The nation’s first-ever independent guide for and systematic ranking of the nation’s best graduate urban planning programs places the University of Cincinnati’s program as fourth in the Midwest and 18th in the entire nation.

 

 

The Planetizen 2007 Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs is just out from Planetizen, the leading Web site for the urban planning community. Planetizen developed the guide’s listings, information and directory of programs in conjunction with opinion research firm Davis, Hibbits, and Midghall, Inc. In developing their rankings, Planetizen surveyed hundreds of professionals, educators and students.

 

The guide offers a comprehensive directory of all graduate urban planning programs in the U.S. and Canada; profiles of planning students; advice on selecting a program; and lists of the nation’s top 25 planning schools, best schools within particular regions, largest schools and those with the lowest tuition.

 

With its number 18 national ranking, UC is grouped with other top-25 programs like Harvard University, Cornell University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. UC ranks ahead of programs like that at Columbia University and at Ohio State University.

 

With its top ranking in the Midwest – which included schools in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin – UC is grouped with other leading regional schools like the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Michigan. UC’s graduate planning program – part of the School of Planning – is housed within the internationally recognized College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. The college already houses nationally ranked programs in interior design, architecture and industrial design.

 

Interest in urban planning as a major is on the rise. With the U.S. recently passing the 300-million population mark and with estimates projecting 100 million more Americans in the next 30 years, coping with urban growth is becoming paramount for cities and regions. Urban planning is the profession that guides development and redevelopment, economic stimulus, historic preservation, land use, social policy, transportation systems, housing and environmental protection.

 

-------------------------------------------------------

 

Not as many schools have UP as an undergrad program, so they weren't ranked but professor Auffrey said DAAP's is easily in the top 10  :wink2:

 

You have a link to the full list, by chance?  Would be interesting to see them all ordered up...

 

Congrats, by the way!

 

MIT was deemed the best (surprise). Rounding out the top ten schools are: Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts), University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), University of California, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, California), Cornell University (Ithaca, New York), Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (New Brunswick, New Jersey), University of Southern California (Los Angeles, California), and University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (Champaign, Illinois). 

 

They don't tell the rest on Planetizen, I guess you have to subscribe. Ohio State is on the list though, I think they're like 22nd.

 

 

Doesn't surprise me that the top 10 is mostly northeast.

Huh...once again UC is in the same ranks as:

 

MIT, Harvard, USC, Penn, Cornell, Illinois....

 

Ohh...and I thought that UC was a second tier academic university :|

DAAP and CCM is where its at :)

Huh...once again UC is in the same ranks as:

 

MIT, Harvard, USC, Penn, Cornell, Illinois....

 

Ohh...and I thought that UC was a second tier academic university :|

 

yea, theyre not a 2nd tier university...they are a 3rd tier.  :-D 

but that will change soon as the school is constantly moving up, or have they already moved out of the 3rd tier?  btw, I am currently applying to this program.  anyone know how difficult it is to get in?

^The school of planning is very small and establishing itself.  Therefore, admission right now is relatively easy...as long as you meet the general requirements as the rest of DAAP (check the website for average SAT/ACT scores of students).  I would bet that you would have no problem getting in...the problem is usually with being able to keep up with the workload.

 

My freshman studio had about 40 or so students in it, my studio today only consists of 18 or so.  Many can not keep up, and are quickly overwhelmed...my advice keep up with your studio work...and don't be reluctant to work late nights/days on end.  (ps, if you would like someone to show you around the school/university let me know I will be more than happy).

Atlas, are you applying for grad school here or are you still an undergrad?

 

 

 

im still an undergrad at osu but i am going right to grad school.  i am a geography (gis)/ real estate double and i know urban planning is what i want to get into.  i want a school where I can further practice gis as well as get a degree in urban planning.  i am orig. from the cincy area and want to live there so i figured it would be best fit.  im also applying to osu, uwash, and wisc-mil.  thanks unclerando, you eased my concerns.  i really want to go there. 

I heard Milwaukee's program is really good but that would be awesome if you went here. I managed to get in and my GPA was shot; i'm sure it wouldn't be a problem for you.

cool ok, I have more questions for you guys.  urban design....whats that like and is there GIS application within urban design?

From my understanding UC focuses on urban design a lot more than most schools. Urban design is what we do in our studio classes. Its a lot of work. I showed Chris what we were working on and he said he did very similar stuff when he did Landscape Architecture at OSU. If you're into GIS i'm sure you'd love the studio classes.

my knowledge on programs used for urban design is limited.  what do you guys use in the studios?  briscad or....eeerrr...something like that or....yea i dunno. 

I do all my work in Adobe Illustrator CS2, and Sketchup. Randy has probably used more programs than I have. The graduate program may be different though. :-/ Maybe ArchCAD is involved, I don't know.

cool, thanks!

This looks like the thread for me...

 

I'm a sophomore at wilmington high school, the outermost ring of the cincy metro, and I KNOW that I want to go to college for architecture and urban design (along with business/art/spanish/chinese/education... but, I'm a sophomore, so I have time to weed out the ones I don't want to do)

 

I'm pretty set on going to UC, but, over spring break my dad said we could go anywhere in the tri-state (OH-KY-IN) for college visits, and this summer we are going to New England for all the good'ns up there. Could anyone tell me what colleges to visit and what colleges not to waste my time at?

 

Like I said, why should I go somewhere else for 50,000, when I can get one of the best educations at UC for more than half the price. I just need some guidance...

From my experience the grad program seems to be more policy oriented than design....but that is coming from an undergrad.  Also for the admittance...I'm am not real sure on what it takes for the grad program...I assumed you were speaking of the undergrad program...sorry :|

Going back to Atlas's question about GIS and Planning Design.

My knowledge (from OSU & LSU) is that there all but no overlap between GIS and design as it stands.

I don't recall any of the Geography Grad students at OSU (back when I was there) trying to merge the two ideas in their work, and I know of no Geography Grad students here at LSU trying anything like that (though LSU's geography department is set up differently than OSU's).

 

If you wish to persue this idea (and I see no reason why you shouldn't), you might want to cozy up to "God," errrr, ColDay :-D, in an effort to find who at Knowlton would be the best to discuss this idea with.  Once you get the Design's "side of the story," try broaching the topic with Dr. Murray or Dr. Kwan.

(Though, if memory serves me right, Murray's expertise is on the science/programing of GIS, not the usage of it.  I never took a class with Kwan, so I don't know about her.  Any other GIS professors came in after I graduated in 2002)

 

Here is the article published by Planetizen with a very crappy map of the Top 25!

 

The Top Schools For Urban Planners

Author: Planetizen Team

November 1, 2006

 

IMAGE: Map of Top 25 Planning Schools

Planetizen

 

Planetizen is pleased to announce the release of our first ever Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs -- including a list of the best programs in the US.

 

Buy the Planetizen 2007 GuideOver the six years that Planetizen has been in existence, we've heard from lots of people looking for information about planning school. Which universities offer planning programs? Which are the best schools? Which schools allow me to combine the study of planning with law? Or public health?

 

While we always tried to point people in the right direction, we felt that there was a general lack of information about graduate study in urban planning - and particularly absent was an overall comparison of different urban planning programs around the nation. By the Fall of 2005, when our former managing editor (and current planning student), David Gest, was applying to graduate school, we decided to develop an informative resource for prospective planning students.

 

The result is the Planetizen 2007 Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs -- the first independent guide and ranking of graduate urban planning programs. This inaugural edition features a list of the top 25 graduate urban planning programs. The Guide also contains a directory of 94 graduate planning programs in the U.S. and Canada, including detailed information for 45 schools that responded to a detailed questionnaire.

 

While we think a list of the top planning schools was long overdue, we're most excited about being able to publish a list of the top schools in each of 12 different specialty areas. With many new planning students interested in particular areas of the field -- such as transportation or historic preservation -- we believe this will be of the most benefit to students who are serious about pursuing an educational program that most closely matches their interests. And since many students want to consider the best schools in their area, we've included a list of the top schools in each region of the country -- the Midwest, Northeast, South, and West.

 

To produce this guide, Planetizen enlisted the help of the professional opinion research firm Davis, Hibbits, and Midghall, Inc., based in Portland, Oregon. During the Fall of 2006, Planetizen surveyed hundreds of professionals, educators and students -- along with the schools themselves -- to gather information about what makes a good planning school, and find out which schools meet those criteria. Guided by a group of experienced planning educators and experts, we developed a process that -- while by no means perfect -- provides a creditable comparison of schools that will help prospective students evaluate the options for graduate study in urban planning.

 

Topping the list of the best graduate urban planning programs is the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's graduate planning program, which is one of the oldest and largest in the country, draws students from around the globe to study issues from transportation to housing development. The University of California, Berkeley, and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill -- both public institutions often recognized for their educational excellence in many fields -- are ranked second and third, respectively.

 

Rounding out the top ten schools are: Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts), University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), University of California, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, California), Cornell University (Ithaca, New York), Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (New Brunswick, New Jersey), University of Southern California (Los Angeles, California), and University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (Champaign, Illinois).

 

As we went about producing the guide, we heard from a number of people in the planning community who told us that ranking schools was an inexact science, and that it would mislead prospective students into considering schools based only upon their reputation. While we certainly acknowledge the danger of placing too much importance on the reputation of a university, in the end, we decided that information was a useful measure for prospective students to consider as one part of their decision making process. (Interestingly, during our survey process, educators, professionals and students all considered a school's reputation as one of the most valuable measures for evaluating a school.)

 

We are very excited to have the opportunity to release the Planetizen 2007 Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs, and we hope the Guide will become a recognized resource for those considering pursuing a career in planning.

 

Going forward, we plan to make changes and improvements to the guide so that the next edition can provide even more benefit to students and the programs themselves -- giving everyone a better picture about the study and practice of urban planning.

 

For more information, or to order a copy of the 2007 Planetizen Guide To Graduate Urban Planning Programs, visit www.planetizen.com/guide.

 

http://www.planetizen.com/education/planning

If you want to pursue the design side of planning, you need to be VERY familiar with AutoCAD, all Adobe design software, and hand drawing, among other various programs and techniques.  Good luck & have fun!

Are you saying be familiar with it BEFORE I go to college? I'm not planning on going to tech school for my junior and senior year. Should I buy the program and play around with it?

 

I have a plethora (love plethora) of questions about the whole architecture/urban design thing... but I'll send them out in set intervals so no one gets too overwhelmed...

sorry, i didn't mean to know them before college, although some familiarity wouldn't hurt.  once you get into studios and such, you often learn and improve as you go.  However, you definitely want to know them inside and out once you enter the job market.

so let me get this straight....i love GIS but i really want to pursue graduate studies in urban design.  so basically my GIS skills are wasted?!?  :|

I think they told us we're using GIS (I think that's why they told me to get a PC and not a Mac, because GIS works better on PC). Urban designers still use GIS don't they? Seems like they would.

so let me get this straight....i love GIS but i really want to pursue graduate studies in urban design.  so basically my GIS skills are wasted?!?  :|

 

Even if they are wasted at grad school, they make you a much more attractive job candidate afterward.

And GIS is super-sexy to the ladies...

 

so let me get this straight....i love GIS but i really want to pursue graduate studies in urban design.  so basically my GIS skills are wasted?!?  :|

 

No...not at all.  The best planners out there know how to seamlessly integrate the two forms of planning (policy & design).  Those that do not, IMO, lack the neccessary skills to do their tasks while keeping both elements in mind.  GIS is a very powerful tool that comes in handy for many jobs (not just planning).  It is a great thing to know, but from discussions I've had with various people....GIS might become obsolete if Google SketchUp keeps up at the pace it is right now.

 

As for the computer programs I strongly recommend Adobe CS, Auto CAD, 3d Studio Max (or preferably Google SketchUp).  You will pick up on Adobe CS fairly quickly...the other two will take some more time.  The more knowledge the better (obviously)!

Here is an interesting article/propaganda I received through the School of Planning today.  Great story, and both of these students are classmates of mine and will graduate in the same year...Wahooo!!!

 

Katrina Clean Up:

Planning Students Help Rescue Residents Drowning in Paperwork

M.B. Reilly / UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

November 20, 2006

 

HARRIS COUNTY - University of Cincinnati cooperative-education students Derek Berardi and Ryan Schmitt are in the “thick of it” when it comes to piled-up paperwork. Indeed, sometimes a single  folder of the zoning-related paperwork they work with can measure, literally, 12-inches thick.

 

"Local residents left homeless by Hurricane Katrina bring us their files of land- and zoning paperwork seeking to rebuild or just wanting to put up a manufactured home. Or they might just need to place another FEMA trailer on property where they’re living,” says Berardi, 21, of Steubenville, Ohio. “We try to help them with all the paperwork, whatever it is they already have and whatever it is they still need. But it doesn’t help that the paperwork is complex. Nor that it’s worded in a language similar to Greek.”

 

But that’s precisely where Berardi and Schmitt come in. As planning students in UC’s top-ranked College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, they’re currently working three months for the Harrison County Zoning Office, as cooperative education students, to help residents understand and successfully negotiate zoning regulations in order to begin to rebuild their lives.

 

Schmitt, 20, of Mack, Ohio, adds that the county only implemented zoning laws and requirements six years ago. So, most residents have no familiarity with the zoning process and laws. That makes it harder for them to move through the process, and it requires Berardi and Schmitt to serve as teachers, mentors and, sometimes, therapists too.

 

Or interpreters. First, Schmitt and Berardi often have to read through the materials in those thick file folders to see where a particular residents stands in the zoning process and what further needs to be done. Then, they have to translate the language of any additional forms and help residents fill out any additional paperwork. 

 

Though still at the mid-point of their co-op quarter, both Schmitt and Berardi already have the satisfaction of having made a difference. Schmitt tells of one woman’s experience which exemplifies the challenges faced by so many. She is, he says, a woman who lost a home “three times.”

 

Schmitt explains, “In a hand-written letter to the planning commission, one woman related how she’d lost a home to Katrina. Then, a charity had told her that if she found some land, the charity would build a home for her. So, she found some land. But at the last minute, the landowner backed out of the deal.” So, she then found a different plot to build on. “Then, the charity retracted its offer.”

 

Recalls Schmitt, “So, finally, she found a place for a mobile home, but then she needed what we call a ‘conditional-use permit.’ That went to the board meeting where all the zoning requests are finally approved or denied.”

 

“As the applicant, the woman had to stand up. The applicants need to do that so the board members know the applicant is present. Well, this woman had been through so much, she just started to cry out of frustration and anxiety. She just kept saying that all she wanted was a place to live, just a place to live,” recounts Schmitt.

 

It’s easy to see that emotions run very near the surface for the residents coming into the zoning office. Residents do often wind up in tears in the zoning office because “they don’t understand the process. They have files filled with papers, and they’re so tired of jumping through hoops. All they want is to get their lives back together, but they don’t know how to handle this additional hurdle.”

 

He admits that one visitor became angry at the process, the complexity of the language and forms, and stormed out of the office. Says Berardi, “I understand the process here can be cumbersome, and frankly, I can’t even relate to such frustration, never having experienced such tragedy firsthand. People just need to understand that we are trying our best to make things move along smoothly. Sometimes, the best way to get what you need is simply to be persistent and patient.”

 

As families are able to move from 14 foot-by-22 foot FEMA trailers and into manufactured homes, progress is being made. Still, some trailers house as many as six people. Some properties hold as many as four manufactured homes.

 

Not surprisingly, Berardi and Schmitt were unable to find living accommodations for themselves prior to moving to Mississippi for their co-op quarter. “We tried to find a place for three months,” claims Berardi. In the end, they moved into the home of their current boss, Pat Bonck, and Bonck moved into a FEMA trailer in the yard.

 

The UC students admit they’re grateful to their boss and even to the people of Harrison County who come into the zoning office. States Berardi, “People are very passionate about rebuilding what they have lost. We just want to make sure that we’ve put forth our best effort to make their efforts pay off.”

 

http://www.uc.edu/profiles/profile.asp?id=4702

And GIS is super-sexy to the ladies...

 

Funny that you say that...when I was taking a GIS course there was a female who was constantly coming to me with questions. By about mid-semester, I started playing dumb as appeaing her every demand was becoming an inconvience. She started asking another fellow, and, to make a long story short, they have been dating for nearly a year now.

Funny that you say that...when I was taking a GIS course there was a female who was constantly coming to me with questions. By about mid-semester, I started playing dumb as appeaing her every demand was becoming an inconvience. She started asking another fellow, and, to make a long story short, they have been dating for nearly a year now.

 

Well hats off to you ink....looks as though you played that one brilliantly!!!  :laugh:

so let me get this straight....i love GIS but i really want to pursue graduate studies in urban design.  so basically my GIS skills are wasted?!?  :|

 

In planning, GIS is a tool.  You use it to map out characteristics, network functions, area, and points.  How can you incorporate those items into planning (<< that's a rhetorical question)?

Far as I can comprehend, Real estate is the selling/trading of land.  How can you incorporate GIS into that (another rhetorical question)?

Urban Design is about imagination and creating.  As others have mentioned here, you have to know how to use various drawing tools.  GIS doesn't draw anything for you (though as Jeff and PigBoy have shown, you can make pretty maps with it).  You can use GIS as part of the process for Urban Design, but it will accomplish nothing for a final product.

 

Before you leave OSU with your bachelors, you need to decide what it is you want to accomplish.

If you want to stay and go to grad school, you better start talking to someone(s) in that department.

My guess, from what goals you've stated on here, is you should track down Steve Gordon (I think he's the GIS guy over there) over in the planning dept and Mai Po Kwan in Geography (lucky for you, not only is Mai Po the senior GIS person in the Geography dept. She is also the Graduate adviser) about what you wish to do.  Is it feasible?  Who could help me get where I want to go?

Have you talked shop with any grad students in any of your GIS courses?  You can get some ideas (and precautions) from them.

 

Finally, before you step out of your undergrad world, take at least one human geography course, if you haven't already.

If Kevin Cox is teaching something, other than his South Africa regional course, take it!

thanks to all those who gave advice/info.  Magyar, I have already taken my human geography course but I definitely need to go talk to someone at knowlton and help point me in the right direction.  I am all for learning new skills in AtuoCad, Sketchup, etc but I just want to make sure my GIS skills can also be put into use somewhere, esp. b/c I dont want to have wasted the past 4 years.  I am torn between two options of planning, one refers to real estate development and the other is urban design.  GIS is very applicable in real estate but maybe not design, as some have said.  Can anyone provide insight into exactly what the difference is?  On a day to day basis, in the real world, what do designers do? 

"Environmental and social justice are at the heart of sustainable development"

Professor Michael Romanos Interview:

 

Michael Romanos is professor of planning and economic development at the University of Cincinnati, in the U.S.A. The recipient of the 2005 D. Cohen Award for Excellence in Teaching, the highest such recognition of his university, he has lived and worked in many parts of the world, especially Southeast Asia, where he has served as senior advisor to Indonesia’s Ministry of Economic Planning, was a Fulbright and Asia Foundation Senior Professor in Indonesia and Thailand, and lead a multi-year program of higher education reform in these countries. He directs the Summer Field School in Sustainable Development, which conducts sustainable development planning studies for tourism-oriented communities all over the world. A native of Crete, he holds architecture and planning degrees from the National Technical University of Athens and Florida State University, and a Ph.D. in Regional Science from Cornell University.

 

The University of Cincinnati was established in 1819 as a city institution, and later became part of the state of Ohio university system. With a student body of about 37,000, of which about 10,000 are graduate students, and a faculty of about 2,500, the University of Cincinnati is a Carnegie I research institution. It is a comprehensive university offering instruction in all disciplines except the agricultural sciences. Its School of Planning is one of the largest in the US, with a student body of over 300 in two undergraduate, one master’s and a Ph.D. program, and a faculty of seventeen. Known for its cooperative education undergraduate planning program, the School offers graduate-level specializations in physical and environmental planning and design, economic development, and international planning and development. Its award-winning Summer Field School has been operating since 1984 and has conducted student-faculty educational programs in Indonesia, Thailand, Brazil and Greece.

 

(The Interview follows:)

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

ECOCLUB.com: As someone who has worked in many and vastly diverse corners of the planet, what would be the most valuable lesson you have learned in terms of tourism policy & planning and which you would share with aspirant planners in tourism and the environment?

 

Professor Michael Romanos: There is a perception in every corner of the world that tourism could instantly solve a place’s economic and social development problems. This is a dangerous fallacy which often leads governments to misallocate resources, raise unreasonable expectations among local populations, and “sell out” a place in order to attract tourism-related investments and/or achieve quick profits. Often local and regional governments do not realize that in order to have a successful tourism development, in addition to the natural beauty or cultural resources of a place, transportation, communications and environmental infrastructure must be at least adequate, the training of personnel on all aspects of the tourist trade is absolutely essential, and the education of the local populations on how to deal with tourism and visitors is imperative. When the impacts of tourism development have not been carefully thought out, the environmental, social and cultural implications of uncontrolled, exploitative tourism can not only destroy local cultures and lifestyles, but may also ruin the attractive characteristics of a place, thus also destroying the future potential of the place to support sustainable tourism.

 

ECOCLUB.com: Does an expatriate or visiting consultant in your line of work need to know the issues, the politics and the people at least to a depth normally available to natives, or is it better to have an Aristotelian 'unscribed-tablet' (tabula rasa), to choose your own successful formula and apply it objectively regardless of local objections and special interests?

 

Professor Michael Romanos: A consultant must learn and understand a place and its people, their capacities, constraints, potentials, and aspirations in depth before (s)he can make recommendations for any kind of planning. Tourism planning makes this principle imperative, because by its nature tourism cuts into the very lives of the people of affected communities. Visitors go to a place in order to experience the local culture and resources. If planning for this kind of development does not understand the fragility, idiosyncrasies, values and attitudes of the local population, how could it ensure their protection and long term sustainability? Application of a “formula” would be a mechanistic way of dealing with people and ecologies; and it would assume that individual characteristics of the place and its communities do not matter. The plan that would be produced out of such a set of assumptions would be insensitive to the local people and their landscapes, and would either fail because it would not be accepted by them, or it would be implemented by government fiat but would be resented by the affected people.

 

Understanding the local politics is a different matter. Yes, you need to understand the local politics in order to be able to generate any kind of plan with hope to have it implemented. But if local politics are corrupt, and/or local politicians are self-serving, a good plan would stand no chance of being implemented unless major compromises were made to accommodate their greed. I have had more than my share of such experiences….

 

ECOCLUB.com: Cincinnati, were you teach, is an architectural gem, and historically important in terms of planning as the first American boomtown in the 19th century, and a border town during the American Civil war however it has since stagnated with population in the city having dropped 40% since 1950. What is the current state of urban tourism in Cincinnati and can it revitalize the inner city?

 

Professor Michael Romanos: Cincinnati in the nineteenth century was one of the great gates to the West, and for many years it was a major economic and industrial centre, thanks to its location on the Ohio river. It gradually lost its primacy as railroads gradually gained dominance over river and canal transportation, and eventually became part of the American ”rust belt” as its manufacturing base aged and lost its competitive advantage. More recently, the city has been making major efforts to transform itself into a modern economic centre based on the New Economy, with advanced technology, services, research hand education, and tourism as its foundations. The effort has been only partially successful. The regional economy is thriving (Greater Cincinnati encompasses a 15-county metropolitan region with 2.2 million people and steady population and employment growth), but the city has been unable to reverse its population loosing trends to date. The racial conflicts that caused riots in the mid-1960s and again in 2001 also gave a serious blow to the efforts of the city to cast a more tolerant and diverse image of itself. In fact, they have affected its tourism sector considerably, because after the 2001 riots, a number of African-American and other socially minded organizations from around the country cancelled plans to hold conventions or other public functions in Cincinnati, on account of its image as a racially insensitive city.

 

But tourism continues to be one of the anchors of the local economy. A few years ago the city and Hamilton County, the regional entity containing Cincinnati, made a long term financial commitment to the local baseball and football teams to replace their sports facilities. With an estimated investment of over a billion dollars, the Cincinnati riverfront now has two magnificent, state-of-the-art sports facilities, which attract large crowds from a wide region to their games. The city’s convention centre, recently renovated and expanded, is one of the most modern and largest in the Midwest and is constantly in use. Luxury hotels, gourmet restaurants, and entertainment districts have been sprouting in and around the downtown on both the Ohio and the Kentucky sides of the river. And this year, the efforts of the city to radically change its image of a racially segregated place finally are bearing fruits as a young and progressive African-American mayor has been elected and a number of city groups have come together to address and resolve their social problems, which include poverty and unemployment among the majority African-Americans of the central city.

 

Whether or not the short term successes of these efforts indicate a longer term ability to solve the social and economic problems of Cincinnati’s inner city, is questionable. The vast area north of the downtown known as Over-the-Rhine has recently been designated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of the eleven most threatened historic urban areas in the country. Most of its 6,000 plus residents are poor, unemployed, and have few opportunities to get a job within the neighbourhood. Its housing stock is deteriorating, and its businesses are closing down at alarming rates. Tourism and entertainment developments in the area in the past several years have largely left the residents out. Further housing and commercial developments, unless coupled with an effort to include the local residents, may just produce neighbourhood gentrification pressures. On the other hand, if tourism and residential rehabilitation investments are expanded into the area, there will be no other chance of improvement for its population. This problem has been around for many years, and it is by now clear that fragmented development attempts by the private sector alone will not be able to solve it. Recently, a number of private-public partnerships have been established to implement an ambitions comprehensive development plan and program, in which tourism plays a role but is not the main emphasis. These partnerships are making serious efforts to engage the local residents, and are giving priority to housing rehabilitation, public space improvements, school enhancement, and social services expansion. Their priority is the improvement of local living conditions, the assumption being that a stabilized neighbourhood will better be able to attract and retain business, including entertainment and other tourism-related activities.

 

ECOCLUB.com: Your native Crete, for which you also completed a study between 1998-2003, is a smallish island (250 km x 30 km) that receives some 4 million tourists annually, flown in by charter flights most in the course of the 3 summer months. The current government is pro-business, pro-tourism development, but surely, there must be limits to growth? Indeed, you have not lived in Greece for many years, but as an impartial observer with deep understanding, if you could fix one thing in Greece's tourism sector, what would that be and why?

 

Professor Michael Romanos: It is not “one thing”, but it is the bundle of actions, national government policies and local controls that would reduce the rampant growth of cheap tourism that makes international tourism agencies and large operators wealthy at the expense of local resources, populations and the environment. In Santorini, which is the latest of the studies I have directed in Greece, up to 10,000 visitors disembark per day during the high season, brought to the island by a number of large cruiser boats. These people are shuttled around in oversize buses, pollute the island’s air, congest its streets, crowd its beaches and archaeological sites, leave very little money on the island, and learn even less about local culture in the few hours they spend on the island. They do not benefit Santorini’s population, but they enrich the – mostly outside the island – business involved in these mass tourism excursions. In Hersonissos, one of the “hot” destinations in Crete, hundreds of young visitors go berserk every night from the use of alcohol and drugs, causing damage to local property, hurting people and themselves, causing numerous accidents, and creating such unpleasant conditions that chase desirable tourism away.

 

ECOCLUB.com: The 2004 Olympics, a great urban planning project, came and went, and their legacy can be observed today in Athens, some of it good like the subway & the tram, some not so good like the creation of so many expensive stadiums for unpopular sports, the missed chance to create more green spaces and introduce environmental technology in buildings, and not the least, the Eur 8bn-10bn bill. As a tourism planner, and a tourist, could you name three measures to help finally take 2,600 year old Athens, usually avoided by most tourists, to its deserved place as a top spot for city breaks and sustainable urban tourism? Le Corbusier, a great admirer of the Parthenon, famously proposed the demolition of a vast part of central Paris - would you go that far (assumed it was ever possible)?

 

Professor Michael Romanos: LeCorbusier was a great architect but was a miserable city planner. He never understood the roles, functions and actions of the human beings and communities that constitute the city. To him, the city was a design artefact, and could be repaired by design or erased and be rebuilt. No one involved in modern urban planning today takes such ideas seriously. Athens is a great city, filled with all the opportunities of culture that make cities such desirable places to live. Architects and developers did their best during the last part of the twentieth century to destroy its character, demolish its old buildings, erase its neoclassical character, and fill its neighbourhoods with polycatoikies; and were successful in producing today’s impersonal, featureless city neighbourhoods. But time will change the city’s fabric. The city’s population is gradually leaving the urban core, and that will eventually reduce urban densities and create opportunities for redevelopment.

 

A city is a living organism, and has beautiful and ugly aspects. A city can be a tourism destination, but that is not its purpose. Its purpose is to provide quality of life to its residents. The characteristics that will make that quality of life possible may or may not attract urban tourism as well, and that is fine. But the Athens of today for visitors has such great museums, archaeological sites, and cultural opportunities, that the city can capitalize on them for its tourism. Visitors interested in these features will find Athens a very attractive place. The others can go elsewhere.

 

But there are things that we can do to make the city more attractive to visitors: Continue and complete the excellent plans for the unification of all the archaeological sites, and include in the network other cultural locations, green spaces, entertainment districts, and shopping areas; bring the marbles back from London; convince the government to be more generous to its people, so that they do not strike during the high tourism season; keep museums and archaeological sites open longer hours; educate taxi drivers, gate keepers, store employees to be polite and scrupulous to visitors; and keep the city clean, the trees watered, and the graffiti under control.

 

ECOCLUB.com: You have recently completed a study of the iconic Mediterranean island resort of Santorini with the cooperation of the local Municipality, entitled "Plan for the Future of Santorini - Building the cultural centre of the Eastern Mediterranean". What were the main conclusions, and what is actually happening on the ground, following your study?

 

Professor Michael Romanos: We identified the following major problems with the development of the island, and determined their causes and ways to address them: Rampant construction and expansion of tourism facilities on the island eats up all the open space and agricultural land; The entire economy of the island is dominated by tourism; The development policies for the island favour hotel and entertainment development, but pay no attention to the island’s permanent population needs such as education, health, infrastructure, environmental conditions, cultural preservation and enhancement, or quality of life; The quality of tourism on the island deteriorates each year, even as the numbers of visitors keep increasing; The confluence of increasing supply of facilities and increasing demand for entertainment, combined with declining per visitor profits and a dramatic shift towards short-visit, cruiser boat tourism, are robbing the island of its quality of life, contribute to the decline of its environmental resources, are adulterating the cultural images and architectural character of its settlements, and are affecting the cultural characteristics of the native population; Nothing appears worthy of protection on the island, while everything is being sacrificed on the altar of tourism profits. Continuation of present trends will drastically and irreversibly alter the ecology and the architecture of the traditional communities of the island in ten years.

 

Neither the national government neither the local authorities have been able to address these problems. There is no political will to implement existing plans calling for land use controls, land growth management, congestion reduction, infrastructure improvements, enforcement of architectural standards, or building permits. None of the plans produced for the island so far has been implemented, because of lack of political will to act against the interests of large tourism investors. Our own planning proposals were developed over two years of intensive work, during which every single organization and professional group on the island was interviewed, participatory procedures were employed to define the goals and priorities of development, a number of international experts participated in technical studies to address every significant development issue, and every past study and recommendation was considered carefully. The proposals that were produced by these efforts were widely accepted to all the constituencies sand stakeholders on the island. The public acceptance and approval of the study and its proposals by the community during the public presentation of our work at the Nomikos Conference Centre in August 2005 was overwhelming. The municipal administration originally characterized the study and its proposals as excellent, reflecting the realities of the island, practicable and feasible, and worthy of implementation. Unfortunately, the study was later condemned by the same individuals as politically motivated and rejected. Hence my comment about the need to understand politics, in question # 2 above.

 

ECOCLUB.com: Much is being made about the importance of ’stakeholders’ these days. What is your understanding of the role of 'stakeholders' in terms of sustainable development planning: Is the term undemocratic, revealing special interests & corruption, or an acknowledgement of how things are done since "all animals are equal but some are more equal than others"?

 

Professor Michael Romanos: The whole idea of sustainable development is to create a synergy among environmental, economic and social goals. Environmental and social justice are at the heart of sustainable development, so the concept, far from being undemocratic, is a vehicle to achieve more participatory democracy and more democratic planning and development. In this sense, then, stakeholders are the beneficiaries of the plans and the development programs, and since these plans and programs advocate resource conservation, resource management, controlled growth, conservation of land, nature-friendly life styles, and several other similar principles, their interests are not ”special” interests, but rather those of society as a whole. Now, special interests may intervene in the sustainable development/planning process in order to insert their own goals and priorities, but these are external agents, and the plans would not be partial to their concerns. If the process is carried out fairly, sustainable development planning will not favour these special interests but rather the stakeholders that who constitute the communities for which the plan is produced. It is up to the special interests to join the ranks of community stakeholders or not. In the Santorini plan, for example, most of the professional organizations participated in the planning process as stakeholders. But some special interests objected to the direction of the plans, because they were advocating limits to rampant growth, management of the land and other natural resources, protection of the landscape, and regulations for construction. These special interests could join the ranks of stakeholders, and be part of the planning decision process, but in this case they felt that their personal and business interests deviated from those of the rest of the community.

 

ECOCLUB.com: Famously you left Greece and Crete to escape the 1967 -1974 military junta that had temporarily imprisoned you, but in the course of your planning career, in the 1970s and 1980s you had to work with authoritarian governments / juntas, then proliferating in the developing world. So is democratic governance or autocracy, from your experience, more conducive to planning? Some would think that state planning is by definition autocratic?

 

Professor Michael Romanos: Far from me to advocate for anything autocratic or authoritarian as even worthy of consideration as a planning tool! Urban and/or regional planning is done by free-thinking people for free-thinking people. Anything else is forceful imposition of an authority’s will on people, and that is not planning, it’s tyranny. We will not go there….

 

Good planning is done following sound methodologies, honest use of data, employment of social and environmental justice principles, and the active and continuous participation of those who will benefit or be affected by the plan. Only a plan that is widely accepted by the communities affected has a chance of being implemented. And plans are not supposed to be fixed overtime. What makes sense to today’s citizens may be considered unacceptable to younger generations five or ten years later, because the economic conditions, social norms, or ways of thinking about the future may have changed. An abundance of resources may make people ready to use them without constraint, while a shortage of them may trigger goals of conservation. But in all cases, in order for these goals and priorities to be viable, they must reflect the communal will of the affected citizenry, and that can only be accomplished with democratic procedures, the people’s participation, and ample and open communication.

 

Having said that, I must acknowledge that I have over the years worked in many countries where democracy was not the modus operandi. But I want to believe that the purpose of my work there was to establish democratic procedures that would ensure a more participatory planning and a better quality of life for the client communities. For example, my work in Indonesia during the 1990s took place partly under the Soeharto dictatorship. Working within the system with a number of dedicated expatriates and native planners, though, we were able to develop networks of regional development for the island provinces of that country that altered the ways by which funds were allocated to peripheral regions, and thus were able to enhance the infrastructure of the affected places through improved port facilities, more frequent sea connections with the main islands, better decision making procedures for the local communities, a stronger role of these communities in the regional and national development deliberations, and an elevated understanding and protection of their environmental and cultural resources. This is another good example of how important it is to understand the local culture and politics before you could embark in any serious efforts to change local decision making patterns and transfer power from the established domains to the affected stakeholders.

 

ECOCLUB.com: University departments around the world, in particular those in applied topics such as Tourism and the Environment increasingly work as consultancies, mostly as a result of declining state subsidies. The positive impact is easy to detect - fresh, pioneering ideas applied in the -so called- real world, and in turn - there is a reality check for these pioneering ideas, while first-class academic experts can offer their services directly to the economy. Could there be a downside however, for example students getting too result & money-oriented & conservative at an early age, or professors getting distracted from their professorial duties?

 

Professor Michael Romanos: I think that university faculty and student involvement in the planning and development of communities which do not have adequate resources to hire professional consultants, both locally and around the world, is a terrific way for students to learn and gain experience in applied situations, for professors to test new approaches and methodologies and stay focused on the practical aspects of their field, and for communities to benefit from innovative, creative, fresh approaches to the solutions of their problems and needs. I am not sure that I understand what the downsides of such practices would be, especially your reference to the money orientation of the students. I cannot talk about other universities and programs, but I can tell you that the University of Cincinnati Summer Field School in Sustainable Development never receives any money from the places for which we conduct planning and development studies. We cover our own expenses, buy our own tickets, and receive no remuneration for our work from the host communities. Our students are not paid to participate in these programs. On the contrary, they pay the entire cost of the program as well as their own university tuition. In fact, they make major financial sacrifices to participate in these programs, because they forgo income they would have if they stayed home and worked, as practically all our students have part time jobs – up to 35 hours per week – that allow them to support themselves. Many of our students cover the cost of their participation in the summer program through student loans, advanced by the US government, and payable after the student’s graduation. The communities, for which we do the planning projects usually, but not always, provide us with accommodations, and occasionally some of the meals and the local transportation. All other expenses are the responsibility of the program.

 

ECOCLUB.com: What are your immediate future plans, and how can interested readers keep up with your work?

 

Professor Michael Romanos: We are very fortunate to have received a lot of positive publicity for our international work over the years, and to have received many invitations for planning collaborations as a result. For example, the Santorini planning and development study we completed lat year was recently recognized by the American Planning Association as the best tourism planning study by a United States university team in 2005. In the last year alone we have received invitations to conduct planning studies in collaboration with local governments or academic institutions from three different municipalities in Crete, three islands in the Cyclades, and two states in the south of Brazil. However, our immediate plans are to spend the summer of 2007 on the island of Thirasia (see map), as guests of the Community of Oia and its mayor Mr. George Halaris, and conduct an ecological and cultural preservation and conservation study for this unique island, for the purpose of guiding its tourism development, land management, and traditional community protection under a general comprehensive plan. A team of twenty students and faculty are already at work at the University of Cincinnati preparing for this important project, which is unique for Greece and will be a model for small island development and preservation in the future.

 

http://ecoclub.com/news/086/interview.html

As a practicing urban designer with a Planning degree, I can without reservation advise anyone who is looking to go into this field to GET A DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURE OR LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE.

 

I graduated from Cincinnati's DAAP program in Planning and here are just my personal observations on it:

 

-The rank given by Planetizen seems about right, although when I went there the school regarded itself as in the top 10.

 

-There is no substitute for a studio-based architecture or landscape architecture education. I graduated from the Planning program in 05 and we shared many studios with both Grads and Undergrads. These studios were all collaborative, problem-solving excersizes that would be more akin to public input sessions or charrettes than architectural studios.

 

-On a scale of 1 to 10, UC's Planning program had a graphical skill expectation of about a 3. During our studio "defenses" at the end of a project it seemed like the professors were looking more for confidence and good communication, presentation and persuasion skills than the design and graphical quality of the actual assignment. That is not without merit, imho, as planners are more often facilitators, managers and "salesmen" than they are designers.

 

-At my job I work primarily with AutoCAD and Sketchup, and some hand rendering. My firm doesn't own GIS and nobody here knows how to use it. This is also true for the large Chicago architecture firm I worked for in 2004.

 

-Almost exclusively, a firm looking for an "Urban Designer" is looking for an architect or landscape architect, or more ideally someone with a combination of one of these degrees and a planning degree.

 

-Looking at where my classmates ended up, I'd say that as Planning graduates, about 1 in 10 of us do design-intensive, localized or site-specific planning, thus we are "urban designers."

Civik, good to see ya back, you should come around more often. :)

 

I agree with much of what you've said, although I feel somewhat differently about it.

 

-There is no substitute for a studio-based architecture or landscape architecture education. I graduated from the Planning program in 05 and we shared many studios with both Grads and Undergrads. These studios were all collaborative, problem-solving excersizes that would be more akin to public input sessions or charrettes than architectural studios.

 

Yes and no.  I was fortunate enough to do a couple charrettes with a very high profile design/planning firm and was constantly amazed by how similar the process was to what I was familiar with in planning studios.  Granted, I have little experience with arch/la studios, but the type of work I and others were doing during the charrettes was definitely in line with what the planning studios aim to prepare one for.

 

-At my job I work primarily with AutoCAD and Sketchup, and some hand rendering. My firm doesn't own GIS and nobody here knows how to use it. This is also true for the large Chicago architecture firm I worked for in 2004.

 

The first firm I worked for never touched GIS.  The last firm I worked for had about 4 people (out of an office of about 25) that used it for regional planning.  If you work in design, you are generally provided more accurate and updated data from developers/engineers/etc. than is available via most GIS data systems.

 

-Almost exclusively, a firm looking for an "Urban Designer" is looking for an architect or landscape architect, or more ideally someone with a combination of one of these degrees and a planning degree.

 

Very true.  Thusfar, I've been in the minority with a planning background.  The overwhelming majority of those I've either worked with or met through networking/conferences are in architecture.  Although there have been instances where I've been held back by a lack of knowledge with regard to architectural standards, in more cases, I've been surprised by the lack of education in larger-scale urban design principles according to those I've worked with whom have architectural backgrounds.  This point is exactly why I believe that the education is what you make of it.  Sure, you can get by in studios making pretty pictures, which leads me to believe somewhat that professors are educating the students more about how to read and critique a site plan than the details involved in the design process.  However, if a student takes it upon him/herself to actually learn these principles (which, admittedly, aren't thoroughly tought in the planning studios) and combines it with the learned graphic skills, then I feel that a planning grad is no less marketable than an arch grad, despite the current ratios in the field. 

 

The greatest thing about UC's program (aside from co-op) is the ability to tailor it to your interests.  There are very few planning programs (even fewer undergrad) that can facilitate such a design-based education.  Many of the best firms out there know this and speak very highly of it.

 

-Looking at where my classmates ended up, I'd say that as Planning graduates, about 1 in 10 of us do design-intensive, localized or site-specific planning, thus we are "urban designers."

 

Fully agree.  Most planning grads happily go into public sector work and are very well prepared IMO.  Again, most private-sector that I've met and worked with hold a BArch and either a MArch or a MUD or equivalent.     However, if someone pulls out an impressive portfolio and can back it with a level of professionalism, then the planning degree can do exactly what you want it to do, whatever that is.

 

 

 

Huh...once again UC is in the same ranks as:

 

MIT, Harvard, USC, Penn, Cornell, Illinois....

 

Ohh...and I thought that UC was a second tier academic university :|

 

Orly?

 

UC will always be a second tier university, what with all the heavy studying, class attendance and wtfpwn stance on plagarism. [/sarcasm]

 

On topic: Grats again UC.  All we need are some more planning classes or better methods of participating/learning in the classes and we'll be number 1 soon enough.

Huh...once again UC is in the same ranks as:

 

MIT, Harvard, USC, Penn, Cornell, Illinois....

 

Ohh...and I thought that UC was a second tier academic university :|

 

Orly?

 

UC will always be a second tier university, what with all the heavy studying, class attendance and wtfpwn stance on plagarism. [/sarcasm]

 

On topic: Grats again UC.  All we need are some more planning classes or better methods of participating/learning in the classes and we'll be number 1 soon enough.

 

Someone's been playing too much World of Warcraft...

He CiNYC where are you working now?

Huh...once again UC is in the same ranks as:

 

MIT, Harvard, USC, Penn, Cornell, Illinois....

 

Ohh...and I thought that UC was a second tier academic university :|

 

Orly?

 

UC will always be a second tier university, what with all the heavy studying, class attendance and wtfpwn stance on plagarism. [/sarcasm]

 

On topic: Grats again UC.  All we need are some more planning classes or better methods of participating/learning in the classes and we'll be number 1 soon enough.

 

Someone's been playing too much World of Warcraft...

And someone missed the meaning of my username.

I'll talk/type how I want, get over it.

Funny that you say that...when I was taking a GIS course there was a female who was constantly coming to me with questions. By about mid-semester, I started playing dumb as appeaing her every demand was becoming an inconvience. She started asking another fellow, and, to make a long story short, they have been dating for nearly a year now.

 

Well hats off to you ink....looks as though you played that one brilliantly!!!  :laugh:

 

I'll quote/respond to move right along.

 

This story made me laugh.  I remember helping a lot of people with GIS, even some upperclassmen and some non-planners (lol architects, what would you do without me ;p).  I'm just sad, nothing like what you described ever happened to me.    /cry

so let me get this straight....i love GIS but i really want to pursue graduate studies in urban design.  so basically my GIS skills are wasted?!?  :|

 

Incorrect.

 

I'm more of an urban designer and my GIS skills are tested almost constantly.  The most typical scenario is putting in future or recommended designs into ArcGIS so officials and citizens can see how the future infrastructure could/will look like.

 

There are other programs that are suited for urban design like 3D Model Builder that use ArcGIS and having more skill in GIS makes using programs like that a bit easier.

Dear Progamer,

 

1) Who are you? Are you a UC student? If so, then graduate please, then we can talk. And are you "more of an urban designer," or an "urban designer?" I'm the latter. What are you?

 

2) Who am I? I don't come around here often, and I'm old school. So watch what you say, because if you want to dance, I can just have ColDay delete the thread. Trust me, I'm almost half as crazy as he is. And he stil owes me for letting Goonsta in my apartment, drunk, in the middle of January.

He CiNYC where are you working now?

 

I just got back the other day from my final internship which was in Berkeley.  As of right now, I plan to head back to the same firm after graduation.

Dear Progamer,

 

1) Who are you? Are you a UC student? If so, then graduate please, then we can talk. And are you "more of an urban designer," or an "urban designer?" I'm the latter. What are you?

 

2) Who am I? I don't come around here often, and I'm old school. So watch what you say, because if you want to dance, I can just have ColDay delete the thread. Trust me, I'm almost half as crazy as he is. And he stil owes me for letting Goonsta in my apartment, drunk, in the middle of January.

 

But you enjoyed the Segun!!!  Black Haus + Segun + Vodka = Civvik's Apartment Destroyed.

He CiNYC where are you working now?

I just got back the other day from my final internship which was in Berkeley.  As of right now, I plan to head back to the same firm after graduation.

 

Awesome!

Dear Progamer,

 

1) Who are you? Are you a UC student? If so, then graduate please, then we can talk. And are you "more of an urban designer," or an "urban designer?" I'm the latter. What are you?

 

2) Who am I? I don't come around here often, and I'm old school. So watch what you say, because if you want to dance, I can just have ColDay delete the thread. Trust me, I'm almost half as crazy as he is. And he stil owes me for letting Goonsta in my apartment, drunk, in the middle of January.

 

But you enjoyed the Segun!!!  Black Haus + Segun + Vodka = Civvik's Apartment Destroyed.

 

Don't forget the Gollum voice...

Oh lawd...

Dear Progamer,

 

1) Who are you? Are you a UC student? If so, then graduate please, then we can talk. And are you "more of an urban designer," or an "urban designer?" I'm the latter. What are you?

 

Why is it that if you have not graduated that it automatically means that you know nothing, and are your opinion is worthless in conversation?!?!  Obviously he has taken a different direction than you....just because you have gone the design way and he which ever way he chooses...does not make either one of you correct.  Both design and policy routes can have a great impact.  However I would argue that policy blends into the design realm more so than desing into the policy realm.

 

2) Who am I? I don't come around here often, and I'm old school. So watch what you say, because if you want to dance, I can just have ColDay delete the thread. Trust me, I'm almost half as crazy as he is. And he stil owes me for letting Goonsta in my apartment, drunk, in the middle of January.

 

Maybe I missed it...or maybe a post was deleted, but I don't see where Progamer attacked you.  Anyways it is not Progamers thread to begin with...and the thread has been on topic until just recently.  I would appreciate if individual's emotions were left out of the discussion and actually discuss the merits of UC's Planning School...whether you/anyone likes UC or not....DAAP and the School of Planning are excellent academic institutions and should not be lumped into other generalizations of the university.

And someone missed the meaning of my username.

I'll talk/type how I want, get over it.

 

This dude was rude to me, for no reason! And I'm not around here enough anymore to actually have a reputation to defend. I'm too busy working...you know...as a planner.