SPDC highlights summer courses in Urban & Regional Planning

This summer, the Urban & Regional Planning (URP) Program, a part of the School of Planning, Design and Construction (SPDC), is offering three exciting courses for students of all majors.

This summer, the Urban & Regional Planning (URP) Program, a part of the School of Planning, Design and Construction (SPDC), is offering three exciting courses for students of all majors. The courses will cover a wide range of topics, including sports, economics, history and social systems.

PDC 491 – Mega Event Planning: The Olympics, World Cup and World’s Fairs
The URP professors Drs. Eva Kassens-Noor and Mark Wilson have both seen their fair share of mega events, and wish to share their expertise with students. Mega events, like the Olympics, the FIFA World Cup, the Tour de France and even the NFL Super Bowl, are gargantuan events whose impacts go far beyond the opening and closing whistles. Most prominently, the course will cover the effects mega events have on the economies, societies and natural environments of their host regions, beginning years before the actual event and extending far past the closing ceremonies.

This three-credit course will delve into these areas as the 2014 FIFA World Cup is carried out Brazil. The course will be offered online at Michigan State University both summer sessions, but students wanting to enroll must get an override from Jonglim Han Yoo (hanjong@msu.edu), the URP Academic Advisor.

UP 100 – The City
Dr. Herb Norman, URP professor in the School of Planning, Design, and Construction, will be offering all students an opportunity to examine the city in a way that goes beyond the physical, man-made structures that we see. The course will explore the city as a system of interacting elements, which either meet or frustrate the needs of their surroundings or populations. The course will examine the factors that have affected the development of cities into the uniquely powerful beings they are today, through the study of belief systems and individual values. By studying the links between city elements and human lives, this three-credit course will bring cities to life as a conglomerate of vital and dynamic forces.

UP 201 – Introduction to Urban and Regional Planning 
What is planning? Why do we plan cities? When did this practice begin, and what circumstances brought this about? The URP Professor Dr. Herb Norman, will answer these questions in this three-credit course that will cover the fundamentals of urban planning. Students will see planning as the convergence of the physical urban space and social and economic forces. Dr. Norman will cover the history of urban planning through general urban history to paint students a picture of what the field is all about, and how it affects their everyday lives.

Learn more about the Urban & Regional Planning Program.

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