GIS and Related Courses:

The School of Urban and Regional Planning and the Visual Planning Technology Lab offers several courses in GIS and related technologies.
The courses are designed to:

• Provide hands-on experience with GIS, and other IT software packages.
• Build working knowledge and skills in terms of understanding, applying, and managing geographic information systems as well as other visual technologies within the planning and policy environment.
• Give students a comprehensive survey of the technology used by public and private agencies at local, regional and national levels.

Graduate-level courses include:

• URP 6270, Introduction to GIS in Planning
• URP 6277, GIS Applications in Planning
• URP 6272, Managing GIS Projects

Undergraduate-level courses include:

• URP 4254, Introduction to Visual Planning Technologies

Special Topics Class

• URP 6930/ARC 4930, In[form]ed City

Graduate-Level Courses:

URP 6270, Introduction to GIS in Planning
This is a core course for students enrolled in the MURP Program. Topics include: geographic and cartographic concepts; data formats and sources; map design and visualization techniques; map projection, metadata, basic spatial analysis techniques, and web-GIS applications. Students also learn how to use and apply ArcGIS software functionality as part of weekly lab sessions.

URP 6277, GIS Applications in Planning
This course builds on the introductory GIS course and covers topics such as database design and development, suitability analysis and network analysis. It is designed for those individuals specifically interested in a variety of planning related applications in the fields of land use and environmental planning, community and economic development, and urban design. Each student is expected to complete an individual GIS project of their choice by the end of the semester. Course content subject to change based on Instructor.

URP 6272, Managing GIS Projects
This course draws from the experiences of GIS professionals who have implemented and managed GIS. It focuses on planning and implementing a GIS Project, with emphasis on organizational planning, the project proposal, resource commitment, requirements evaluation, preliminary design, the acquisition plan, and system life cycle planning. Course content subject to change based on Instructor.

Undergraduate-Level Courses:

URP 4254, Introduction to Visual Planning Technologies
This course provides an introduction to a variety of visual planning technologies and how they may be applied to planning and decision making. Topics include data sources, map design, visualization techniques, presentation techniques, web-design, and plan-making. During the times allocated for exercises and assignments, students learn the basic functions of Excel, Powerpoint, Adobe Photoshop, Excel, ArcGIS, and SketchUp to conduct basic planning analyses and produce quality map and graphic products and presentations.

Special Topics (one time course offering in Summer 2006)

URP 6930/ARC 4930, In[form]ed City
Contemporary tools for analysis and design now offer an unprecedented opportunity to record the urban condition as a dynamic database of form, context, and information. By combining the power of surface modeling tools (SketchUp) with the visual planning and database tools of GIS software (using ArcGIS), students examine the intersection of form, space, and information in the urban context.