All Land Use Courses
Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
Jeff Speck explains his five principal reasons for building more walkable places — Economics, the Environment, Public Health, Equity, and Social Cohesiveness — arming practitioners with a full range of arguments in favor of pro-walkability planning.
Resilience Planning for Heat and Drought Events
Learn how cities can prepare their infrastructure and social services for heat waves and droughts in a warming world.
Roadways for People, Part 1
Using Portland's I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project as a central case study, Lynn Peterson and co-instructor Elizabeth Doerr explore why and how we need a more inclusive, people-centered transportation planning process.
Landscape Design for Social Sustainability, Part 1
Discover how and why the built environment succeeds or fails at supporting thriving, diverse communities, and how designers can create mechanisms that allow communities to enjoy and improve their environments to suit their needs and desires.
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design
This course discusses crime as an environmental justice issue and reviews techniques that successfully reduce crime and make communities safer and healthier through Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) theory.
Lighting Regulations and Dark Sky Places
Learn best practices for crafting lighting regulations and dark sky designations that protect night skies and improve environmental and public health.
Introduction to Lighting and Light Pollution
Discover the history and impact of light pollution on human health, the environment, wildlife, ecosystems, and the night sky.
Interpreting Places and Spaces
Interpretive media can dramatically enhance people's experience of place. Learn how to develop and execute a plan that brings the stories tied to places to life.
Public Transit During Covid-19: Challenges and Lessons
The Covid-19 pandemic decimated public transit service across the United States, causing significant decreases in ridership. Social equity subsequently suffered, with the riders who depend most on public transit feeling the most tangible impacts.
Crime and Urban Planning in the United States
The spatial patterns and environmental characteristics of urban crime offer planners an opportunity to contribute to building crime-resilient communities.
The Theory and Practice of Culture and Placemaking
Learn about the complex issues at play in the interaction between culture and place: the urbanization process, the historical significance of tools used by urban planners, early American urban theories, and the power of social movements.
Traffic Congestion, Part One: Sources and Responses
Explore the sources of traffic congestion while also examining common preconceptions that inform how planners and policymakers respond to the challenge of reducing congestion, for better or worse.
Women and Cities 5: The Feminist Future City
This final chapter speculates on what a feminist city could look like, recalling case studies and ancient examples that include contemporary contexts but also consider future needs for a more heart-centered city designed for everyone.
Women and Cities 4: Gender Equity in the Public Sphere
This course will outline the way in which women have occupied public spaces and the transition into a greater level of visibility for women in cities.
Accessory Dwelling Units: Understanding America’s Newest Housing Typology
Explore the latest ADU policy developments from leading American cities, key challenges and opportunities for increasing or limiting ADU production, first-hand examples, and best practices in ADU affordability programs.
Understanding Sanitation Work
This course provides an introduction to sanitation workers, the history of sanitation work, ongoing challenges in the field, and present-day issues facing sanitation workers.
The Pedestrian Safety Crisis in the U.S.
This course discusses the social trends putting people at risk on U.S. streets and roads; why traffic safety is fundamentally a problem of systematic, structural inequality; and what U.S. planners and the public can do about it.
Planning for Universal Design
At the end of this course, you will be familiar with the tenets of Universal Design and how it differs from Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance. You'll also be able to identify tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Right of Way: How Racial and Class Disparities Created a Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths
This course presents a panel discussion hosted by the Security and Sustainability Forum and Island Press in September 2020.
American Architectural Styles
This course traces the history of American architectural styles and discusses how to identify styles for historic preservation projects.