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