ASU COurses

Sustainable Cities (Pup 190/sos 111)

This undergraduate course (available both online and in-person) introduces students to key sustainability concepts and the sustainable and resilient development of cities in global, regional, and local contexts. The course covers the environmental, socio-economic, and structural problems of contemporary cities and how they impact natural systems and communities. After an introduction to the history and philosophy of sustainability and cities, students learn about specific sustainability challenges and potential solutions in different urban systems and sectors (e.g. transportation, water, energy). Students leave the course with a solid foundation in the theory and practice of urban sustainability and topics such as the history of cities, environmental justice, climate change, sustainable design, and more.

Environmental Planning (pup 542)

This graduate course, which is part of the core curriculum for the Master of Urban and Environmental Planning at ASU, introduces students to key environmental concepts, policies, and practices, with a focus on the role that planning professionals play. Students learn about the history of environmental planning, some of the biggest challenges for environmental sustainability across key urban sectors (e.g., climate change, habitat loss, environmental justice), how how different planning approaches can help to overcome them, and examples of innovative environmental planning.

Global Perspectives on Urban Resilience Planning (PUP 548)

This graduate course focuses on how communities plan for resilience, or the ability to cope with disruptions and change. Resilience has become quite a buzzword, but what does it really mean in theory and practice? What is the relationship between sustainability and resilience? How can we operationalize these fuzzy concepts? And how would we recognize whether or not a city is sustainable or resilient? This course introduces students to urban resilience theory and practice, as well as urban sustainability, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and hazard mitigation planning. I draw on the latest research on these topics as well as practical examples from different cities.

Planning for sustainable Communities (Formerly PUP 548)

This graduate course introduced students to different approaches to understanding, planning, implementing, and measuring urban sustainability and resilience. Over the course of the semester, students also gained practical, real-world experience evaluating and planning for sustainability in the Phoenix Metro area by developing a sustainability assessment for a local community through the Project Cities Program. Students learned about the latest approaches to defining and assessing urban sustainability and resilience, including specific problems and best practices for various aspects of community sustainability. Class discussions drew on case studies from around the world, and students reviewed an existing sustainability or resilience plan for a community of their choice. Students then applied what they learned to develop a sustainability assessment for a local community, evaluating the city’s achievements to date, identifying the challenges it faces in becoming more sustainable and resilient, and coming up with specific recommendations for improvement. Students worked alone or in small groups on a particular aspect of sustainability (the built environment, climate and energy, health and safety, etc.), ultimately producing a chapter of a final report, which was presented to the city.