Planetizen Courses offers historical perspective through courses designed to help planners understand the history of the profession and how essential concepts and ideas in the field were developed and popularized. Learn about the triumphs and failures of past planners and how past decisions continue to shape urban form today.

History Courses

emergency call box on public street
Crime and Urban Planning in the United States
Qian He
51 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD
A collage of four megacities
History of City Planning 5: The City of Tomorrow
Jason Luger
56 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
  • SACPLAN CPD
historic buildings in Charleston South Carolina
Introduction to Historic Preservation
Meredith Johnson
38 Mins
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD
skyline of LInkcoln Park Chicago
Economic Thinking for Planners: Cities, Externalities, and Governance
Peter Gordon
56 Mins
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD
person standing in front of a colorful mural
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design
Kayla Hunter
59 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
portrait of Daniel Burnham
Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham and the American City
58 Mins
  • AICP CM
three images of New York buildings, Central Park and a man riding a bike
U.S. City Planning 101
Dave Amos
46 Mins
aerial view of ancient city grid
The American City, Part 1: A Brief History of the Regular Grid
Mark David Major
47 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
The Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park.
History of U.S. Landscape Architecture, Part 1
Kristin Faurest
64 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
Exterior of Pruitt Igoe housing complex
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth
84 Mins
  • AICP CM
Panel of five speakers on webcams
Housing and Racial Justice: Current Events Urban Resilience
59 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD
aerial view of los angeles at night
The American City, Part 2: The Invention of a New Scale
Mark David Major
50 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
Sprawling residential neighborhoods with many single family houses.
Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix it
Nolan Gray
67 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
City Dreamers film ad
City Dreamers
81 Mins
aerial of Houston with houses and buildings
Planning for Racial Equity
Lance Freeman
55 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
aerial image of portland oregon
The American City, Part 3: Learning from the Grid
Mark David Major
53 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
Findlay market on a colorful street in Ohio.
Landscape Design for Social Sustainability, Part 1
Kristin Faurest
57 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
cleveland ohio skyline with industrial buildings
Classical Location Theory
Kevin Credit
169 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
redlining map
Race, Space, and Planning
Álvaro Huerta
66 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
aerial view of new york city
The American City, Part 4: Complexity and Pattern in the City
Mark David Major
53 Mins
  • AIA CES
The I-5 in Portland, Oregon.
Roadways for People, Part 1
Lynn Peterson, Elizabeth Doerr
79 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
people on steps of city center
Lewis Mumford on the City 1: The City - Heaven and Hell
29 Mins
  • AICP CM
vintage photo of a boat with migrants near ellis island
A Brief History of Immigration and Planning
Álvaro Huerta
65 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
abandoned houses during great recession
Understanding the Great Recession
Peter Gordon
74 Mins

Top History Instructors

Jason Luger

Jason Luger is a lecturer in City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley, College of Environmental...

VIEW COURSES
Mark David Major

Dr. Mark David Major, AICP, CNU-A is a Professor of Urban Design at the Savannah College...

VIEW COURSES
Kristin Faurest

Kristin Faurest is a public garden education and outreach professional, author, and landscape architecture educator, committed...

VIEW COURSES
Annalise Fonza

Dr. Annalise Fonza is a Lecturer in the Department of Urban & Regional Planning at the...

VIEW COURSES
Katrina Johnston-Zimmerman

Katrina is a lecturer, researcher, and advocate for heart-centered cities. Her work focuses on human behavior...

VIEW COURSES
Álvaro Huerta

Dr. Álvaro Huerta is a Religion and Public Life Organizing Fellow at Harvard Divinity School and...

VIEW COURSES
Peter Gordon

Peter Gordon is Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern California Price School of Public Policy...

VIEW COURSES
Thomas Hamed

Thomas Hamed, AICP is a transportation planner who specializes in commuter transportation and mobility for all...

VIEW COURSES
Jonathan Katz-Ouziel

Jonathan Katz-Ouziel is an autistic planner, an independent accessibility consultant, and the founder of Opossum House...

VIEW COURSES
Elizabeth Doerr

Elizabeth Doerr is a writer with expertise and awareness around social and racial justice issues and...

VIEW COURSES
Lynn Peterson

Lynn Peterson is a nationally recognized transportation and land use integration expert.

VIEW COURSES
Nolan Gray

M. Nolan Fray is the Research Director for California YIMBY, an expert in urban land-use regulation...

VIEW COURSES
Qian He

Dr. Qian He is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Maryland, College Park and...

VIEW COURSES
Kayla Hunter

Kayla is an experienced non-profit professional who works with at-risk youth to reimagine unused, neglected spaces...

VIEW COURSES
Lance Freeman

Lance Freeman is a Professor in the Urban Planning Program at Columbia University in New York...

VIEW COURSES
Dave Amos

Dave is an Assistant Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cal Poly...

VIEW COURSES
Meredith Johnson

Meredith is the owner of Johnson Planning and Preservation LLC, a boutique firm that works to...

VIEW COURSES
Kevin Credit

Kevin is the Assistant Director for Urban Informatics at the Center for Spatial Data Science at...

VIEW COURSES

Related Topics

SEARCH MORE TOPICS BELOW

Master Urban Planning Skills With A Planetizen Courses Subscription.

Sign up
Computer

High quality video lessons developed by experts.

Analytics

Complete course work to receive a certificate from Planetizen.

Certificate

Test your comprehension with course quizzes.

Cloud

Access reading lists, articles, and other materials prepared by instructors.

All History Courses

City Dreamers Sign Up

City Dreamers

The film "City Dreamers," directed by Joseph Hillel and released in 2018, tells the story of four women designers who worked to shape North American cities throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century.

4.51
81 Mins
Film
Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham and the American City Sign Up

Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham and the American City

The life and achievements of architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham offer a chance to witness the application of the social agenda of the City Beautiful movement, of which Burnham was one of the most famous practitioners.

4.55
58 Mins
AICP CM
Film

Topic

Film (2) ‌

Credit

AICP CM (1) ‌