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.
Transportation Planning: Travel Behavior Regulations, Pricing, and Programs
This course reviews the efficacy of regulatory strategies (such as prohibitions and mandates), pricing strategies (such as peak period pricing), and education and information strategies (such as real-time ride-hailing apps).
The Ethics of Disruptive Transportation Technologies
This course discusses the process for making ethical decisions as part of planning for disruptive technologies.
Storytelling for Planners
This course will teach planners how to adapt proven storytelling methods employed by creative artists for centuries. We will cover the storytelling applications to analog and digital outreach methods.
Introduction to New Mobility
The course on "New Mobility" covers the gamut of technological advancements where planning, transportation, and infrastructure design intersect.
Beyond Complete Streets for Walking and Biking
This course covers current practices in planning and implementation of infrastructure for biking and walking.
Missing Middle Housing: Meeting the Growing Demand for Walkable Urbanism
Learn about Missing Middle Housing and how to integrate these types into existing neighborhoods.
Form-Based Codes 101: Legal Aspects
This course explores the legal issues of creating and using a form-based code.
Form-Based Codes 101: Corridors
Corridors have historically been a key element of the urban fabric of every American town and city, yet they are also commonly problematic. This course looks at the roots of the problem for examples of how corridors can be designed and coded.
Form-Based Codes 101: Learning How To Look
This course will teach you the skills to appreciate and analyze the measures and functions of good urbanism.
Form-Based Codes 101: Introduction
In this course we will define form-based codes, explain why they were invented, and distinguish them from conventional "use-based" zoning ordinances—all with an emphasis on placemaking and walkability. We will provide an overview of the development of form-based codes, their mandatory and optional component parts, and the importance of making form-based codes context or place-specific.
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.
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 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.
AutoCAD 101
This course provides an introduction to AutoCAD’s essential functions for first-time users and demonstrates how to create site plans, street sections, and other two-dimensional scaled diagrams.
Tactical Urbanism: How It's Done
From unsanctioned crosswalks to city-led "Pavement-to-Plaza" programs, instructor Mike Lydon describes the success of short-term, temporary projects in influencing long-term physical and policy changes in cities across the United States and Canada.
Tactical Urbanism: An Introduction
Developed in conjunction with other movements, the Tactical Urbanism approach allows a host of local actors to test new concepts before making substantial political and financial commitments. Sometimes sanctioned, sometimes not, Tactical Urbanism features the following five characteristics: phased instigation, meeting local planning challenges, realistic and short term, low risk-high gain, and stakeholder capacity building.