City and Regional Planning

Ohio State University’s city and regional planning program at the Knowlton School of Architecture has, since 1959, produced some of the most influential and effective planning professionals in the world. The program’s high quality and small size offers a challenging and stimulating learning environment for graduate students.

The program features a master’s degree and a doctoral degree. Both offer challenging study and stimulating research opportunities. In the master’s program, emphasis is placed on developing planners for practical professional service. Courses and assignments emphasize application of planning knowledge toward real-world situations. In the doctoral program, the key goal is for graduates to extend knowledge of the planning discipline and improve the profession. The quest for excellence is emphasized in both programs, and the high caliber faculty work diligently to offer the best education possible.

Opportunities for Students

The city and regional planning program offers extensive trainee and internship programs that feature exciting opportunities for students to receive financial assistance for their graduate work and to gain professional work experience while taking classes. A substantial percentage of students in the master’s of city and regional planning program participate in the program. Each student receives a fee and tuition waiver and works for 20 hours per week for a stipend.

Internship/traineeship positions vary each year, but some of the typical internships include working in the Neighborhood Services Division of the City of Columbus government, at the Ohio Public Utilities Commission, in state government offices (especially the departments of Development and Transportation), and in the county and suburban jurisdictions’ planning offices. In addition, some students work at private nonprofit organizations, such as Columbus Housing Partnership, and even some private planning firms.

City and Regional Planning Specializations

All students take a core curriculum of required classes. Beyond the core, students have three choices. They may become generalists, they may specialize in one of the areas listed below or they may create their own area of specialization.

Environmental and Land Use Planning
Geographic Information Systems
Housing, Real Estate and Neighborhood Planning
International Development Planning
Physical Planning and Design
Planning Policy and Process
Transportation Planning
Urban and Regional Economic Planning

Dual Degrees

Many students develop dual degree programs during their graduate studies. These programs give students the opportunity to earn two master’s degrees in much less time than taking the degrees individually, and they often require only a little more time than the CRP degree alone. Having two well-chosen degrees allows students to focus their work and makes them more marketable upon graduation. Students can arrange their own dual degree programs by working with the faculty in the two departments of interest to tailor their programs and find ways to use their classes to fulfill the requirements of both, or they can work within the frameworks we have already created for dual degree programs with several other entities on campus: the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science; Geography; Public Policy and Management; Natural Resources; and the College of Law. In addition, we are redeveloping or working to create programs with the Departments of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics and African American and African Studies and the Colleges of Social Work and Business.

About the Knowlton School of Architecture

The mission of the Austin E. Knowlton School of Architecture is to educate future architects, planners and landscape architects; to shape, as well as serve, the professions of architecture, city and regional planning and landscape architecture; to contribute to the intellectual and creative purposes of the university; and to promote the improvement of environmental quality and design on the campus and elsewhere.

The school has 550 students, 32 regular faculty, 34 adjunct faculty and an administrative staff of 15. It is located in Knowlton Hall at the northwest corner of Ohio State’s main academic campus. Dedicated in 2004, Knowlton Hall is a state-of-the-art facility for the School of Architecture. The school’s new home is based on the integration of elements: inside and out, students and faculty, old and new, school and university, art and technology. Each of the three disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture and city and regional planning are mixed. The design reflects the school’s mission of excellence in education, innovation in design and planning, and the stewardship of quality environment.

Research

KSA Digital Library

The KSA Digital Library’s state-of-the-art image collections support the architecture, landscape architecture and city and regional planning curricula in the Knowlton School. Through online resources, faculty and students can access high-quality images and multimedia files for use in research, study or course work. The library’s exemplary teaching and research collections have helped to establish the school as an international resource for the study of design and planning.

Journal of Planning Literature

The Journal of Planning Literature publishes review articles and abstracts of recent literature in city and regional planning and design. Issues contain refereed literature reviews; refereed Council of Planning Librarians Bibliographies; several hundred abstracts of books, journal articles, dissertations; and several hundred bibliographic listings.

Ohio State/Technical University in Dresden Exchange Program

The Ohio State/Technical University in Dresden Exchange Program offers an exciting international experience for CRP students and others, both in the Knowlton School and from the rest of the university. While visiting each others’ countries, students conduct field research related to their group projects and attend a variety of tours together as a class.

Center for Urban and Regional Analysis

The Center for Urban and Regional Analysis is an interdisciplinary research center at Ohio State that focuses on policy-oriented work on urban and regional issues. The center provides mapping capabilities, computer and data management assistance, a working paper series, a roundtable speaker series and an annual grant program for the university community. Researchers associated with the center do contract work for community organizations and funded research projects on a variety of topics.

Graduate Applications

Applications to Ohio State University must be submitted online. Please visit the Ohio State University Office of Graduate Admissions Web site to apply online with a credit card. Also, the Knowlton School of Architecture Web site provides links to the university admissions Internet site under the “admission” heading.