CP6052 - Applied Planning Studio

Course Description

The purpose of this course is to provide planning students with an opportunity to integrate knowledge and techniques learned in other courses in a real world project setting. The course generally focuses on a real world problem defined by a public or neighborhood client group. Second year MCP students work in teams to prepare a plan or professional report at the neighborhood, small city or regional scale. This project-based experience serves as a capstone experience that allows students to exercise and integrate the knowledge and skills developed throughout their course of study. Students collect and analyze data about the subject community, synthesize this information into plans and policy recommendations and present their results to a client group in a written report and in an oral and graphic presentation. The course provides students with important experience in organizing and managing group projects, interacting with clients and effectively communicating the results of their analysis.

The focus of the studio changes each year as appropriate projects become available. Recent projects have included preparing a comprehensive plan for the Town of Hahira, GA; creating a neighborhood redevelopment plan for the English Avenue neighborhood west of Georgia Tech; assisting the Midtown Alliance with creating a plan for the Midtown area of Atlanta; and assessing environmental contamination barriers to neighborhood redevelopment.