Course Library
Browse our library of planning courses
Defining Neighborhoods
This course reviews the varying definitions of neighborhoods and examines methods for defining a physical basis and tangible meaning to neighborhoods based on the location of neighborhood centers, boundaries, and spatial extents.
Transportation Planning: Strategies for Working with Roadway Capacity
This course explains the menu of contemporary approaches to modifying or adding to transportation capacity. It provides examples of capacity responses to regional mobility for commuters and local accessibility for communities.
Virtual Reality for Planners 4: Refining the End User Experience
This final course of the virtual reality series discusses the big picture, looks at space planning and event setup, discusses alternatives to the full VR experience, and lists a few ways to fine tune the user’s experience for maximum success.
Virtual Reality for Planners 3: Working with Unity
In this third course of the virtual reality series, we will create a VR application from scratch using Unity. We will be adding SketchUp data, VR components, materials, textures, backgrounds, sky and finally virtual reality.
Virtual Reality for Planners 2: Modeling in SketchUp
Learn how to use SketchUp to create content appropriate for a virtual reality environment. By the end of the course, viewers will be ready to learn how to prepare a final model for export into Unity.
Virtual Reality for Planners 1: Introduction
This course provides an overview of virtual reality (VR) and the elements that lead to effective urban design simulations and, ultimately, how to produce VR applications that enable users to explore urban design scenarios.
CityEngine for Planners 3: Integration and GIS
Learn how to import real-world data from satellite imagery and terrain to GIS data.
CityEngine for Planners 2: Coding in Computer Generated Architecture (CGA) and Exporting
The second course of the City Engine for Planners track dives into coding in Esri CityEngine’s proprietary Computer Generated Architecture (CGA) code.
CityEngine for Planners 1: Introduction
This course is designed for beginners seeking an introduction to 3D procedural modeling and CityEngine software.
Urban Design for Planners 2: Getting Started with QGIS and SketchUp
The second course in the Urban Design for Planners series provides training on two important tools: SketchUp and QGIS.
Mobile Drawing Apps for Planners
This course explores three affordable mobile drawing apps and how each might facilitate the planner’s creative process.
SketchUp 2016 for Planners: Site Planning
This course introduces intermediate SketchUp skills, like the program's geolocation functions, and demonstrates how to create more complex models of planned projects or developments.
SketchUp 2016 for Planners: Introduction
This course introduces how planners and architects represent three-dimensional objects in two-dimensions, with step-by-step instructions for creating and using simple 3D models.
K-12 Master Facility Planning
This course shows the steps necessary to develop a successful facility master plan for K-12 education.
Parking Reform Made Easy
Reforming minimum parking requirements is one of the most effective ways to support Smart Growth. This course explains the many problems created by the parking regulation status quo before presenting a process for reform, providing examples of parking management tools, and discussing strategies for dealing with political and stakeholder issues.
GeoDesign Using CommunityViz: Buildout and Visualization
This second course in the "GeoDesign with CommunityViz" series shows how the CommunityViz extension of ArcGIS can guide the design, and assess the impacts, of a project.
Drawing in the Landscape: Water and Oil
This is the fourth and final course in the Drawing series. In this course we inquire into the nature of observing and representing color works in transitive environments, building upon the initial sketch, and beginning water color and oil technique.
Drawing in the Landscape: Painting Color
This is the third course in the Drawing series. In this course we inquire into the nature of observing and representing color works in transitive environments, building upon the initial sketch, and beginning watercolor technique.
AutoCAD for 3D Modeling
Most planners and designers don't use just one drawing or visualization program. In this course you'll learn how to create 3D drawings in AutoCAD and how to use AutoCAD in concert with other programs, such as Adobe Illustrator and Sketchup, to create illustrative plan, section, and perspective views.
AutoCAD for Site Planning
This course establishes a workflow for an illustrative site plan, including how to represent existing conditions and create detailed plans for specific areas within a larger project. Building on AutoCAD 101, learn to draw more complex plans using aerial imagery, photography, and hand-drawn sketches as the base layer.