The undergraduate degree in Urban Planning focuses on Urban Ecology, exploring the interrelationships among ecological, building, infrastructural, and cultural systems, with an aim toward enhancing the vitality and vibrancy of places and communities. For those seeking work at the graduate level, it also provides preparation for the Master of City & Metropolitan degree.
The program is designed to respond to the particular planning issues that exist in the “new west.” These might be characterized as environmental management, fragile landscape protection, recreation and tourism, public lands planning, rapid population growth, rural towns, regional transportation, and low density sprawl.
Urban Planners help decide important community issues that affect daily quality of life as well as the long-term health of the environment. It is a highly interdisciplinary field and the workday usually brings a variety of different activities including analytical work, community meetings, problem solving, and administrative actions. The undergraduate program in urban planning will prepare students well for this career.
B.S./B.A. in Urban Planning Curriculum:
Students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.7 or higher to be admitted to the major. To enter the major, a student must first seek consultation from the program advisor and then request to be coded as a major.
click here to download the Bachelor’s in Urban Planning Curriculum
Prior to beginning studies in Planning, students should have satisfied the University’s Lower Division Writing Requirement, the American Institutions Requirement, the Quantitative Reasoning Requirements, and most of the Intellectual Explorations Requirements. Transfer students should have or nearly have completed their general education requirements. Typically, the Planning major can be completed in a two- year period. However, efficiently scheduling both required courses and desired electives demands care, forethought and consideration. Planning courses are usually offered once a year, and their scheduling is reasonably predictable. Continued enrollment in the major requires students to maintain a 2.7 overall GPA or a 3.00 GPA within the major.
Required Core (26 credit)
2010 Foundations of Urban Ecology
3100 History & Practice of Planning
3250 Planning Process & Methods
3270 Graphic Communication in Planning
4260 Planning Law & Administration
4010 Research Methods in Planning
4280 Planning Workshop
4954 Internship
Communication Skills (3 credits)
WRTG 3000 level -or–
ENGL 3610 or 3900
Electives (18 credits)
Select from any other undergraduate planning offerings or related courses in other disciplines at the upper division level.
If you would like to speak with an advisor about obtaining an undergraduate degree in Urban Planning please feel free to contact us by phone or email.
The University of Utah
College of Architecture + Planning
375 South 1530 East Room 235
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112
Phone: (801) 581-7175
Email: advisor@arch.utah.edu
