History of SLU's Master of Science in Urban Planning & Development
In 1998, a committed group of leaders in St. Louis huddled together to fill a professional and institutional void in the community: a graduate program in urban planning and development. Saint Louis University took on the challenge and established what was then, and still is today, the sole graduate urban planning program in Metropolitan St. Louis and the entire state of Missouri. Previously, employers had to look outside the region to find planning talent. The program was designed to train professionals who understood both the planning challenges of the public sector and the development needs of the private sector.
After a strategic planning process in 2013, the Community Advisory Board and program faculty determined that the “real estate” portion of the program’s original name (Urban Planning and Real Estate Development, or UPRED) was not an accurate reflection of the substance of the program. Students were not developing a mastery in real estate. Rather, the program was more aligned with community and economic development; thus, the decision was made to drop “real estate” from the program name. In 2017, the planning program moved to its current home in the College for Public Health and Social Justice, School of Social Work. This move aligned with the program’s strength of educating planners to create vibrant communities by preparing students’ hearts and minds to help improve the human condition. The program’s new home in CPHSJ has fostered the growth and development of the program with larger support staff for recruiting, marketing, and general administration.
Since its founding, SLU’s planning program has become an important anchor in the St. Louis region’s planning community. Faculty regularly bring the classroom into the community, working with various municipalities and community organizations on class projects. The UPD program hosts lectures and social events throughout the year in addition to an annual planning symposium, where planning professionals, educators, students, and activists are invited to collaborate on pressing issues in the region. The ties to the community are most importantly strengthened through the quality and readiness of the program’s graduates; employers have said they appreciate the high level of professional planning education at SLU, such that minimal on-the-job training is needed for our graduates when they start a new job.
As SLU’s Urban Planning and Development program continues into its third decade with now over 100 graduates, it has identified three broad goals to deepen its role as a partner institution in solving some of the most pressing issues of contemporary communities:
To learn more about the MSUPD program, visit the program website.
After a strategic planning process in 2013, the Community Advisory Board and program faculty determined that the “real estate” portion of the program’s original name (Urban Planning and Real Estate Development, or UPRED) was not an accurate reflection of the substance of the program. Students were not developing a mastery in real estate. Rather, the program was more aligned with community and economic development; thus, the decision was made to drop “real estate” from the program name. In 2017, the planning program moved to its current home in the College for Public Health and Social Justice, School of Social Work. This move aligned with the program’s strength of educating planners to create vibrant communities by preparing students’ hearts and minds to help improve the human condition. The program’s new home in CPHSJ has fostered the growth and development of the program with larger support staff for recruiting, marketing, and general administration.
Since its founding, SLU’s planning program has become an important anchor in the St. Louis region’s planning community. Faculty regularly bring the classroom into the community, working with various municipalities and community organizations on class projects. The UPD program hosts lectures and social events throughout the year in addition to an annual planning symposium, where planning professionals, educators, students, and activists are invited to collaborate on pressing issues in the region. The ties to the community are most importantly strengthened through the quality and readiness of the program’s graduates; employers have said they appreciate the high level of professional planning education at SLU, such that minimal on-the-job training is needed for our graduates when they start a new job.
As SLU’s Urban Planning and Development program continues into its third decade with now over 100 graduates, it has identified three broad goals to deepen its role as a partner institution in solving some of the most pressing issues of contemporary communities:
- Our program trains planning and development practitioners who are socially committed professionals who become leaders in their fields.
- Our students and faculty engage in research to generate knowledge that seeks to improve the human condition through the study of the relationships between human beings and built environment.
- Our program works in partnership with communities within the St. Louis metropolitan area creating opportunities to promote justice in those communities.
To learn more about the MSUPD program, visit the program website.