Urban Planning. Students in this concurrent degree should follow the M.U.R.P. course requirements. A maximum of twelve elective quarter units from Law courses are allowed for concurrent credit toward the M.U.R.P degree.
Urban Planning, M.U.R.P /Latin American Studies, M.A.
Students in this concurrent degree must complete 25 courses (100 units): 18 courses for the M.U.R.P and 9 courses for the M.A. in Latin American Studies, which includes two double counted courses. Students must complete the required M.U.R.P Fieldwork (300 hours or waiver) and the fieldwork course UP 496. Students must complete BOTH the Urban Planning and Latin American Studies capstone plan requirements. For the Urban Planning degree, students can choose from the thesis, Applied Planning Research Project, or Comprehensive Project options. For the Latin American Studies degree, students can choose from the thesis or three paper comprehensive examination options. Other than as set forth above, students must meet all requirements of each program and the degrees may be awarded simultaneously.
Urban Planning, M.U.R.P /M.B.A.
This program requires 36 courses (144 units), 12-18 in Urban Planning and 18-24 in Management. A maximum of six courses (24 units) count towards the unit requirements for both degrees.
Teaching Experience
Not required.
Field Experience
A student without substantial prior professional experience in planning is required to complete a minimum of 300 hours of fieldwork. Fieldwork is defined as clinical or real world experience with a planning office, a private organization involved in planning, a community action agency, or applied research within a clinical context (excluding conventional university-based research projects). Students fulfill this requirement by enrolling in four units of Urban Planning 496 (see core course requirement chart) while completing the fieldwork requirement or immediately thereafter. Students with significant prior work experience may petition to waive this requirement. Further details about fulfilling this requirement or waiving it are available from the Graduate Adviser.
Capstone Plan
A student must select one of the capstone plan options by the deadline(s) set by the department. In some cases an application may be required. While students are guaranteed admission into at least one capstone option, they are not guaranteed admission into all of the capstone options.
| Urban Planning Capstone Plan (Plan II) | |
Urban Planning Capstone Courses specific to the chosen capstone project. Students choose one plan:
|
8 units |
In the event that one of the plans does not progress in a timely manner (as decided by the faculty and adviser), the student may petition the department chair to use the third Capstone Plan option. Students who wish to pursue this option must review and submit the departmental Two-Week Comprehensive Examination Contract which outlines the examination policies and procedures.
|
0 units |
| CAPSTONE PLAN (PLAN II) UNITS | 8 |
Individual Project (Applied Planning Research or Client Project). A client-oriented project is recommended if students are more interested in practical application of what they have learned than in scholarly research. The time span of the final project approximates that of the thesis. Academic credit for project involvement is given through two required courses: Urban Planning 205A and 205B. Guidance of the project rests with a committee of at least one faculty committee chair, one consulting faculty, the MURP Program Director, and the project client. The project proposal should be ready for committee review by the end of the seventh week of fall quarter of the second year of study. The project is successfully completed when it is approved by the faculty committee and the client. A client project poster presentation is required in the spring quarter. The Individual Project classes are graded on a letter grade basis. In the event that a student does not successfully complete the individual project, the student may petition to take the two-week comprehensive examination in order to satisfy the capstone plan requirement.
Group Project (Comprehensive Project). As an alternative, second-year students may take Urban Planning 217A and 217B (8 units), offered each year, either during the fall and winter or the winter and spring quarters to fulfill the capstone plan requirement. The faculty member(s) in charge of this course sequence, the MURP Program Director, the department chair, plus a representative of the client make up the capstone plan committee. Students must notify the graduate adviser that they have selected this option and, in the event that more than one section is offered, they must indicate in which section of Urban Planning 217A and 217B they will enroll by the start of fall quarter of the second year of study. In cases when student demand exceeds the capacity for the instructor to manage the project, Group Projects may require an application to participate. Students who do not get into their chosen Group Project will have to select an alternative capstone project.
Group Project instructors will evaluate students based on the quality of their individual deliverables, their ability to work effectively with other project participants, and their active participation in all course-related activities. The Group Project classes are graded on an S/U basis. To receive a grade of S the level of the student’s work must be equivalent to a letter grade of B. In the event that a student does not successfully complete the group project, the student may petition to take the two-week comprehensive examination in order to satisfy the capstone plan requirement.
Comprehensive Examination (Two-week Examination). In the event that one of the above plans does not progress in a timely manner (as decided by the faculty and adviser), the student may petition the department chair to take the comprehensive examination in order to satisfy the capstone plan requirement. Students who wish to pursue this option must review and submit the departmental Two-Week Comprehensive Examination Contract which outlines the exam policies and procedures. Examinations are administered at a time in which the student can work on the project full-time for two weeks while registered. A three-member faculty committee consisting of the department chair and two members nominated by the student, coordinates, administers, and evaluates the examination. Students may be requested to do additional work on the examination after it has been reviewed by the committee. No course credit is received for the comprehensive examination; therefore, students may need to take up to 8 additional units of electives to reach the 72 unit requirement for the degree. Should they fail the first attempt, students are allowed to retake the comprehensive exam once. In the event that the student fails the examination twice, the department will recommend the student for academic disqualification from UCLA. Students can review the academic disqualification policies in Standards & Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA on the Graduate Division website.
Thesis Plan
Every master’s degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research.
A student must select this option by the deadline established by the department. Once a deadline has passed, students are limited to options with subsequent deadlines.
The thesis is intended to provide the opportunity for independent scholarly research and should be the length and quality of a publishable journal article. In order to meet graduation deadlines, students must begin thesis work no later than the beginning of fall quarter of the second year. Students enroll in the required course, Urban Planning 208C, in the fall for four units and Urban Planning 598, for faculty supervised independent research, in the winter for four units. In order to enroll in Urban Planning 208C, students must submit the Master’s Thesis Proposal Form by the start of the fall quarter to demonstrate eligibility, commitment, and preparedness for the class. The thesis committee consists of three ladder faculty and must be selected by the end of fall quarter of the second year. The student must receive a grade of S in Urban Planning 598 for the thesis project to be considered of passing quality. The thesis poster presentations are required in the spring quarter.
Time-to-Degree
Urban and Regional Planning is a full-time degree program. Students are expected to enroll in a minimum of 12 units per quarter. From admission to the master’s program, normal time to award of the degree is six quarters.
Students who have completed the normal two-year program residence requirements (not to be confused with the official University residence requirements) but have remaining deficiencies are allowed an upper time limit of one additional quarter to complete all remaining requirements (thesis, comprehensive examination, removal of outstanding incomplete grades, etc.). An extension of the upper time limit may be requested by written petition to the department. Such requests will be approved only in extreme circumstances.
| DEGREE | NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters) | NORMATIVE TTD |
MAXIMUM TTD |
| M.U.R.P. | 6 | 6 | 7 |
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.