Academics / Concentrations

Urban Affairs and Planning

Create global sustainable communities.

The concentration in Urban Affairs and Planning gives students a city-focused perspective on international development. More than half of the world population now resides in urban areas, raising important questions about how governments should meet public needs for transportation, health and sanitation, education, and other essential services within complex and massive urban contexts. In the developing world, as urbanization continues to grow at a rapid pace, booming cities like Shanghai, Mumbai, Buenos Aires, and Johannesburg face particularly critical challenges including poverty, homelessness, and pollution. Students confront such problems on an international scale, while developing valuable skills in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), regional economic planning, and sustainable development management.  

To learn more about Masters programs that offer this concentration, and to access the Plan of Study for this concentration as well as other concentration options, follow these links to the Master of International Development and the Master of Public Administration

Major Courses and Plans of Study

With the urban affairs and planning concentration, you will choose from a range of core courses tailored to you interests as well as taking a set of required degree courses. Compare the requirements for the MPA and MID degrees with this concentration.

Faculty Experts

Work with faculty whose academic backgrounds, fieldwork, and research make them experts in urban affairs and planning. 

Sabina Deitrick

Sabina Deitrick
Associate Professor

In outreach, economic planning, and more, Deitrick has a broad range of experience in issues of community development.

Marcela Gonzales Rivas headshot

Marcela González Rivas
Associate Professor

Rivas’ research focuses on how social equity, community development, and regional economic planning can overcome issues of marginalization.

Carissa Schively Slotterback

Carissa Schively Slotterback
Dean, Professor

Named dean of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) in 2020, Dr. Slotterback is widely recognized for her research and teaching on public engagement and decision making in environmental, land use, and transportation planning.