Urban & Environmental Planning

Daphne Spain — Department Chair

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT

Students in the Planning program develop the understanding, sensitivity, and skills necessary to pursue professional careers in a variety of public, private, and nonprofit roles. The Department values environments where countrysides are productive and appropriately protected, where cities have vital centers and efficient means of movement, and where neighborhoods offer opportunities for all to live affordably and safely. The curriculum introduces students to the theories of planning, methods of analysis, effective means of communication, planning processes, and creative strategies for implementation.

One of the distinctive features of the program is a strong concern for community sustainability. While the topic is addressed in specific courses with that title, the concept of sustainability provides an underlying framework throughout the curriculum. Our goals are similar to those of the American Planning Association's Guide to Planning for Sustainability. The title of our department is Urban and Environmental Planning. We believe it is necessary to consider both the urban and environmental aspects of a setting to address its issues, problems, and opportunities. We are as much concerned with the economy and issues of equity as we are with the environment, and find it more useful to emphasize linkages than distinctions. We hope to inspire our students to have the same enthusiasm we feel for addressing the planning needs of sustainable communities.

The Department is built on a distinguished faculty and excellent students. Many of the faculty are engaged in current professional and civic work in addition to pioneering research and publications. A number of part-time faculty who are active full-time professionals also contribute to the course offerings. The Institute for Environmental Negotiation works closely with the Department and frequently involves faculty and students in research projects.

DEGREES

The Department offers two degrees. In addition to a four-year Bachelor’s and a two-year Master’s of Urban and Environmental Planning, the Department offers a Minor for students throughout the University and a certificate in Historic Preservation. There are also a number of dual degree opportunities within the Master’s program.

The Institute for Environmental Negotiation (IEN)

Negotiation, mediation, and other interactive and collaborative problem solving approaches are increasingly important in planning, policy making and in the resolution of development controversies. The Institute for Environmental Negotiation of the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning is a major resource for the acquisition of these conflict resolution skills.

The Institute sponsors visiting mediation practitioners, offers courses in negotiation skills and public involvement, and provides training opportunities through internships. The Mediator, newsletter of the institute, is also available online.

NEWS AND EVENTS

June 11, 2008

"UVa Course Seeks Sustainable Solution to Food Shortage Crisis" - UVa News

Op-Ed Piece in the Richmond Times Dispatch by Tanya Denckla Cobb

[from UVa News Services, by Jane Ford]: Since mid-April, when the World Food Program declared a global food price crisis, the ripples of the so-called "silent tsunami" have been felt across the globe. There have been riots over the cost of food in Somalia and Egypt. Haiti's prime minister was forced to resign by legislators seeking to quell violent protests over rising food costs. And here in the United States, rising global grain prices helped spark the largest increase in monthly food costs in nearly 20 years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics described the 0.9 percent rise between March and April as the biggest since January 1990. Tanya Denckla Cobb, senior associate at U.Va.'s Institute for Environmental Negotiation, views the world's food crisis as less of a shortage and more of a problem of food distribution. "People on plant Earth produce more than enough food to feed all of our planetary tenants, but we have not yet learned how to distribute our harvest in an equitable way that gives affordable and meaningful access to all." The Center for Global Health recently funded Denckla Cobb's spring course, "Healthy Communities, Healthy Food Systems: Global-Local Connections." She and Tim Beatley, the Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities, led students in a novel endeavor to figure out where Charlottesville's food comes from, be it local or from thousands of miles away. Students conducted nine different case studies to discern how to better balance global and local supplies. At the end of the semester, the students presented their findings at Charlottesville's City Hall. [for complete article, follow link embedded in headline]

June 9, 2008

DUEP and Darden Recieve Grant from JABA for Community Food System Program Research

[from Darden School of Business Communications]:The Darden School and the University of Virginia’s Architecture School, Department of Urban and Environmental Planning, have received a grant fromSaunders Hall at the Darden School the Jefferson Area Board for Aging (JABA) and the UVA Institute on Aging to fund student research this summer. The grant will support one Darden student and one Architecture School student in research for the Community Food System Program (CFSP) in Charlottesville. One of the benefits of this program is that it will ultimately help Darden achieve its own sustainability goals by sourcing food locally. The students and faculty advisors will work with the CFSP advisory board, local farmers and other participants to evaluate the feasibility of an integrated and expanded food system – a hub for food delivery, preparation, preservation, marketing and agriculture/food education in the community. The goal is to provide increased offerings of fresher, more nutritious, and better tasting food that is locally sourced. [for complete article, follow link in headline]

June 9, 2008

Podcast > The Charlottesville Glocal Food System: Challenges and Opportunities for our Community’s Local and Global Food Sources

Follow the link in the headline to the podcast of the final class presentations for the Charlottesville Glocal Food System course taught by Prof. Timothy Beatley and IEN Senior Associate Tanya Denckla Cobb in Spring 2008.

May 14, 2008

Class of 2008 Profile: Working Across Disciplines, Malindi Lankatilleke is Dedicated to Neighborhood Restoration and Revitalization

[by Jane Ford, UVa News Services] May 13, 2008 — The tsunami that devastated communities along the coastlines of Indonesia, Thailand, Maldives, India and Sri Lanka in December 2004 had a lasting effect on Malindi Lankatilleke. Armed with her bachelor's of architecture degree, which she earned at the University of Virginia in 2004, Lankatilleke took a hiatus from her office job and spent three weeks working with the United Nations Human Settlement Program in Sri Lanka to help with rebuilding efforts. She quickly learned that her design background was not enough to deal with the policy issues associated with rebuilding a community. To have real impact, "you need to be able to understand all sides of the issues," she said — social, political and cultural – and allow the citizens of the community to be part of the process. Lankatilleke's firsthand experience reinforced what she had been exposed to her whole life. A native of Sri Lanka, she came to U.Va. from a high school in South Africa, one of many places around the world that her father's work with U.N. Habitat took their family. "I had seen so much of this work of community building in marginalized communities," she said. "It is so important to allow communities to make decisions and build their visions. It instills value in them and encourages people to build their own assets. The people’s process of development is a much more effective way for marginalized communities to sustain themselves and be self-reliant." Lankatilleke kept this vision with her when she applied to graduate schools, seeking dual master's degrees in architecture and planning. She said a major factor in her decision to return to U.Va. was the Architecture School's commitment to community activism and outreach. She also knew the faculty's expertise in both disciplines would be a great resource for her. "The faculty work closely with the students and are available," Lankatilleke said. "They inspire in so many different ways." [for complete article, follow link in headline to UVa News]

May 14, 2008

Urban & Environmental Planning Faculty Member Promoted to Full Professor

David Philllips' Faculty Page

Dean Karen Van Lengen announced today that the Provost of the University has recommended that David Phillips to be promoted to the position of Full Professor in the School of Architecture. This recommendation will be forwarded to the President and then to the Board of Visitors for Confirmation at its next meeting in June. Professor Phillips is a long-time faculty member who teaches quantitative methods and the application of Geographic Information Systems to planning problems. With Professor William H. Lucy he is the author of two books, "Tomorrow’s Cities, Tomorrow’s Suburbs"(2006)and "Confronting Suburban Decline: Strategic Planning for Metropolitan Renewal"(2000).