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

aerial view of suburban homes
Form-Based Codes 101: Preparing a Form-Based Code
Lisa Wise, Daniel Parolek
61 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
map of building types
Form-Based Codes: Using Building Types, Part 1
63 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
  • SACPLAN CPD
city with connection points
Location Optimization
Kevin Credit
70 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD
aerial of denver with buildings and transit
Equitable Transit Oriented Development
John Hersey
57 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD
black and white image of a crosswalk light with a green walking man and a red hanging man
Walkable City 2: The Useful Walk
Jeff Speck
82 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
rendering created in sketchup
Visual Simulation: Advanced Rendering in SketchUp
Mike Ernst
46 Mins
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD
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
aerial view of cars at large intersection
Transportation Planning: Travel Behavior Principles and Modelling Approaches
Richard Willson
55 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
  • SACPLAN CPD
cars parked along curb in Old Town Pasadena California
Parking Benefit Districts
Donald Shoup
56 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD
Brooklyn Bridge Park at golden hour
History of U.S. Landscape Architecture, Part 2
Kristin Faurest
61 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
view of downtown minneapolis from bridge
Greening the Neighborhood: LEED-ND Metrics
Eliot Allen
65 Mins
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD
QGIS model of pedestrian shed for urban design course
Urban Design for Planners 3: Neighborhoods and Centers
Emily Talen
59 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
  • SACPLAN CPD
busy street with cars and pedestrians in India
The Human Scale
81 Mins
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD
Boston buildings and bridge
The Elements of Citymaking: Design, Policy, and Finance
Jason Neville
57 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD
Bus departs busbay in town center
Planning Communities for Maximum Transit Access
Jarrett Walker
75 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
illustratin of street with buildings and trees
Design in Planning: An Overview
Jason Kambitsis
58 Mins
  • SACPLAN CPD
government building with columns
Form-Based Codes 101: Legal Aspects
Daniel Parolek, Daniel K. Slone
85 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
various maps of building types
Form-Based Codes: Using Building Types, Part 2
53 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD
map of proposed transit corridor
Suitability Analysis and Linear Optimization: Siting a New Transit Line
Kevin Credit
92 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
chicago skyline and lincoln park
How Zoning Shapes Cities, Communities, and Regions
Jenny Schuetz
84 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD
Car crashed into interstate wall with firefighters and people pointing.
Walkable City 3: The Safe Walk (A)
Jeff Speck
77 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
rendering of buildings created in sketchup
Visual Simulation: Rendering Styles and Presentation with SketchUp
Mike Ernst
29 Mins
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD
sign placed in grass next to street
Legal Issues in Sign Codes
James Carpentier
59 Mins
  • AICP CM
A B-29 over Osaka, Japan on 1 June 1945
History of City Planning 3: Midcentury Modern (1940-1979)
Jason Luger
64 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
  • SACPLAN CPD

Top Urban Design Instructors

Emily Talen

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

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Richard Willson

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

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David Dixon

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

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Eliot Allen

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

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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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Jeff Speck

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

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Jason Luger

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

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Daniel Parolek

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

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Lennart Nout

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

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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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Meredith Johnson

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

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Chris Holtkamp

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

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Donald Shoup

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

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Chase Mullen

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

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Elliot Hartley

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

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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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Norman Wright

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

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Darryl Jones

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

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Adam Fine

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

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Geoffrey Ferrell

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

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Mary Madden

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

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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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David Rouse

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

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All Urban Design Courses

US Disability Access Laws for Planners Sign Up

US Disability Access Laws for Planners

Instructor: Jonathan Katz-Ouziel

Explore the key disability rights laws that shape planners' work — including the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Architectural Barriers Act, the Fair Housing Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 — to understand their core provisions.

4.33
109 Mins
AIA CES
AICP CM
Walkable City 3: The Safe Walk (A) Sign Up

Walkable City 3: The Safe Walk (A)

Instructor: Jeff Speck

Pedestrian deaths are up 78% since 2009. While car use and size are long-term issues, safer street design — like narrower lanes and two-way roads — can reduce speeding now.

4.54
77 Mins
CIP
AIA CES
AICP CM
Equitable Transit Oriented Development Sign Up

Equitable Transit Oriented Development

Instructor: John Hersey

Equitable transit oriented development (eTOD) prioritizes inclusive community development in multi-modal regional growth.

4.38
57 Mins
CIP
AIA CES
AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD

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