Urban Affairs

• MET UA 301: Introduction to Urban Affairs
  This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to urban affairs and urban problems, including an overview of prominent theories about the nature and causes of urban problems. We will examine the metropolitan area as a complex system with interdependent institutions and problems and consider present as well as future urban policy options in areas such as housing, transportation, crime, education, environment and economic development.
• MET UA 403: Boston Urban Seminar
  An opportunity to explore general issues of urban affairs and planning in seminar. Theme changes, but each seminar focuses on Boston. Prominent scholars and professionals active in city and regional issues are invited to participate.
• MET UA 409: Urban Affairs Senior Project
  Required of undergraduate urban affairs majors. Students complete a senior project in their field of interest. Individual faculty supervision arranged by the department; project topic and approach arranged between student and advisor.
• MET UA 503: Housing and Community Development
  Surveys the factors affecting supply and price of urban housing. Examines federal, state, and municipal programs, as well as future policy options, from the standpoint of housing quality and community development goals. Analysis of selected international comparative experience.
• MET UA 505: Urban Management
  Examination of selected cases in municipal and public management. Organization, financial management, personnel relations, program planning and budgeting, and issues of public and private sector relations. The administration of municipal functions, including health, police, schools, and housing.
• MET UA 507: Law and Justice in the City
  Operation of the criminal justice system in the urban setting. Special attention is paid to the problems of safeguarding individual rights. Examines relationship between social and economic structure of cities and workings of the system of justice.
• MET UA 508: Real Estate Development
  Various factors affecting location, construction, financing, and marketing of real estate in metropolitan areas. Studies the relationship of public policy to the activities of the private sector, market analysis techniques, evaluation of development projects, and problems of real estate investment.
• MET UA 509: Urban and Public Finance and Budgeting
  Economic, social, and political aspects of state and local government finances. Theory of public finance; revenues, expenditures, and survey of budgetary processes. Planning techniques in capital budgeting and other finance activities. Selected issues: debt, user fees, property taxes, and incentives.
• MET UA 510: Selected Topics in Urban Affairs
  UA510 is the designation for "Special Topics in Planning". The subject matter for UA510 courses changes from semester to semester, and more than one UA510 can be offered in a given semester. For course descriptions, please contact the Department or the Graduate Student Advisor.
• MET UA 515: History and Theory of Urban Planning
  History, concepts, and methods of contemporary urban and regional planning practice. Governmental, nonprofit, and private settings of professional planning; plans, research, and policy development; uses and implementation of planning. Political analysis of planning issues, such as comprehensiveness, public interest, advocacy, negotiation, and future orientation. Case materials drawn from redevelopment, growth management, land use conflicts, and service delivery.
• MET UA 521: Environmental Law
  Principles and status of environmental law for pollution control and environmental improvement. Impact statements, resource conservation and protection, growth management. Emphasis on air, water, land, and hazardous waste issues. Environmental, economic, and other policy relationships. Case materials and court decisions.
• MET UA 546: Historic Preservation
  An introduction to the American preservation movement, including current issues and modern practice. Considers key aspects of the history, theory, and philosophy of historic preservation, and introduces students to key figures in preservation agencies and organizations in this region.
• MET UA 553: Documenting Historic Buildings and Landscapes
  Seminar in architectural and landscape recording techniques involving readings, fieldwork, and writing; projects include research on individual buildings as well as groups of resources. Emphasis on research design and evaluation of evidence.
• MET UA 590: International Comparative Urbanization and Planning
  Examination of a selected country, region, or city in relation to issues of urbanization and development planning. Emphasis on comparative analysis of policy, techniques, conditions, issues, and effectiveness. Topics and international subjects vary. Consult the department for details.
• MET UA 604: Urban Political Decision-Making: Citizen Participation in the Planning Process
  Case studies of political decision-making roles in urban conflict management and resource allocation. Community power distribution, factors influencing change, leadership styles, and relationships to administrators and planners. Selected policy issues, such as redevelopment, education, crime, and service delivery.
• MET UA 611: Community Development
  Examination of community development challenges in several areas, including housing, economic development, community policing, and resident activism. Analysis of past and present strategies for strengthening communities through case studies, actual government and community programs, guest lectures, and related readings.
• MET UA 613: Designing Urban Space
  The role of urban design in the community development process. Examines human behavior, aesthetic foundations of design methods, citizen/client participation, and public policy issues. Analysis of actual community spaces. Student design exercises.
• MET UA 617: Human and Ecological Systems: Living Systems Theory and Design
  Our modern communities and their related infrastructure have created positive, short-term benefit to humans and unintended destructive impact on the living systems that support us. How can we reconcile the interrelationship between perceived human needs and earth's living processes? This course explores the theory and practical implementation of current practices of 'sustainability' and living systems thinking. The living processes of community will be explored as a catalyst for healthy change, design thinking, and on-the-ground implementation. The course is based on the experience and writings of leading living system theorists, authors, architects, planners, developers, landscape architects, and this instructor. By the end of the course, our understanding will shift from seeing the world as pieces in relationship to seeing it as inseparable 'wholes' of systems, nested within one another.
• MET UA 619: Urban Transportation Policy and Planning
  This course will provide students with a broad introduction to important concepts and policy issues in transportation, principally at an urban and metropolitan level. In addition, the course will explore methods planning practitioners can use to analyze transportation problems and propose solutions. The course will use specific examples of planning initiatives (both operations and capital) from transportation agencies within the Boston Metropolitan region. Guest speakers from local, regional, and state transportation agencies within the Greater Boston Metropolitan area will supplement the instructor?s lectures and assigned readings.
• MET UA 620: Urban and Regional Land Use Policy and Planning
  Techniques of land use planning, including socioeconomic studies, market analysis and needs forecasting, mapping, environment and service impacts, and transportation/land use coordination. Policies for achieving land use objectives: planned unit development, zoning, development corporations, new towns, and land preservation.