Introductory Courses
PD 120 Introduction to Urban Studies
Introduces concepts and content related to cities, suburbs, and metropolitan regions within and outside the U.S. From interdisciplinary perspectives, covers media images of cities and suburbs, patterns and trends in urban settlements over time and place, urban observation, demographics, culture, and design, and contemporary urban issues, including race relations, environmental health, and crime. Lectures, discussions, fieldwork. LEC
PD 211 Diversity and Design
Examines the relationship of design to the changing nature of American society, examining the rich diversity of cultural experiences and its attendant environmental issues. Concentrates on ways physical and media environments affect various populations in the U.S., and ways these populations affect our environments. Introduces students to eight issues of diversity: race, ethnicity, gender, class, age, physical ability/disability, mental ability/disability, and religion. Analyzes American physical and media environments in terms of equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and size and space for approach and use. Open to non-majors. LEC
PD 212 Urban and Environmental Planning
Introduces concepts and content in urban and regional planning. Covers the who, what, why, and how of planning as a profession and process. Topics include the legal basis for urban planning, planning tools and techniques, the development process, design issues, and major planning foci, such as sprawl and growth management, neighborhood development, transportation systems, historic preservation, environmental concerns, and international planning. Lectures, discussions, fieldwork. LEC
PD 279 Buffalo-Niagara By Design
The course will involve a series of presentations by those responsible for developing and implementing the plans accompanied with lectures, discussions, films and readings in the theory and practice of urban design and regional development. The course provides an opportunity to broadly interpret community design, to address the full scope of small to large scale regional work, and to place all its content in relationship to The Lure of the Local. Students will be invited to research the history of a place in the region. They will then examine the place as planned, critically interpreting both history and plans. Students will be asked to relate the place they study to the larger regional context of development, illustrating alignments between parochial local interests and the overall development of the Buffalo-Niagara region. LEC
