GEOG 356 - Environment and Land-Use Planning

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

This seminar focuses on land-use issues such as open-space planning, urban design, transportation planning, and the social and environmental effects of planning and land use policies. The focus of the course this year is impacts of planning policies (such as transportation, zoning, or growth boundaries) on environmental quality, including open space preservation, farmland conservation, and environmental services. We begin with global and regional examples and then apply ideas in the context of Dutchess County’s trajectory of land use change and planning policies.

Topic 2021/22a: Re-Envisioning The North Side: From Automobility to Place. (Same as ENST 356 and URBS 356) This seminar focuses on planning issues such as sustainable land use planning, urban design, transportation planning, and social/economic effects of urban planning policies. Using the City of Poughkeepsie as a laboratory, this seminar focuses on how transportation and land use planning decisions affect the social, economic, cultural, and environmental resources of neighborhoods and communities through an in-depth look at the City’s northern neighborhoods. We specifically examine the socio-economic, demographic, mobility and access issues, as well as environmental, and planning concerns surrounding the history of the downtown and the City’s transportation decision making historically and new revitalization initiatives underway. Through fieldwork, readings and exercises, we identify and explore key policy and planning challenges and opportunities and gain an understanding of the potential and limitations of various planning and regulatory frameworks. Susan Blickstein.

Prerequisite(s): One 200-level course in Geography, Urban Studies or Environmental Studies.

One 3-hour period.

Course Format: CLS