Program Overview

PhD in Planning Program Overview

The PhD in Planning program at UMass Amherst is designed to equip students with the skills to address and resolve physical, economic, and social problems experienced in towns, cities, and larger regions. By undertaking both creative and systematic approaches, students will learn to devise large-scale solutions using a blend of theoretical, historical, social, political, and technical dimensions of planning practice.

Program Focus

The department is dedicated to creating sustainable solutions to complex problems, with particular strengths in:

• Greenway planning
• Green infrastructure
• Interpreting the role of open space and communities within their regional context

Faculty Expertise

The faculty are leaders in investigating:

• Entrepreneurship
• Development and redevelopment
• Technological change
• The reuse of industrial space to meet new social and economic needs

Program Emphasis

The program places a strong emphasis on real-world practice through:

• Studio work
• Service to communities in the region and on a global scale

Alumni Network

The program's alumni can be found in all levels of government, as well as in:

• Consulting practice
• Real estate development
• Private industry
• Academic and research activities