Urban Design | Planetizen Courses

At its core, urban design is the process of deciding how a city will be organized. More than just the physical layout of roads, buildings, open space, and transportation networks, urban design includes decisions about land use, urban form, and neighborhood scale that affect citizens’ access to urban amenities and healthy living environments near amenities and transportation.

Urban Design Courses

title graphic reads "tactical urbanism"

Tactical Urbanism: An Introduction

81 Mins

AICP CM
CNU-A
SACPLAN CPD

variety of housing units

Urban Sustainability Appraisal Tools for Planned Neighborhoods and Landscapes

85 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A
SACPLAN CPD

Pompeii ruins with Mount Vesuvius in the background

History of City Planning 1: Ancient Times to the Modern Age (7,500 BC to 1900)

53 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A
SACPLAN CPD

two-story craftsman style home with a green lawn

American Architectural Styles

Meredith Johnson

71 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM

tall trees and mountains with a night sky of stars

Lighting Regulations and Dark Sky Places

66 Mins

CIP
AIA CES
AICP CM

bicyclists cross bridge in park with houston skyline in background

Greening the Neighborhood: An Introduction to LEED-ND

51 Mins

AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD

exterior and interior of tiny home for urban planning course

Regulatory Implications of Tiny Homes

58 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A

view of Shanghai, China skyline

History of City Planning 4: Planning in the Postmodern Age (1980-Today)

74 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A
SACPLAN CPD

two elderly people crossing the street

The Pedestrian Safety Crisis in the U.S.

53 Mins

AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD

Sketch of a mixed-use street scene

Placemaking for Innovation: Creating Innovation Ecosystems

50 Mins

CIP
AICP CM

street with buildings and trees

Form-Based Codes 101: Corridors

Geoffrey Ferrell, Kaizer Rangwala

55 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A
LA CES

3d model built in CityEngine for urban planning course

CityEngine for Planners 4: Sharing Your Work

77 Mins

SACPLAN CPD

large city fountain surrounded by people

Lewis Mumford on the City 6: The City and the Future

29 Mins

AICP CM

parking meter on sidewalk

The Right Price for Curb Parking

51 Mins

CIP
AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD

pedestrian on path next to bikeshare

Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

79 Mins

CIP
AIA CES
AICP CM

bike lane

Bicycle-Friendly Streets: Design Standards

Michelle DeRobertis

41 Mins

SACPLAN CPD

park with buildings in background

Calculating the Benefits of Parks, Trails, and Open Space

34 Mins

AICP CM
CNU-A
SACPLAN CPD

buildings, cars, people on Halsted Street in Chicago in 1900

History of City Planning 2: Modern Ideas of City Planning (1900-1939)

49 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A
SACPLAN CPD

three images of New York buildings, Central Park and a man riding a bike

U.S. City Planning 101

46 Mins

fingerboard sign

Designing a Wayfinding System

58 Mins

CIP
AIA CES
AICP CM

park with city skyline in background

Greening the Neighborhood: Accelerating Sustainability with LEED-ND

52 Mins

AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD

data layers in QGIS for urban design course

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

59 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A
SACPLAN CPD

A collage of four megacities

History of City Planning 5: The City of Tomorrow

56 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A
SACPLAN CPD

large group of people doing yoga outdoors in a city center

Women and Cities: Gender Equity, Past and Present

Katrina Johnston-Zimmerman

54 Mins

CIP
AIA CES
AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD

Top Urban Design Instructors

Emily Talen

Emily Talen is Professor of Urbanism at the University of Chicago. Her research is devoted to...

Richard Willson

Richard Willson is a professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at California State...

David Dixon

David is well known for helping create new, mixed-use urban districts (in both cities and suburbs)...

Eliot Allen

Eliot Allen, certified, LEED AP-ND, is an urban planner and Principal with Criterion Planners of Portland...

Kristin Faurest

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

Jeff Speck

Jeff Speck is a city planner who advocates internationally for more walkable cities.

Jason Luger

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

Daniel Parolek

Daniel Parolek is a nationally recognized thought leader in architecture, design, and urban planning, specifically in...

Lennart Nout

Lennart is an urban mobility design consultant, specializing in design and planning of bicycle networks and...

Katrina Johnston-Zimmerman

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

Meredith Johnson

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

Chris Holtkamp

Chris Holtkamp is a certified planner and is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Planning at the...

Donald Shoup

Donald Shoup is Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Urban Planning at UCLA. His research...

Chase Mullen

Chase is the Director of Design Visualization at MIG. With an acute eye for graphics and...

Elliot Hartley

Elliot Hartley is an internationally recognised geodesign and Esri CityEngine expert.

Mark David Major

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

Norman Wright

Norman Wright is the Director of Neighborhood Services for Adams County, Colorado. In his career as...

Darryl Jones

Darryl Jones is an artist and filmmaker based in Oakland, CA.

Adam Fine

Adam is the Director of experiential graphic design at Nova Scotia-based Fathom Studio and has worked...

Geoffrey Ferrell

Geoffrey is one of the originators of the modern practice of Form-Based Codes. His work ranges...

Mary Madden

Mary Madden has nearly 20 years of experience in the fields of urban planning and design...

Elizabeth Doerr

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

Lynn Peterson

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

David Rouse

David is a consultant, educator, and author with over 40 years of experience in urban and...

Master Urban Planning Skills With A Planetizen Courses Subscription.

Sign up

All Urban Design Courses

CityEngine for Planners 3: Integration and GIS

Instructor: Elliot Hartley

Learn how to import real-world data from satellite imagery and terrain to GIS data.

4.14

70 Mins

AICP CM

SACPLAN CPD

CityEngine for Planners 2: Coding in Computer Generated Architecture (CGA) and Exporting

Instructor: Elliot Hartley

The second course of the City Engine for Planners track dives into coding in Esri CityEngine’s proprietary Computer Generated Architecture (CGA) code.

4.22

70 Mins

AICP CM

SACPLAN CPD

CityEngine for Planners 1: Introduction

Instructor: Elliot Hartley

This course is designed for beginners seeking an introduction to 3D procedural modeling and CityEngine software.

4.35

47 Mins

AICP CM

SACPLAN CPD