Members of the first City Planning class at Georgia Tech.

Founded in 1952, the Graduate City Planning Program at Georgia Tech is one of the first programs in the nation to grant a planning degree. The program was organized by Howard Menhinick, a national figure in community planning. Since its first class of ten students, the program has grown substantially. The curriculum now reaches into many allied fields and is taught by ten full-time and numerous affiliated faculty from the planning community.

As our understanding of cities and regions has broadened, so too has the curriculum and faculty of the Graduate City Planning Program. A joint degree in the field of transportation planning, with the School of Civil Engineering, was developed in 1962. Joint degree programs were subsequently added in urban design and architecture, civil engineering and water resources, and environmental engineering. In addition, certificate programs in historic preservation and real estate development have been created in cooperation with nearby Georgia State University. New courses are continually being added as the needs of urban places change: the introduction of environmental planning and the increased emphasis placed on development economics and real estate are but two examples. Techniques for improving the analytical capabilities of the students have been strengthened. A Ph.D. program was added in the fall of 1983 to train those interested in teaching and pursuing advanced research in planning.

Today's program retains the original concept of providing an education that is both broad based and comprehensive, providing the technical skills necessary to accomplish a wide range of tasks. It is comprehensive in that the subject matter is viewed to be interrelated and interdependent. The faculty strives to provide a good balance between theoretical and historical perspectives on the one hand, and analytical skills and applications on the other. Students graduate from the program with highly marketable skills and an understanding of planning that will allow them to grow and develop throughout their entire careers.