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University of Colorado Denver, Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) program, 2013-14 Bulletin
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PROGRAM OVERVIEW
PASSIONATE. ENGAGED. PREPARED.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
PREPARED
ENGAGED
PASSIONATE
The MURP program at UC Denver is a distinguished and fully-accredited Research
I University program that has produced over 1,200 graduates since 1971. Our
MURP faculty consists of a thoughtful mix of world-class researchers and highly
respected planning professionals who believe they must actively engage with
students, collaborate with other planning and design professionals, and provide
leadership in the community. On the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP)
exam, UC Denver has an 80% pass rate (8% higher than the national average) and
ranks 3rd out of all accredited programs in North America in the total number of
alumni passing the exam. Our graduates have a high rate of success in finding
employment, and our MURP alumni can be found in a variety of professional
positions throughout Colorado, the United States, and the world.
We believe you should learn planning by interacting directly with planners and
the public to solve real-world planning challenges. A cornerstone of our MURP
program is providing you with many opportunities to directly engage with planning
professionals. Doing so offers you the chance to learn the craft from planners
in the field and the opportunity to forge personal relationships that can lead to
job offers and future partnerships. Our curriculum features numerous courses
that directly engage you with professionals and the community, which helps you
develop a clearer understanding of your own career goals, educational needs, and
personal interests. We also have numerous partnerships with local businesses,
non-profit organizations, neighborhood groups, government entities, and citizens
throughout Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region.
We seek students who are highly qualified academically as defined by our
admission requirements; are passionate about planning; demonstrate the ability to
act in a professional and ethical manner; will work hard in their studies and actively
participate in program activities; and reflect a diverse population and represent
different perspectives and backgrounds. We also seek students who believe, as
we do, in an interdisciplinary approach to planning. A successful planner is one
who understands and values the perspectives of other disciplines that participate
in the planning and city building process. That’s why we offer numerous dual
degrees and cross-listed courses with our partner programs in the College of
Architecture and Planning and with other programs throughout the University of
Colorado system.
PROGRAM INITIATIVES
The link between human health and the built environment has become a key factor in planning cities and regions
across the globe. Colorado is known for its physically fit and active adult population, but our vulnerable populations
face significant challenges such as childhood obesity, disconnected neighborhoods, and lack of access to healthy
food. Colorado has become a national leader in finding ways to plan and design healthier environments, and our
Healthy Communities Initiative is a big part of those efforts.
We are working hard to advance active transportation options, fresh food availability, healthy lifestyles programs and
policies, environmental restoration, and to reduce health disparities among disadvantaged populations. We work with
numerous partners at the local, state and federal levels, as well as the non-profit, educational and private sectors,
to provide you with comprehensive and interdisciplinary training in the tools, innovations, and policies necessary for
creating physically, socially and economically healthy communities. Featured courses associated with our Healthy
Communities Initiative include:
Community Development
Community Food Systems
Green Real Estate Development
Healthy Community Assessments
Parks and Public Spaces
Pedestrian and Bicycle Planning
Planning Healthy Communities
Planning in the Developing World
Planning Sustainable Suburbs
Social Justice in Planning
Transportation and Land Use
Urban Housing
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After decades of suburbanization, segregated land uses, and automobile-dependent development, the United States
is now experiencing a resurgence of traditional urbanism and a reorientation toward central cities. Nowhere else is
that phenomenon more evident than in Denver, where infill and transit-oriented development, historic preservation,
adaptive reuse, and multi-modal transport is transforming the urban landscape and establishing new, more sustainable
patterns of development at the regional level. From our home in Denver’s vibrant Lower Downtown district--considered
by many to be one of the greatest urban revitalization stories in the country’s history--you will be surrounded by a
variety of rail, bus, bike, and pedestrian transportation options, lively streetscapes, restored historic buildings, private-
sector construction projects and public infrastructure investments, and progressive civic and cultural programs... all
reflecting the resurgence of the central city.
Our Urban Revitalization Initiative gives students opportunities to engage with local developers, urbanists, planners,
designers, creative entrepreneurers, civic leaders, and policymakers to help plan the revival and enhancement of
established cities and suburbs. Featured courses include:
PROGRAM INITIATIVES
Analyzing the Built Environment
Community Development
Form and Formation of Cities
Green Real Estate Development
Parks and Public Spaces
Pedestrian and Bicycle Planning
Real Estate Development Process
Transit Planning
Urban Economic Systems
Urban Housing
Urban Infrastructure
Urban Redevelopment Strategies
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Climate change, environmental degradation, resource scarcity, and sprawling development present critical challenges
to planners worldwide. In the Rocky Mountain West, the impacts are evident in habitat loss, wildfire risk, and conflicts
over water and energy resources, among others. Our Regional Sustainability Initiative explores ways that Colorado and
its neighbors can tackle these issues together. At the metropolitan level, Denver and its adjacent communities already
serve as a model for regional planning and cooperation, exemplified by the visionary FasTracks transit program.
Throughout Colorado and the Rocky Mountain West, municipalities, developers and businesses, public institutions,
and non-profit groups are immersed in exploring what sustainability means, how it should be implemented and
measured, and how to achieve sustainable environments at the local, regional, and global levels.
Our Regional Sustainability Initiative draws upon Denver’s successes and challenges in regional land use, transportation,
economic development and resource planning to help students understand how built and natural environments can
co-exist more sustainably at various regional scales. Featured courses within the Regional Sustainability Initiative
include:
PROGRAM INITIATIVES
Comparative International Planning
Energy and Natural Resource Planning
Environmental Management
Environmental Policy and Regulation
Planning in the Developing World
Planning Sustainable Suburbs
Regional Economic Systems
Regional Planning and Policy
Small Town and Rural Planning
Tourism and Resort Planning
Transportation and Land Use
Transportation Planning and Policy
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PROGRAM FEATURESOur passion for teaching you the knowledge, skills and values you’ll need to be confident, principled, and visionary
planners is reflected in the five key features we’ve integrated across our program and curriculum:
INTERNATIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
We provide you the opportunity to study planning from an international perspective. By offering lecture courses that
focus on global planning issues and studios that involve on-site coursework in other countries and collaborations with
universities abroad, we can help you expand your personal and educational worldview.
PHYSICAL PLANNING AND DESIGN
We emphasize physical planning and design throughout our curriculum. Housed within the College of Architecture and
Planning, we work closely with the College’s Architecture, Urban Design, Landscape Architecture, and Historic Preservation
programs to provide you access to a comprehensive education rooted in physical planning.
SELF-DIRECTED CURRICULUM
We offer you the unique ability to craft an education suited to your career goals and personal interests. You may choose any
combination of elective courses, whether oriented towards one of our three Program Initiatives, a traditional specialization,
or a generalist survey of the planning field.
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT
We infuse throughout our program significant opportunities for you to gain hands-on experience and have direct interaction
with the region’s planning professionals. We use Colorado’s diverse urban and natural landscapes as a real-world classroom
for you to experience, analyze, and plan the physical environment.
INNOVATIVE PLANNING TECHNOLOGIES
We integrate innovative planning technologies into many of our program’s courses and activities. We capitalize on the
Denver region’s entrepreneurial spirit and tech-focused economy to provide you access to state-of-the-art planning
technologies and to teach you how to use these tools to support the planning process.
PROGRAM LOCATIONWe love our location in Downtown Denver and so will you! We thrive on our location in the heart of an intensive urban
environment, and we embrace the Mile High City’s energy and creativity in all that we do. We capitalize on our setting in
Denver, a city that...
is the largest urban center in a 500-mile radius
serves as the cultural, intellectual, and economic capital of America’s Rocky Mountain region
is surrounded by Colorado’s tremendous scenic beauty and valuable natural and strategic resources
is the base for exploring Colorado’s abundant recreational amenities
is steadily growing, densifying, and revitalizing, and offers an exceptional quality of life
has a thriving downtown and a vibrant core of dozens of traditional urban neighborhoods
has a rich urban heritage and a legacy of civic investment and progressive planning
has a young, diverse, healthy, physically active, highly educated population
has a strong culture of entrepreneurship, collaboration, and partnerships
has an engaged citizenry and civic leaders passionate about urbanism and sustainability
has a broad and diverse community of professional planners and designers
serves as a national model for innovation and experimentation in planning and design
serves as a microcosm of the myriad issues that planners face throughout the country
has notable examples of virtually every type of urbanism--good and bad--from the last 150 years
is a fantastic place to study urban and regional planning!
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PASSIONATE. ENGAGED. PREPARED.
CAP.UCDENVER.EDU/MURP
(303) 556-3382
CAP@UCDENVER.EDU
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