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Urban and Regional Planning

College of Social Sciences
Social Sciences 107
2424 Maile Way
Honolulu, HI 96822
Tel: (808) 956-7381
Fax: (808) 956-6870
E-mail: idwp@hawaii.edu
Web: www.durp.hawaii.edu

Faculty

* Graduate Faculty

• *K. E. Kim, PhD (Chair)--planning theory, planning methods, infrastructure planning, and alternative tourism planning
• *M. Douglass, PhD--regional and rural development planning, urbanization and national development, international and local development on Pacific rim and in Asia
• *P. Flachsbart, PhD--planning methods and models, environmental planning, energy, land use planning, and urban transportation planning
• D. Foley, PhD--strategies of citizen participation, collaboration, nonprofit planning and management, community building, and community-based planning
• *R. Kwok, PhD--urbanization in China, East Asian development, spatial planning and urban design, development and regional economics
• *G. K. Lowry, PhD--alternative dispute resolution, coastal management, planning theory, and community-level planning
• *L. Minerbi, Dott Arch, MUP--comparative urbanism, settlement planning, environmental planning, urban design, community development, planning with indigenous people, and Pacific Island planning
• *K. Umemoto, PhD--community planning, planning theory, social theory, social policy, community economic development, and race in ethnic relations 

Cooperating Graduate Faculty

• D. L. Callies, JD--land use management and control, intergovernmental relations
• M. Chapman, PhD--population studies
• L. Cox, PhD--agricultural and resource economics
• A. B. Etherington, MA--housing, community services in developing countries of Southeast Asia
• M. Hamnett, PhD--anthropology
• *M. C. Jarman, PhD--environmental law, ocean law, legal writing
• N. Lewis, PhD--geography of health and disease, marine resource utilization and management, and women in development
• J. M. McCutcheon, PhD--social, cultural, and urban history
• M. McDonald, PhD--agricultural change, social theory, political geography, Japan
• D. Neubauer, PhD--political analysis, appraisal of health care delivery systems and policy discourse, alternative economic development, and political economy in Hawai'i
• L. H. Nitz, PhD--public policy and political economics
• C. Papacostas, PhD--transportation engineering and design
• S. Rab, PhD--architecture history and theory
• *K. Suryanata, PhD--political ecology, agriculture, rural development in Asia, environment and development, community-based resource management
• M. Tehranian, PhD--communications planning
• W. Wood, PhD--international public health planning
• S. Yeh, PhD--housing, urban sociology, development planning
• W. H. R. Yeh, MArch--architectural and urban design

Affiliate Graduate Faculty

• J. Fox, PhD--land use, forest resources and management, geographical information systems and spatial information technology, South and Southeast Asia
• M. Valencia, PhD--regional planning in Asia

Degree and Certificates Offered: MURP, Certificate in Planning Studies, Professional Certificate in Urban and Regional Planning

The Academic Program

Urban and regional planning (PLAN) is a dynamic field, that is still evolving. It emerged out of the convergence of two concerns: (1) the provision of urban infrastructure and (2) the initiation of social reform. While the underlying focus on community well-being continues, urban and regional planning today has broadened to include the development, implementation, and evaluation of a wide range of policies. Specifically, urban and regional planners, in both developing and developed countries, are concerned with the following:

1. The use of land in the city, in the suburbs, and in rural areas, particularly with the transition from one use to another;
2. The adverse impacts of human activities on the environment and the possible mitigation of those impacts;
3. The design of the city and the surrounding region so as to facilitate activities in which people need and want to engage;
4. The organization of settlement systems and the location of human activities in urban and regional space;
5. Identification of social needs and the design and provision of services and facilities to meet those needs;
6. The distribution of resources and of benefits and costs among people;
7. The anticipation of change and its impact on how people do and can live;
8. Participation of citizens in planning processes that affect their future; and
9. The way that choices are made, decisions implemented, and actions evaluated, and the means by which those processes can be improved in urban and regional areas.

The Department of Urban and Regional Planning takes a multidisciplinary approach to planning education, recognizing in particular the important contributions to planning that can be made by the social and natural sciences and by the architectural, public health, social work, and civil engineering professions; emphasizes extensive community involvement; engages in research that focuses on application of planning methodologies and implementation of planning endeavors; recognizes the close relationship between urban and regional planning and politics; acknowledges the difficulty of resolving the value differences that lie at the heart of most planning problems; and appreciates both the importance and the elusiveness of critical concepts, such as "the public interest," to urban and regional planning.

UH Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) graduates, of whom there are about 250, hold planning and related positions in a variety of public agencies, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and private firms in Hawai'i, on the continental United States, and in the Asia Pacific region.

Accreditation

The department is accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board.

Graduate Study

The department offers a multidisciplinary approach to planning education. Students are provided with an opportunity to develop an individualized but integrated course of study drawing on this department and other departments and professional schools in the University. Faculty and students engage in both funded and non-funded research and community service. The graduate curriculum focuses on theory, methodology, and practice in the following areas: community planning and social policy, environmental planning, urban and regional planning in Asia and the Pacific, and land use and infrastructure planning. Planning in the developing countries of Asia is emphasized.

For further information regarding the master's degree or certificate programs, students should write to the department.

Master's Degree

Students enter the MURP program from a variety of fields, usually the social sciences, architecture, engineering, public health, social work, and, increasingly, the natural sciences, but also from such diverse fields as philosophy, human development, and history. Students coming into the program are required to have an adequate background in descriptive and inferential statistics or to acquire this background prior to enrollment in PLAN 601 and 605.

Native speakers of English are required to take the GRE General Test. Others will be expected to have achieved adequate preparation in English as evaluated by the TOEFL. Each applicant should provide two letters of reference, preferably from individuals acquainted with the applicant academically or professionally. In addition, applicants must complete a self-assessment form and an express information form (available from the department). An interview with a member of the faculty, if feasible, is highly recommended. The deadline for application for admission is March 1 for the fall semester and September 1 for the spring semester.

Standards for a graduate with a MURP degree include the following:

1. Knowledge of the structure and the growth and transformation processes of human settlements;
2. Knowledge of planning theory, history, and ethics, including an understanding of the social and political nature of planning;
3. Knowledge of general methods and models appropriate to urban and regional planning, including methods appropriate to a chosen area of concentration;
4. Knowledge of planning information systems and computer applications in planning;
5. Ability to structure and evaluate alternative plans and strategies for resolving or mitigating planning problems;
6. Ability to communicate, especially in written and oral form; and
7. Ability to plan with, rather than for, clients.

MURP graduates hold a variety of planning and related positions in public agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private firms. In Hawai'i these include the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism; the Department of Health; the Land Use Commission; the Legislative auditor; the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; the House Majority Research Office; the Hawai'i Community Development Authority; the Housing Finance and Development Corporation; the Department of Public Safety; the Department of Land and Natural Resources; the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; the Honolulu City and County Departments of General Planning; Land Utilization, Housing and Community Development, and Parks and Recreation; the Office of the Managing Director; the Office of Council Services; the Planning Departments of the counties of Hawai'i, Kaua'i, and Maui; the Neighborhood Justice Center; banks and trust companies; consulting firms; development corporations; real estate firms; university research and extension organizations; and community colleges.

On the continental United States, graduates are city and county planners, program analysts in federal agencies (e.g., Office of Coastal Resource Management and Office of Management and Budget), and planning consultants. Other graduates include a planner for a nonprofit housing corporation, a lawyer-planner, and a law professor. Overseas positions include planners with regional planning, housing redevelopment and environmental agencies, the United Nations, and private development and consulting firms, as well as faculty in university programs. Several MURP graduates are pursuing doctoral degrees in planning, geography, political science, and economics, while others are seeking law degrees.

Requirements
The MURP degree is a two-year professional program that requires a minimum of 42 credit hours. It is designed to equip students to fill professional planning and policy analysis roles in public agencies, private firms, and community groups, particularly in Hawai'i, Asia, and the Pacific Basin. All students complete the core sequence (planning theory, planning methods, spatial planning theory, economic analysis for urban and regional planning, and planning models, a 6-credit-hour practicum, and three of the following courses: PLAN 610, 620, 630, and 640). The remainder of the academic program, including a second methodology course, is individually designed with concentration in a specialized area of the student's own choosing (with the consent of his or her adviser), provided adequate academic resources are available in the department and at the University. Grades of B or better are required in PLAN 600, 601, 602, 603, and 605, and an average of B or better must be earned in all courses counted toward the MURP degree. MURP students receiving a grade lower than a B will be allowed one additional opportunity to achieve a B or better in each core course.

Both Plan A (thesis) and Plan B (non-thesis) programs are available. All students are required to pass a final, which includes a successful defense of the thesis on the selected area of concentration, and to meet the program standards for graduation.

Professional Certificate in Urban and Regional Planning

The Professional Certificate in Urban and Regional Planning is designed for practicing planners eligible for graduate admission who are not able to attend school for the two years required to earn a MURP degree.

Professional certificate candidates specialize in one of the following four fields: community planning and social policy, environmental planning, land use and infrastructure planning, or urban and regional planning in Asia and the Pacific.

Professional certificate candidates are required to earn 18 credit hours including PLAN 600; 602 or 603; and 601 or 605. Each candidate selects a field of interest in which he or she takes three courses including PLAN 610, 620, 630, or 640. The specific courses are selected in consultation with the candidate's faculty adviser.

Applicants for the professional certificate program should apply to the Graduate Division as special non-degree students. Two letters of reference should be sent to the department from people who are familiar with the applicant's academic or professional record. Applicants must have earned a BA, BS, or a professional degree; have maintained a minimum GPA of 3.0 in the four semesters prior to admission; and have had at least three years of professional practice prior to admission.

Certificate in Planning Studies

The Certificate in Planning Studies allows students pursuing a master's or doctoral degree in another area to become acquainted with planning skills and activities. Students enrolled in graduate programs in architecture, economics, engineering, geography, political science, public health, social work, and sociology are among those eligible. Students are encouraged to use the certificate program to increase their competence in planning as it relates to their major area of study.

Certificate students are required to take five courses offered by the department and complete the requirements for a master's degree in their area of study. The required courses are PLAN 600, 601 or 605, and 751. The remaining two courses are to be selected from among the following courses by the certificate student in consultation with the faculty member responsible for directing the planning studies certificate program: PLAN 601 or 605 (whichever was not taken as a required method course); 602 or 603; and one of 610, 620, 630, or 640, or one elective course.

Successful completion of the program leads to a graduate degree in the student's chosen field and a Certificate in Planning Studies. Consideration for admission to the certificate program requires filing of an application form available from the department.

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