Community Growth and Land Use Planning
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this seminar and fieldwork course on planning and controlling growth and land use, primarily at the municipal level. Topics include the local consequences of growth, competing land use planning approaches, and implementation tools such as innovative zoning, regulatory techniques, physical design standards, and natural systems integration. Students work in small teams on projects arranged with actual municipal clients, applying planning concepts to real local government problems. Course materials include readings, project guidelines, and case-based assignments developed for MIT's urban studies and planning curriculum. The course suits students interested in how towns and cities steer development, balance growth pressures against environmental and community concerns, and translate planning theory into workable local ordinances and design tools.