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Descriptions of Core Courses

URP 5101 Planning Theory and Practice. A general introduction to the field of planning, examining the intellectual heritage and procedural approaches shared by practitioners working in all areas of contemporary planning practice. Also introduces students to the general area of planning theory and some of the fundamental political and ethical issues they will face in planning practice.

URP 5131 Legal Foundations for Planning. Introduces the concepts, issues, and major legal decisions affecting the role of planning in the governmental process. Considers the role of federal and state constitutional laws as they affect planning activities, the basic requirements of administrative law and procedures, and the role of courts and legislatures in the control of land use, development, and the planning of services and facilities.

URP 5201 Planning Research Methods. Focuses on the social research and evaluation methods used in planning, including: the linkage between theory, research, and policy; conceptualization and operationalization of the research problem; study designs; sampling; data sources and collection techniques; the logic of data analysis; and micro-computer use.

URP 5211 Planning Statistics. An introduction to descriptive and associative statistics as applied to public policy problems encountered by planners. Covers basic definitions and descriptive measures, probability theory, distributions, sampling, and inference. Elementary multivariate techniques are treated, including those appropriate to the analysis of nominal and interval scales.

URP 5222 Planning Alternatives Evaluation. (Prerequisites - URP 5101 and URP 5201, or permission of instructor.) Focuses on methods used to analyze problems and formulate action alternatives. Emphasis is given to a variety of policy analytic techniques, including modeling, applied economic analysis, probability and risk, goals achievement, and cost benefit and cost effectiveness in the assessment of alternative courses of action.

URP 5261 Forecasting for Plan Development. (Prerequisite - 5211, 5845, and a graduate level statistics course; or permission of instructor.) Deals with the methods used in plan analysis and development. Emphasis is given to demographic analysis and projection techniques and economic base analysis and projection techniques. Students are required to use these methods in preparing a demographic and economic forecast for a Florida county.

URP 5847 The Growth and Development of Cities. Introduction to the various economic, social, demographic, technological, political and environmental factors affecting the location, development and growth or decline of cities, as well as the distribution of activities (industry, commerce, population, public facilities) within them.