News | June 26, 2024
A Biochar Solution for Urban Runoff
Written by Julia Davis for the University of Washington In cities around the globe, stormwater runoff remains largely untreated, collecting everything from heavy metals to pesticides before flowing into our waterways. This environmental challenge requires innovative solutions, and biochar may just be the key. CEE Assistant Professor Jessica Ray and graduate student Amy Quintanilla are…
News | March 19, 2024
A New ‘Holy Grail’ in the Housing Crisis: Statewide Rent Caps
Reported in The New York Times by David W. Chen As housing costs soar, Washington State wants to limit annual rent increases to 7 percent. Oregon and California have passed similar measures. With her husband struggling at times to find work, Ms. Horn has maxed out her credit cards to keep pace with the…
Course | T GIS 414
Advanced Applications of GIS
Applies GIS techniques through case studies of social, economic, and environmental issues in the Puget Sound region. Introduces new techniques in basic programming for GIS, using ArcGIS ModelBuilder, and the advanced use of GPS devices.Scholar
Ali Modarres
Visit scholar websiteScholar
Anaid Yerena
Visit scholar websiteScholar
Anne Taufen
Visit scholar websiteNews | August 9, 2024
Are we on the brink of a tax revolt in Washington state?
Reported by Joshua McNichols for KUOW/NPR News Cities all over the region have big property tax levies on the ballot this year. There’s a transportation levy in Seattle, a levy to modernize the fire department in Tacoma, and a levy to pay for public safety and libraries in Everett. Increasingly, elected officials rely on these…
Scholar
Bára Šafářová
Visit scholar websiteScholar
Brian Coffey
Visit scholar websiteCourse | T URB 316
Cities and Belonging
Addresses inequality in urban spaces through the concept of belonging and ideas about cultural belonging and legitimacy. While the course is traditional in its concern with urban poverty, race, ethnicity, and immigration, it offers a vocabulary of citizenship and rights to investigate urban inequalities and how various populations experience them.Course | T URB 420
Cities and the Constitution
Examines Constitutional rights to freedom of expression in public institutions and public places of cities. Considers rights to freedom of expression as they exist in a variety of forums -- streets and parks, schools, shopping malls, university sporting events, and property surrounding prisons. Analyzes interactions among rights and community interests.Course | T URB 330
City Worlds
Examines world urbanization and the shifting geographies associated with economic restructuring and globalization. Ethnicity, gender, urban form, local governance strategies, and resistance to those strategies are considered. Includes examples from cities in both the developed and developing world.Course | T URB 326
Climate Change within the Urban Context
Provides an understanding of the nexus of urbanization and climate change. Covers international standards, the urban carbon footprint, and mitigation strategies such as urban forests, urban agriculture, green buildings, and sustainable transportation. Also considers justice and climate change adaptation.News | June 5, 2024
Community broadband provides a local solution for a global problem
Written by Esther Jang, Postdoctoral Fellow, Computer Science, University of Washington; Katherine Gillieson, Associate Dean, Master of Design, Emily Carr University; and Michael Lithgow, Associate Professor, Media and Communication Studies, Athabasca University Published in The Conversation. According to a 2023 study by the International Telecommunications Union, approximately 2.6 billion people are unconnected to the internet….
Course | T URB 235
Community Development
Examines theories, polices, and practice of community change and development in American cities. Explores ways to assess community conditions, the contributions of various community institutions, impacts of regional, national, and global political economies, community-oriented development strategies, and methods to evaluate community development initiatives.Course | T URB 470
Creating The Urban Narrative
Dissects the axiom "history is written by the winner". Examines how cities' narratives are created, sustained, and reinvented. Focuses on the assumptions and accepted histories of institutions, issues, conflicts, and cultures and their interconnectivity - through exposure to diverse tools used to create urban narratives.Course | T GIS 415
Critical Theory and GIS Practicum
Explores the foundational debates that have impacted the evolution of geospatial software, technique, and methodology.Course | T URB 305
Data And The City
Studies the intersection of data and everyday urban life. Prepares students to understand what is and is not captured in data and how said data come to represent themselves and their communities.Scholar
David Boe
Visit scholar websiteScholar
Davon Woodard
Visit scholar websiteCourse | T URB 211
Digital Cities
Examines the impact that information technology has had on the spatial form and socio-economic processes of contemporary metropolitan areas. Covers the information economy; the digital divide; and placemaking applications of mobile technology.News | February 18, 2017
Drones Are Turning Civilians Into an Air Force of Citizen Scientists
Last winter, as meteorologists warned of a monster El Niño, researchers at the Nature Conservancy in California prepared to mobilize with a new, distributed surveillance strategy: commercial drones, co-opted from a gung-ho statewide network of citizen scientists. Britta Ricker, geographic information scientist in Urban Studies University of Washington-Tacoma, shares her thoughts about the challenges and…
Course | TEST 221
Environmental History: Water
Examines the historical relationship between water and fire, irrigation, grazing, mining, deforestation, and urbanization upon the regional and global environment. Using case histories based on water, emphasizes the sources and methods historians use to study environmental change over time.Course | T URB 101
Exploring Cities: An Introduction to Urban Studies
Introduction to the multi-disciplinary field of Urban Studies. Exposes the complexity of everyday life in metropolitan areas. Explores how the various disciplines of sociology, anthropology, geography, economies, and political science have studies and made sense of cities. Special attention given to issues of class, race, and gender.Scholar
Fern Tiger
Visit scholar websiteCourse | T URB 314
Gender and the Urban Landscape
Examines linkages between cultural, physical, and symbolic urban landscapes and gender ideologies, structures, and practices. Major themes from gender and urban studies include domestic/public divisions, sexuality and city spaces, consumption, and urban design. Emphasizes integration of theoretical positions and ideas into students' work.Degree Program
Geospatial Technologies (MS)
The Urban Studies Program offers a Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies degree. Admission is open during autumn quarter only and will be comprised of a 20 student cohort. The degree will provide advanced training in GIS, training students to use and apply geospatial hardware, software, and data in urban and environmental planning scenarios. It…
Visit program websiteCourse | T SUD 444
Green Internationalism And The City
Explores the influence of global ecological politics on urban policy and development as well as the impacts that new forms of urbanization have on global ecological politics. Interrogates key interdisciplinary debates within global political economy, political ecology, and urban studies.Scholar
Gregory Lund
Visit scholar websiteNews | June 11, 2024
Here’s why an Arizona medical examiner is working to track heat-related deaths
Written by Alejandra Borunda for NPR News Greg Hess deals with death day in, day out. Hess is the medical examiner for Pima County, Ariz., a region along the United States-Mexico border. His office handles some 3,000 deaths each year — quiet deaths, overdoses, gruesome deaths, tragic ones. From April through October every year, Hess…
News | February 1, 2024
History uncovered: UW research finds thousands of past racial restrictions in Kitsap
Reported in The Kitsap Sun By Peiyu Lin It’s not a secret that Kitsap County possesses a history of segregation, where some areas of the peninsula were only allowed to sell or rent to white people in the early and mid-20th century. But a specific geographic distribution of the over 2,300 properties that carry racial…
News | February 18, 2020
Homes are selling in Tacoma at fastest rate in nation, Redfin says in new report
Last May, Redfin elevated Tacoma on the nation’s real estate map with a report saying the city was the nation’s hottest market. That distinction was just given again. On Thursday, the real estate company’s blog reported Tacoma was the fastest-selling metro market nationwide in January. Tacoma also ranks high as a competitive market, with 34.2…
News | March 8, 2017
Honoring Women Collaborators at Urban@UW
In honor of International Women’s Day, we are highlighting just some of UW’s brilliant female professors, scholars, and and change-makers with whom Urban@UW is proud to collaborate. Click on their names to explore their work. Leadership: Thaisa Way, Executive Director, Urban@UW; Department of Landscape Architecture Executive Committee: Margaret O’Mara, Department of History Susan P….
News | July 8, 2022
Housing boom around University Village: Will it be a real Seattle neighborhood?
Most of Seattle’s growing urban neighborhoods surround light-rail stations, but at least one is sprouting around an upscale, open-air shopping center. There are more than 2,300 new apartments recently completed, currently under construction or planned in the blocks that encircle University Village, a sprawling collection of stores, restaurants, plazas and parking lots located northeast of…
Course | T URB 480
Housing in the United States
Examines the principles, concepts, and tools central to housing in the United States. Acquire a broad knowledge base of state and federal housing markets, policies/programs. Identify appropriate policies to suit multiple urban contexts. Develop an understanding of at least one innovative approach to address the need for affordable housing.News | April 4, 2024
How do wildfires affect mental health? A new UW study examines the connection
Originally reported in the Seattle Times by Taylor Blatchford Checking air quality and staying indoors when smoke inundates the Seattle area has become second nature during Washington’s wildfire season in recent years. But new research highlights how wildfires can affect a less visible aspect of well-being: mental health. A University of Washington study published in…
News | August 30, 2018
How racism kept black Tacomans from buying houses for decades
Honorably discharged after serving in the Korean War, the young man looked to settle down in Tacoma with his wife. If only they could convince someone to show them a home. If they got to a house first, the real estate agent would leave upon seeing them. They learned to park down the street and…
News | July 29, 2024
How Tiny Homes Could Help Solve America’s Homelessness Crisis
Reported by Giulia Carbonaro for Newsweek Shelter villages of tiny homes have popped up across the U.S. in recent years, as the small structures have started to be seen by many advocates as a promising solution to solve homelessness. Perhaps unsurprisingly at a time when mortgage rates are still hovering around the 7-percent mark and…
Course | T URB 205
Images of the City
Examines how the city is portrayed through various media and how those portrayals affect society's perception of urban places. Discusses imagery from films, literature, television, newspapers, and magazines. Considers images linked to such elements as crime, ethnic enclaves, downtown areas, and suburbia.Course | T URB 250
Immigration, Race, And American Cities
Discusses the history of immigration and peopling of the U.S., focusing primarily on issues related to race, class, ethnicity, and gender in American cities since the nineteenth century.Course | T GIS 312
Intermediate GIS
Examines GIS techniques that range from spatial analysis using vector and raster data models, to the analysis of three dimensional surfaces in urban space.Course | T URB 399
International Urban Studies
Urban Studies courses taken through UWT foreign study program.Course | T URB 110
Introduction to Digital Urban Data Analysis
Provides a methodological foundation to digital research and data analysis technologies to build a unique set of urban analytical tools.Course | T GEOG 101
Introduction To Geography
Broad introduction to the field of geography within the context of globalization. Topics include the relationship between humans and their environment, the role of culture in landscape change, economic development, geopolitics, and urban systems.Course | T GIS 502
Introduction to Geospatial Technology
Provides an introduction and overview of the role that geospatial technologies play in contemporary urban and environmental planning scenarios. Focuses on the applications and techniques that are core elements of the graduate program in Geospatial Technologies.Course | T UDE 210
Introduction To Urban Design History And Theory
Provides an historical overview of urban design practice and its political economy, allowing students to learn about the intellectual trajectory of the discipline, both within and outside the structures of power.Course | T URB 220
Introduction to Urban Planning
Introduction to the planning process. Presents and discusses the major planning sub-fields. Topics include housing, transportation, recreation, environmental planning, and preservation planning. Examines techniques associated with growth controls and land use management. Introductory course for students with planning emphasis.Course | T URB 200/350
Introduction to Urban Research
Introduction to research methods pertinent to the study of urban issues, society and culture. Emphasizes the logic of the scientific method, understanding the interrelated stages of the research process, understanding and critiquing quantitative and qualitative research literature, and learning strategies for gathering and analyzing data.Scholar
J. Mark Pendras
Visit scholar websiteScholar
James Harrington
Visit scholar websiteScholar
Jessi Quizar
Visit scholar websiteScholar
Jim Thatcher
Visit scholar websiteNews | January 23, 2020
Land banking in the heart of Tacoma
There is a city block in the heart of Tacoma some people believe is not being put to its best use, stifling economic growth and blunting vitality. Four buildings and three parking lots now occupy 11 parcels along Tacoma Avenue, not far from the City-County Building. Six of the parcels have been tied up since 2005,…
Course | T URB 322
Land Use Planning
Examines the land use planning process at the local level with a focus on the contemporary United States. Review of theories of land use change, arguments for and against planning intervention, and the role of the land use planner in the local land development arena.News | April 26, 2024
Leave the imported shrimp, take the local bivalves: sustainable seafood choices
Reported by Kim Malcolm and John O’Brien for KUOW, a NPR news station. Seafood and the Pacific Northwest go hand in hand. Maybe you’re one of those people out fishing, clamming, and crabbing during the season. But if you’re more of a shopper, your options aren’t all local and sustainable. Jessica Gephart is an assistant professor…
Course | TCMP 571
Legal Urbanism
Explores the relationship between law and the city, examining how "law" situates cities and urban residents in the US and shapes behaviors and environments in cities. Considers how legal structures enable or inhibit urban social justice and how they might be used to advance socially just and sustainable urban conditions.Scholar
Lisa Hoffman
Visit scholar websiteNews | August 25, 2020
Livable City Year research leads to publication on university–community partnerships
Anne Taufen, associate professor of Urban Studies at UW Tacoma, and Anneka Olson, graduate of UW Tacoma’s Community Planning MA program, recently published an article examining the Livable City Year program, a university-community partnership at the University of Washington. This work was partially supported through Urban@UW. “Especially in this time of polarization, with problems like…
News | March 13, 2024
Looking inward for pollution In his latest research, Dr. Dan Jaffe looks to the kitchen as a source for indoor pollution in the home.
Excerpted from the University of Washington- Bothell website. For more than 30 years, Dr. Dan Jaffe has spent his career researching outdoor air pollution and its many sources — from wildfires to fossil fuels. In recent years, however, his curiosity has shifted inward as he looks to answer the question: “How clean is our indoor…
News | October 18, 2022
Making cities more equitable: Meet Davon Woodard
It’s fair to say Davon Woodard is downright passionate about urban spaces—particularly making them more equitable and livable for the diverse communities that inhabit them. “Everyone has a right to a home (city) which is reflective of and respectful of their lived experiences,” he wrote. “My work is guided by that principle.” Davon is an…
Course | T GIS 311
Maps and GIS
Introduction to map interpretation and basic spatial analysis through the use of geographic information systems (GIS). Emphasizes developing, through hands-on experience, a fundamental understanding of GIS and the technical expertise necessary for applying GIS in a variety of scenarios such as environmental science, urban planning, nursing, social work, and business.Scholar
Matthew Kelley
Visit scholar websiteNews | July 19, 2024
More Than 1 Trillion Microbes Live Inside the Average Tree Trunk
Reported by Erik Stokstad for Science The wood inside the average tree might seem barren, but it’s home to an incredibly diverse array of life. More than 1 trillion fungi, bacteria, and other microbes live inside the average trunk, according to the most comprehensive survey yet conducted, comprising unique communities specialized to various tree species….
News | March 29, 2024
Muslims observing Ramadan at Tacoma ICE center aren’t receiving timely meals, immigration advocates say
Originally published by KUOW Written by Diana Opong The month of Ramadan is a time of holy celebration, but some Muslim people held at the privately run Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma say they aren’t being given clean clothes daily, nor timely meals before and after fasting. Naeem, a 52-year-old man being held at…
News | August 20, 2024
Need anti-withdrawal meds? In King County, call this 24/7 hotline
Reported by Eilis O’Neil for KUOW and NPR News People addicted to opioids in King County can call a new hotline and get a prescription right away for a drug that can help. Buprenorphine reduces symptoms of withdrawal and can help people stay off fentanyl and other opioids. Buprenorphine “does cut overdose risk by 50%,…
News | March 15, 2024
Neighborhood Poverty May Impact Women’s Ovarian Reserves
Reported by Lori Solomon at Health Day News FRIDAY, March 15, 2024 — Living in a neighborhood with greater poverty in adulthood is tied to lower ovarian reserve, according to a study published online March 5 in Menopause. Anwesha Pan, from the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues aimed to examine the association between…
News | February 1, 2024
New nonpartisan AI nonprofit TrueMedia, led by Oren Etzioni, is making a political deepfake detector
Published in GeekWire By Todd Bishop A new nonprofit, nonpartisan technology organization called TrueMedia is developing an AI-powered tool to detect deepfake videos, photos, and audio, aiming to combat political disinformation in the leadup to the 2024 elections. Founded and led by Oren Etzioni, University of Washington professor and former CEO of the Allen Institute…
News | March 29, 2024
Office-to-residential conversion is a trendy idea for downtown resurgence — but has big challenges
Originally published in Geekwire Written by Chuck Wolfe, longtime affiliate associate professor in College of Built Environments at the University of Washington. Office-to-residential conversions are frequent fodder in discussions of the post-pandemic city, downtown regeneration, and hopes to contain rising housing costs. Remote work is here to stay, especially in hybrid form in the tech-centric…
News | July 16, 2020
Opportunities to engage UW faculty and students to address COVID-19
In recognition of the intense needs of local governments around COVID-19 response and recovery, the LCY program has compiled a list of existing UW courses whose faculty and students are seeking to assist local communities in COVID-related projects. Most projects can start in Autumn 2020 — some as early as Summer 2020. The list of…
Course | T URB 430
Pacific Rim Cities
Examines links between urbanization and globalization on the Pacific Rim and connections between events and social/economic processes in places that seem distinct (e.g., China, Canada, Mexico, Philippines). Case studies and discussion topics include questions of class formation, political change, migration patterns, and gender/family dynamics.Scholar
Pierpaolo Mudu
Visit scholar websiteCourse | T URB 479
Planning and Development in the Puget Sound Region
Examines the problems and prospects associated with rapid growth in the Seattle-Tacoma urban region. Includes site visits and discussions with public officials, planners and developers. Topics/sites vary and include such issues as growth management, sprawl, transportation, sustainable development, land use, and environmental protection.Course | TCMP 572
Planning For Equity
Provides an overview of the equity planning tradition in urban affairs and community planning. Introduces participatory process, democratic deliberation, and inclusive management. Emphasizes planning skills for recognizing, empowering, and resourcing groups and individuals with historical, economic, and operational disadvantages in processes of urban development and decision-making.Course | T URB 450
Planning for Sustainability
Examines the growing impact of global sustainability on local spatial planning systems, especially in the US, UK, Europe and South Africa. Specific topics include the philosophies, theories, goals, techniques, and institutional politics of sustainability planning.Course | TCMP 521
Planning Theory And Practice
Explores how community planners and other actors engage theories of planning procedures and preferred urban forms to guide urban development and social change. Considers how leading scholars in the field have theorized the potential and challenges of planning.Course | TSMG 440
Political Geography: Territory, State and Society
Introduction to political geography from the perspective of political economy and the politics of difference. Discusses both critical approaches to human geography and geographical interpretations of the state. Emphasizes spatial dimensions of capitalist development as mediated by urban, national and global politics.Course | T GEOG 440
Political Geography: Territory, State And Society
Introduction to political geography from the perspective of political economy and the politics of difference. Discusses both critical approaches to human geography and geographical interpretations of the state. Emphasizes spatial dimensions of capitalist development as mediated by urban, national and global politics.Course | TCMP 573
Power And Decentralization
Presents theoretical frameworks for analyzing political power in collaborative networks. Introduces analytic methods for understanding and anticipating how power operated in decentralized governance, including the ways in which community groups and urban stakeholders can identify key coalitions, political frames, and entry points in processes of urban development and resource allocation.Course | T URB 312
Race and Poverty in Urban America
Examines current research, policy, and debate surrounding race and poverty in urban America. Includes affirmative action, the changing family, cultural identity, the inner-city crisis, interracial relationships, residential segregation, and the working and non-working poor.News | December 20, 2016
Reflections on Urban Environmental Justice in a Time of Climate Change
On November 7th and 8th Urban@UW, in collaboration with the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group (CIG), hosted a symposium to begin transdisciplinary conversation on the multifaceted dynamics and consequences of Urban Environmental Justice in a Time of Climate Change (UEJ). Below are some reflections from this event, and a sample of the resources we’ll…
News | April 8, 2024
Seattle Civic Poet Shin Yu Pai launches new public poetry project on April 1
Originally reported in Northwest Asian Weekly by Kai Curry. National Poetry Month takes place every year in April. Its purpose is to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry nationwide. This year, Seattle residents will have the privilege and pleasure of discovering, installed throughout various parts of the city, poems by local poets on topics of…
News | April 26, 2024
Seattle’s troubled past and present suggest a new approach to mental health
Written by Will James, Sydney Brownstone, and Esme Jimenez as part of the series “Lost Patients” for KUOW, an NPR Station. Edward Moore, a 32-year-old sailor, was discovered, near freezing and living in a tattered tent on the shore near current day Seattle in 1854. At the time, Washington was still a territory and Seattle…
News | February 1, 2024
Should social media pay for addicting kids? Seattle schools lawsuit gains steam
Reported by KUOW Written by Sami West A year into Seattle Public Schools’ lawsuit against social media companies, the case is gaining traction. More than 50 school districts in Washington state — and dozens more across the country — have joined Seattle’s lawsuit. Seattle became the first district to sue social media platforms last January,…
Course | T SUD 425
Social Justice and Urban Sustainability
Examines sustainable urban development from a social justice perspective. Draws from key theories and practices to explore how and why to incorporate social justice into sustainable urban development politics and policies and the challenges facing such efforts.News | January 8, 2021
Spanaway tops list of toughest places in the U.S. to buy a home
When Eric Seiler started looking to buy a house near Spanaway at the height of this year’s coronavirus lockdowns, he thought he might find a buyers’ market. Instead, Seiler and his fiancée started on a home search that involved making at least 15 offers on homes, only to be beat out by other buyers. “There…
News | July 16, 2024
SPARK Grant Recipients Win Big with a Social Justice Jacket
Reported by Kate Landis for Urban@UW What if a denim jacket could tell the stories of people impacted by housing inequality across the country? Resistive Threads, a project that was awarded a Urban@UW SPARK grant in 2023, was recently awarded a Honorable Mention at the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) conference,…
News | November 16, 2021
Spark Grants foster research on community-centered environmental infrastructure, supporting collaborations amidst pandemic
Over the past year, two teams of researchers from the University of Washington tackled a host of urban challenges in our region with the support of Urban@UW’s Research Spark Grants. In August 2020 grants of up to $20,000 were awarded to amplify collaborative research-to-practice with a focus on today’s urban issues. Two UW teams of…
Course | T URB 225
Statistics for Urban Analysis
Introduces basic methods of both descriptive and inferential statistical analysis, and applies them to topics common to the field of urban planning and community development. Develops a critical perspective on how such methods relate to public discourse and urban policy-making.News | February 16, 2024
Student Housing Has a New Mantra: Bigger Is Better
Written by Kevin Williams for The New York Times Off-campus complexes are getting larger, with some being home to more than 1,500 students, and being built on prime parcels of land as close to campus as possible. When the Standard, an off-campus student housing complex, opened in the fall in Bloomington, Ind., welcoming its first…
Course | T URB 380
Study Abroad: Comparative International Perspectives on Cities and the Environment
Interdisciplinary approach to integrating urban and environmental issues in two or more world cities. Topics may include coastal development, transportation, parks, marine conservation, indigenous cultures, environmental planning, gentrification, urban governance, and watershed management.Degree Program
Sustainable Urban Development (BA)
Accomplishing sustainable urban development is a crucial challenge for the twenty-first century. The University of Washington Tacoma is at the forefront of engaging and educating undergraduate students on this topic. The Sustainable Urban Development degree provides students with a critical and rigorous training in ecological, political, economic, and social aspects of urban development processes.
Visit program websiteCourse | T URB 323
Sustainable Urban Development Policies
Examines how public policy mechanisms are used to support and accomplish sustainability through the interweaving of social equity, economic prosperity, and environmental protection. Encourages the development of both critical and constructive perspectives on policies of sustainability.Course | T URB 360
The African American Urban Experience
Places African Americans at the center of the American urban condition from the colonial era to the 21st century. Interdisciplinary study of U.S. urban history, contemporary social, cultural and policy research and comparative perspectives on race and ethnicity to illuminate the growth and evolution of African American urban communities.Course | T URB 440
The City and Nature
Examines connections between urban and environmental conditions by investigating the social and material production of urban nature. Challenges conceptual barriers between nature and the city that have evolved over time and considers new strategies for achieving both environmental sustainability and social justice in the city.Course | T SUD 240
The City and Nature
Examines connections between urban and environmental conditions by investigating the social and material production of urban nature. Challenges conceptual barriers between nature and the city that have evolved over time and considers new strategies for achieving both environmental sustainability and social justice in the city.News | February 27, 2020
The Debate Over Single Family Housing
Nearly a century into the story of single-family zoning, feelings and ideas around it are starting to shift. The City of Minneapolis and the State of Oregon both recently passed laws that loosen single-family regulations. California has proposed similar measures: some have failed (such as one encouraging denser development near transit), others have succeeded (such…
Course | T URB 321
The History of Planning Theory and Practice
An examination of planning theory and practice with an emphasis on twentieth-century theorists and advocates. Examines the impacts of planning theories and movements on planning practice and urban form in Europe and America.Course | T URB 301
The Urban Condition
An overview of the city as a place of residence, commerce, and industry. Consideration is given to urban form and function. Social, economic, and political factors affecting urban life and development are discussed. Issues related to social justice and equity are emphasized.News | July 18, 2017
There’s a map for that
If you own a cell phone or a mobile device you’re likely creating data that could be mapped. “When you add a Yelp review or geotag a tweet you’re actually volunteering geographic information, you are mapping,” said UW Tacoma Assistant Professor Britta Ricker. Most of us use maps to determine our location, to find out…
News | March 19, 2024
To report or not report ‘suspicious people’ near campus
Originally reported in The Daily by Shira Sur It took three encounters with a person threatening bypassers near the West Campus dorms for first-year student Hannah Whitemarsh to call 911. Whitemarsh’s call to UWPD, which was made in mid-October of 2023, was transferred to the Seattle Police Department (SPD). After she was asked whether the…
News | March 31, 2016
Towards a Speculative Politics for African Cities with Edgar Pieterse – 4/12
Join us April 12 at Kane Hall (Room 120) for Visiting Scholar Edgar Pieterse, Please Register for this Public Event Towards a Speculative Politics for African Cities The available frames to understand and reimagine contemporary urban politics in the African context come down two divergent pathways: 1) build the institutional infrastructure to enact the deliberative…
News | February 16, 2024
Transit workers fight drugs on buses and trains
Written by Joseph Gallivan for Axios Oregon Transit companies are pushing to make it a Class A misdemeanor to use drugs on buses and trains in Oregon. TriMet, the Oregon Transit Association, and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757 testified yesterday to support amending Senate Bill 1553. The amendment would add the use of illicit drugs…
Course | T URB 432
Understanding Metropolitan Regions
Explores patterns and policy problems associated with managing large U.S. metropolitan regions, especially shifting city-suburb relationships and major development challenges. Includes discussion of demographic change, socioeconomic trends, public policies, and political programs link cities and suburbs at multiple scales of governance.News | March 13, 2024
University of Washington study finds cities must prioritize youth mental health
Excerpted from KOIN/Channel Six in Portland Written by Michaela Bourgeois Researchers at the University of Washington conducted an international survey that found cities need to focus on youth mental health as younger generations flock to urban areas. Starting in April 2020, researchers worked with the nonprofit citiesRISE to survey over 500 people in 53 countries…
Course | T URB 324
Urban And Regional Economics
Uses economic frameworks to introduce the determinants of regional economic growth or decline, location of economic activities within urban areas, operation of urban labor markets, and implications of income inequality on urban form and urban growth. Students gain familiarity with major sources of subnational economic and demographic data.Course | T URB 201 / 401
Urban Change and Development
Examines relationships that shape the development of cities under conditions of globalization. Overview of key terms and concepts, examples of changing urban social and economic conditions, and analysis of connections among global processes, urban experiences, and the production of urban space in the United States.Course | T URB 445 / T SUD 445
Urban Ecology
Multidisciplinary approach to the study of dynamic interactions among human and ecological systems in urban settings. Covers processes of urbanization and urbanization's impacts on the earth's ecology. Specific themes include how socioeconomic factors and human preferences drive urban patterns and how these patterns affect ecological processes and cause ecological change.Course | T SUD 445
Urban Ecology
Multidisciplinary approach to the study of dynamic interactions among human and ecological systems in urban settings. Covers processes of urbanization and urbanization's impacts on the earth's ecology. Specific themes include how socioeconomic factors and human preferences drive urban patterns and how these patterns affect ecological processes and cause ecological change.Course | T URB 379
Urban Field Experience
Urban field course based in a metropolitan area. Examines urban problems, issues, and developments through site visits, presentations by local experts, and student research and reports.Course | T GEOG 321
Urban Geography
Examines the spatial organization of cities in relation to the economic, social, cultural, and political forces that shape them. Includes such topics as the evolution of cities, perceptions of urban space, gentrification, race and housing, homelessness, social exclusion, urban redevelopment, suburbanization, and planning. Emphasizes U.S. cities.Course | T URB 345
Urban Governance
Examines the structure and workings of urban government and non-governmental agencies and organizations. Considers the responsibilities and challenges of governmental and non-governmental organizations along with their impact on the physical and social development of the city.Course | T URB 460
Urban Issues in the Developing World
Examines challenges associated with urban development and societal change in developing countries. Examines topics such as mega cities, squatter housing, and informal labor. Adopts a geographical perspective and focuses on local governance issues.Course | TSMUS 417
Urban Problems and Policies
Develops and applies economic analyses to an understanding of the dynamics and underlying structure of urban economies and urban problems. Draws examples from the local economy and local problems.News | November 22, 2022
Urban Scholar Highlight: Rubén Casas
This is the first in a series of interviews from Urban@UW highlighting the research of urban scholars at the University of Washington. Earlier this month, Urban@UW spoke to Rubén Casas, Assistant Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the School of Urban Studies at the University of Washington…
Course | T URB 340
Urban Social Change
Examines issues that directly affect the strength and vulnerabilities of urban communities and organizations and institution within those communities. Uses case studies to consider how creative participatory approaches can and do influence change.Course | T URB 210
Urban Society and Culture
An examination of the social structures of cities. Discusses issues related to class, race, ethnicity, and gender. Considers the impact of societal differences on urban form, residential patterns, and labor markets.Degree Program
Urban Studies (Cert, BA, MA, MS)
The Urban Studies Program offers a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies with formal options in Global Urbanism and Community Development & Planning. The degree starts with an introduction into the discipline of urban studies with course topics on exploring cities, world development, and urban studies “in practice”. The formal options deliver focused theory and…
Visit program websiteCourse | T URB 492
Urban Studies Seminar
Interdisciplinary approach to the study of urban issues and problems. Designed for an in-depth analysis of selected issues. Focuses on one aspect of the city (e.g., gentrification, housing, segregation, sprawl).Course | T URB 325
Urban Transportation: Problems and Prospects
Provides an overview of urban transportation, it challenges and prospects. Examines historical and contemporary issues such as the relationship of mobility to the urban form, environmental concerns, climate change impacts, and the challenges of sustainable urban transportation.News | March 1, 2022
Urban@UW anti-displacement workshop generates connections, ideas, and opportunities for further partnership.
On January 25th and 26th, Urban@UW hosted a virtual workshop that brought together researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and community partners to elevate key perspectives and facilitate cross-boundary discussions and action around the capacity for people to stay in place and stay in the community in the face of displacement. The workshop built on discussions initiated by…
News | June 9, 2022
Urban@UW brings together scholars, authors and artists for a roundtable conversation on environmental justice
On May 16th, 2022, Urban@UW’s Urban Environmental Justice (UEJ) Initative hosted a virtual roundtable entitled, “Place and Politics in the Pursuit of Environmental Justice”, examining the ways a changing climate and extreme weather events are giving shape to local places, communities, and politics. With a recognition that today’s urban challenges are embedded with critical inequities…
News | October 20, 2017
Urban@UW compiles Faculty Highlights Report for research, teaching and engagement on homelessness
As part of its recently launched Homelessess Research Initiative, Urban@UW has collaborated with faculty and staff across all three UW campuses to compile a broad-ranging selection of powerful and robust projects addressing homelessness from a research lens. Check out the Faculty Highlights Report to learn more about these efforts and the people behind them.
News | August 18, 2020
Urban@UW Research Spark Grants awardees announced
Urban@UW is excited to announce the awardees for our Research Spark Grants program. The two proposals selected address urgent urban challenges in our region, with a strong focus on community engagement and vulnerable populations. Co-creating an Adaptive Community-Science Network: Supporting Tribal and Grassroots Action through the Puget Creek Watershed Assessment Urban communities in the…
News | March 15, 2024
UW’s College of Built Environments Professor Faces an Electrifying Challenge
Reported by Jen Moss for the University of Washington’ College of Built Environments King County Metro (Metro), which serves a daily average of over 250,000 riders across more than 203 square miles of the county, has an emissions challenge. Their zero-carbon emissions target, set by the King County Council, must be met by 2035. This…
News | October 7, 2024
WA Gen Z voters excited, but turnout still a toss-up
Reported by Paris Jackson for Cascade/PBS There’s a surge in interest among young voters, those considered Generation Z, this election cycle. They’re outspoken, savvy and civically engaged. Gen Z’ers are those born between 1997 and 2012, according to Pew Research. They’re touted as the generation that grew up with the internet as an integral part…
News | January 23, 2024
What Happened to Seattle’s Relationship with Boeing?
The aftermath of the Alaska blowout reveals that the connection is slowly unraveling. From Seattle Met Written by Benjamin Cassidy IN THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH of the fuselage blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight earlier this month, Margaret O’Mara noticed something that would’ve once been unthinkable in Seattle. The University of Washington history professor observed that locals…
News | December 24, 2020
What is a Community Land Trust? And could one help with Tacoma’s homelessness crisis?
When Tacoma Housing Now took over vacant Gault Middle School in November to shelter unhoused people, the action came with a list of demands. The most prominent of them insisted on making Gault, which has sat vacant for a decade, part of a Community Land Trust, also called a CLT. In Tacoma, CLTs aren’t a new idea….
Scholar