Home > Academics > Concentrations > Urban Policy > Curriculum
Curriculum
The Urban Policy Concentration is designed for students in both the MPA and MIA programs. All students must fulfill two sets of curriculum requirements: those of their respective MIA/ MPA degrees as well as the concentration's specific requirements, although some courses may count towards both. Urban Policy is divided into 8 policy tracks. The diversity of course offerings reflects the depth and breadth of the Urban Policy field.
Urban Policy Curriculum Requirements: 15 Credits TOTAL
A. Urban Core: 3 Credits
- PUAF U 4260 Dinkins Critical Issues in Urban Public Policy (Spring)
- PUAF U 8232 Fuchs Seminar in Urban Politics (Fall)
- PUAF U 8238 Dinkins Practical Problems in Urban Politics (Fall)
or
- A course of similar content subject to approval by Urban Concentration Director
B. Urban Policy Tracks: 12 Credits
The urban Policy Concentration offers in depth knowledge of a policy area and the skills required for policy analysis or agency management.
Students can choose their courses within one of the policy tracks or combine courses across tracks. Students may petition to add any other appropriate courses to the concentration, subject to approval by the Concentration Director. This list only reflects spring courses. Cross-Registration to non-SIPA courses is subject to approval by the host school.
Click on a track below to see its description and course offerings
1. Urban Politics, Governance and Management
2. Sustainable Urban Development & Environmental Policy
3. Economic Development Policy, Urban Planning & Land Use
Curriculum Links
Urban Policy Course List Spring 2008 (PDF)
1. Urban Politics, Governance and Management
Students advance their knowledge of urban issues and develop the necessary tools to effectively plan and manage cities. Students choose from a broad range of courses on issues ranging from affordable housing development, transportation and infrastructure planning to municipal finance and public management. Relevant courses include:
ARCH A 4460 Breslin Japanese Urbanism
HIST G 8570 Marable Black Leadership in American Politics
HIST G 9570 Jackson Seminar in American Urban History
HPMN P 8558 Ference Strategic Management
HPMN P 6513 Wolfgang Hospital Organization & Management
HPMN P 6529 TBA Accounting and Budgeting for Health Administration
HPMN P 8529 Janus Analytic Methods for Health Services Management
HPMN P 8533 TBA Health Care Financial Management
HPMN P 8544 Neidell Environmental Health Economics Services Management
HPMN P 8560 Leach Collective Bargaining in Health Institutions
HPMN P 8567 Janus Health Care Management through Incentives
INAF U 6016 Ray Cost-Benefit Analysis
INAF U 6022 Morgan Economics of Finance
INAF U 8690 Salomons Managing Complex Emergencies
LAW L 6174 Strauss The Regulatory and Administrative State
ORLD Y 5055 Parker Staff Development and Training
ORLD Y 5062 Yorks Human Resource Development in Organizations
ORLJ Y 5003 Faculty Human Resource Management
ORLJ Y 5340 Barnes/Anderson Basic Practicum Conflict Resolution
PLAN A 6217 Adler Techniques of Project Evaluation
POLS G 8248 Ting Bureaucracy and Organizations
PUAF U 6033 Riccio Decision Models and Management
PUAF U 6217 Riccio Operations Management
PUAF U 6238 Ward Implementation and Urban Policy Process
PUAF U 8201 TBA Budgeting - Government
PUAF U 8203 Quaranta Project Management
PUAF U 8238 Dinkins Practical Problems in Urban Politics
PUAF U 8510 Buck-Luce Women and Power: the Impact of Public & Private Sector Policy
SIPA U 9300 de la Garza/ Falcon Public Policy Clinic
SOCI G 8090 Vaughan Organizational Analysis
SOCW T 6416 Ssewamala Program Evaluation-Social Services
2. Sustainable Urban Development & Environmental Policy
Students interested in sustainable urban growth look at how development meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. Sustainable Development is critically important because policy challenges facing urban centers require a central focus on sustainability and development. These include metro development; poverty reduction; science, technology, and education policy; global demographic change; and urbanization. This focus draws on synergies with course offerings in the Sustainable Development PhD program at SIPA, the development concentration for master students at SIPA, and the programs of Columbia's Earth Institute. Relevant courses include:
EAEE E 4150 Fthenakis Air Pollution Prevention/Control
EAEE E 4160 Somasundaran Solid & Hazardous Waste Management
ECIA W 4100 Lall Management & Development of Water Systems
ENVP U 6230 Sheriff Economics of Sustainable Development
INAF U 4727 Heikkila Environmental Politics & Policy Management
INAF U 6057 Goulding Electricity Markets
INAF U 6242 Neff Energy Policy
INAF U 8452 Lenton Water Resources in Developing Countries
INAF U 8196 TBA Development Evaluation
INAF U 8813 Delamonica Policy Analysis of Development II
INAF U 8912 Henry Technology, Innovation & Sustainable Goals
LAW L 9155 Grad/Riesel Environmental Litigation
PLAN A 4540 Sclar/Northridge Urban Environmental Planning
PLAN A 6354 Altschuler/ Wiesbrod Political Environment of Development
PLAN A 4620 Froehlich Public Financing of Urban Development
PUAF U 8236 Hosagrahar Sustainable Urban Development: International Perspectives
PUAF U 8237 Paterson Urban Planning & Challenge-Equitable Development
PUAF U 8242 Fuchs Politics & Policy of Sustainable Urban Economic Development
SDEV U 6254 Ocampo Development Policy: Multidisciplinary Roads to Reform
SDEV U 9240 Sachs Human Ecology and Sustainable Development
SDEV U 9250 Anderson Politics of Sustainable Development
SDEV U 9253 Noman Multidisciplinary Approaches to Development
SIPA U 9003 Hammer IEMP Workshop – NYC Urban Development
3. Economic Development Policy, Urban Planning & Land Use
ARCH A 6705 Dolkart History and Development of New York City
ECIA W 4100 Lall Management & Development of Water Systems
ECON G 4527 Riskin Economic Organization & Development of China
ECON G 6303 Urquiola Economic Growth & Development II
ECON G 6452 von Wachter The Economics Of Labor II
IEOR E 4409 Sereny Industrial Information Planning Systems
INAF U 4410 Trebat Political, Social & Economic Development in Brazil
INAF U 6602 Urquiola Economic Development for International Affairs
INAF U 8104 Kopech Role of the Local Financial Sector in Development
INAF U 8161 MacLeod Seminar in Law, Economics and Development
INAF U 8401 Ellsworth Current Issues in African Economic Development
PLAN A 4112 Sclar Physical Structure of Cities
PLAN A 4540 Sclar/Northridge Urban Environmental Planning
PLAN A 4620 Froehlich Public Financing of Urban Development
PLAN A 6052 Scherer Planning Law
PLAN A 6108 Martin Land Use Planning
PUAF U 8209 MacLeod Law, Economics & Public Policy
PUAF U 8237 Paterson Urban Planning & Challenge-Equitable Development
Students with an urban education policy focus develop in-depth knowledge of educational issues, within the larger context of urban systems. Students learn about trends in systemic, urban school improvement by connecting them to the history, politics, and economics of urban life. Among the issues that students explore include, education and economic development, whole-school reform, and equity financing. Relevant courses draw heavily on curricular offerings at Teachers College, and students should plan in advance for cross-registration processes. Relevant courses include:
A&HH Y 4076 Weneck History of Urban Education
HUDF Y 4022 Strauss Sociology of Urban Education
ITSF Y 4011 Bond Social Context of Education
ITSF Y 4055 Levin Resource Allocation in Education
ITSF Y 4090 Arjmand Issues and Institutions: International Education Development
ITSF Y 4091 Cortina Comparative Education
ITSF Y 4094 Cortina Education Across the Americas
ITSF Y 4094 Arjmand Education in the Middle East
ITSF Y 4098 Tsang Education Development Policies in China
ITSF Y 4151 Rivera-Batiz Special Topics: Advanced Microeconomics with Ed Apps
ITSF Y 4155 Levin Evaluating Educational Privatization and School Choice
ITSF Y 5007 Bartlett Race, Class and Schooling across America
ORLA Y 4044 Kane Transforming Schools, Transforming Education
ORLA Y 4045 Ackerman Restructuring Schooling Urban Environment
ORLA Y 4048 Huerta Education Policy: Implementation
ORLA Y 5016 Heubert Law and Educational Institutions: Equity Issues
ORLA Y 5025 Richards Ecology of Education Planning & Management
ORLF Y 6540 Henig Pol/Ed: Centralization & Decentralization
ORLF Y 6540 Guerriero Pol/Ed Ed-Soc Serv NY
PUAF U 6460 Loso Benchmarking Education and Skills Development
EHSC P 9300 Graziano Topics in Environmental Health Sciences I
HPMN P 6508 Brown Health Policy and the Political System
HPMN P 6530 Sparer Issues and Approaches in Health Policy and Management
HPMN P 8502 Neidell Research Techniques and Applications in Health Services Administration: Management
HPMN P 8507 TBA An International Perspective on the Politics of Health Policy
HPMN P 8524 Cooper Child Health Policy
LAW L 8274 Klick Health Policy
LAW L 9153 Thomas Topics in Law and Sexuality
SOSC P 6726 Kirchner Public Health & Disability Policy
SOSC P 8717 Fullilove Urban Space and Health
SOSC P 8720 di Mauro History of Sexual Health Promotion in 20th Century New York City
SOSC P 8762 Fullilove Chronic Disease, Urbanism and Community Health
SOSC P 8784 Northridge Design and Public Health
INAF U 8430 Reddy World Poverty: Analysis and Policy
INAF U 8785 McGill/Weisgrau Gender, Politics, and Development
LAW L 9060 Ruthizer Immigration Law & Policy
LAW L 6243 Emens Employment Discrimination
LAW L 9192 Freedman Welfare Law, Entitlements & the Poor
LAW L 9220 Shaw Race & Poverty Law
ORLF Y 6540 Guerriero Pol/Ed Ed-Soc Serv NY
POPF P 8683 Wessells Psychosocial Impact of Forced Migration
PUAF U 8320 Garfinkel Research Practicum-Poverty & Public Policy
PUAF U 8470 Ullman Work/Family Policy in Western Europe & the US
SOSC P 8701 Raveis Social Dimensions of Aging
SOCW T 6801 Naidich Social Welfare Policy
LAW L 9410 Hopper Law and Policy of Homelessness
PLAN A 6333 Gold Real Estate Development Law
PLAN A 6344 TBA Seminar in Housing Policy
INAF U 8551 Landgren Protecting Children from Violence, Exploitation and Abuse
LAW L 6243 Emens Employment Discrimination
LAW L 8006 Leidholdt Domestic Violence and the Law
LAW L 8042 De Schutter Globalization & Human Rights
Urban Policy Workshops
One of the many advantages of studying urban policy at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs is the wide ranging availability of urban-oriented workshop opportunities. These workshops are a second-year consultancy project, carrying course credit, in which teams of students working with a faculty member, carry out a real policy project for an external client. Although workshops are offered in many parts of SIPA’s curriculum, the School’s excellent relations with the city of New York both its government agencies and not-for profits organizations, produces a number of exciting and challenging urban-oriented workshops each year. SIPA students work as a team and are expected to produce professional work for their clients. The workshop experience is demanding and exhilarating and has the practical effect of developing professional contacts for our students all across the City. Many SIPA students have been offered jobs by their workshop clients. Included among the workshop projects is an in-depth study of the impact of globalization on small businesses near the two major airports in Queens, for U.S. Congressman Gregory Meeks, 6th District. There have been several public-private partnership workshops that work closely with clients to examine pros and cons for their businesses. Some other recent clients include The New York City Economic Development Corporation, the NYC Parks Department, the NYS Wide Coalition of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Fire Department of New York and the Office of the Mayor of NYC.