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

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emergency call box on public street
Crime and Urban Planning in the United States
Qian He
51 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD

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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

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historic buildings in Charleston South Carolina
Introduction to Historic Preservation
Meredith Johnson
38 Mins
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD

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skyline of LInkcoln Park Chicago
Economic Thinking for Planners: Cities, Externalities, and Governance
Peter Gordon
56 Mins
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD

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person standing in front of a colorful mural
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design
Kayla Hunter
59 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM

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portrait of Daniel Burnham
Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham and the American City
58 Mins
  • AICP CM

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three images of New York buildings, Central Park and a man riding a bike
U.S. City Planning 101
Dave Amos
46 Mins

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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

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The Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park.
History of U.S. Landscape Architecture, Part 1
Kristin Faurest
64 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM

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Exterior of Pruitt Igoe housing complex
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth
84 Mins
  • AICP CM

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Panel of five speakers on webcams
Housing and Racial Justice: Current Events Urban Resilience
59 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD

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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

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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

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City Dreamers film ad
City Dreamers
81 Mins

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aerial of Houston with houses and buildings
Planning for Racial Equity
Lance Freeman
55 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM

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aerial image of portland oregon
The American City, Part 3: Learning from the Grid
Mark David Major
53 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM

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Findlay market on a colorful street in Ohio.
Landscape Design for Social Sustainability, Part 1
Kristin Faurest
57 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM

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cleveland ohio skyline with industrial buildings
Classical Location Theory
Kevin Credit
169 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM

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redlining map
Race, Space, and Planning
Álvaro Huerta
66 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM

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aerial view of new york city
The American City, Part 4: Complexity and Pattern in the City
Mark David Major
53 Mins
  • AIA CES

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The I-5 in Portland, Oregon.
Roadways for People, Part 1
Lynn Peterson, Elizabeth Doerr
79 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM

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people on steps of city center
Lewis Mumford on the City 1: The City - Heaven and Hell
29 Mins
  • AICP CM

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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

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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...

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Mark David Major

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

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Kristin Faurest

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

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Annalise Fonza

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

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Katrina Johnston-Zimmerman

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

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Álvaro Huerta

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

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Peter Gordon

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

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Thomas Hamed

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

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Jonathan Katz-Ouziel

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

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Elizabeth Doerr

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

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Lynn Peterson

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

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Nolan Gray

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

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Qian He

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

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Kayla Hunter

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

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Lance Freeman

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

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Dave Amos

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

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Meredith Johnson

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

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Kevin Credit

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

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All History Courses

Urban Agriculture Sign Up

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Urban Agriculture

Urban farming is becoming more popular around the state of California, taking many forms along the way, as documented in this film produced by experts from the University of California and the Cal State University system in cooperation with local organizations.

4.23
47 Mins
AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD
Film
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth Sign Up

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The Pruitt-Igoe Myth

The 2011 documentary film “The Pruitt-Igoe Myth” documents the rapid rise and fall of a housing complex in St. Louis. Pruitt-Igoe became a symbol for the failure of public housing policy in the late 20th century.

4.69
84 Mins
AICP CM
Film

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