The Neighborhood Planning and Community Development specialization is concerned with the creation, preservation, and revitalization of neighborhoods and other small-area places, including commercial and public spaces that serve resident populations. It focuses on building the economic, physical, social, and political capital necessary to effect change through neighborhood revitalization strategies that aim to design and plan for equitable places and build human capital. Neighborhood planning evolved from the failures of urban renewal and anti-poverty-based policies of the 1950s and 1960s. In response to the failures of top-down approaches to revitalizing urban neighborhoods, neighborhood planning emerged as a bottom-up, place-based strategy to incorporate community organizations and residents in the planning process. Community Development further shapes neighborhoods as planners work alongside community residents to derive place-based solutions that build human capital and promote equity and social justice.
The doctoral (Ph.D.) program in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning educates scholars to teach, conduct research, and carry out service that contributes to a better understanding and shaping of resilient communities and ecosystems in order to promote human capabilities, social justice, sustainable livelihoods, and community health and safety. Our faculty conduct research in the following areas: Planning for an Aging Population, Planning for Health and Resilient Communities, Transportation Land Use and Accessibility in the Modern City, Sustainable Communities, Collaborative Environmental Management, Community Neighborhood Change, and Human Settlements and Institutions in the Context of Global Change. Florida State University is an excellent place for doctoral study. Our energetic, internationally recognized faculty is committed to training and mentoring our doctoral students as they become future teachers, scholars, and leaders in their various fields. Our low student-faculty ratio and small doctoral class sizes (typically 3-5 students enter the doctoral program each year) enable close collaboration in teaching and research between students and faculty. Our doctoral program's alums include deans, department chairs, program directors, distinguished scholars, and a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners College of Fellows.
