University of California, San Diego

About University of California, San Diego

UC San Diego’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning is committed to civic education within and beyond the university walls. We train students to plan, design and develop diverse, healthy, sustainable and prosperous communities. The growth of cities creates challenges for providing everyone with food, water, housing, transportation, and work. It also creates the opportunity to meet these challenges by innovating in how we plan, build, and live together. We provide theoretical and hands-on instruction on topics such as land use planning, real estate and community development, urban design, and transportation, taught by leading practitioners and award-winning educators and researchers.

Points of Distinction

Our core curriculum incorporates a focus on social, economic, and spatial justice. It also makes a central place for courses on sustainability, including planning for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Our scholar-practitioners engage with the multinational San Diego-Tijuana region as a living and learning studio for collaborative, cross-cultural research, planning, and design. Our successful undergraduate BA curriculum is more than 50 years old: its alumni include many distinguished planners and planning scholars. Our graduate degree programs, including a Master's of Urban and Regional Planning and a PhD in Urban Studies and Planning, are scheduled to open in 2026.

Degrees & Programs

Master's Degree

Bachelor's Degree
Degree Name	Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies and Planning
Degree accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board:	No