Topics in City and Metropolitan Planning | Instructor: Deborah McKoy

Analysis of selected topics in city and metropolitan planning with emphasis on implications for planning practice and urban policy formation.

Y-PLAN

The Y-PLAN (Youth – Plan, Learn, Act, Now) is an interdisciplinary course and an award-winning initiative where students in urban planning, design, education, and other related disciplines learn how to engage youth as genuine stakeholders and participants in local planning projects. After an initial teaching preparation phase, UC Berkeley students work side-by-side with high school students for ten weeks teaching them fundamentals of planning and design by engaging in actual real-world planning projects. Readings and seminar discussions on theoretical tools in participatory planning and teaching are complemented with practical application.

Participants gain proficiency in:

• Engaging youth as genuine stakeholders in community development processes;
• Teaching and communicating their ideas effectively;
• Applying core community development principles of mobilizing community and creating an informed citizenry; and
• Mentoring youth in conducting physical, economic, and social analyses of their community.
  
  

"The Y-PLAN is terrific because it's not just about community partnership — it's an important tool for preparing and training future leaders in urban planning and education about the critical relationship between public schools and urban environments," says Deborah McKoy, director of the Center for Cities & Schools. "Having to teach city planning and community development helps the grad students learn what they came here to do."