PLAN3031. Quantitative Analysis in Planning

Planners are increasingly asked to provide quantitative analysis of the plans and policies they help create and implement. Quantitative analysis. PLAN3031 is the second part of two-sequence planning technique courses designed to familiarize students with planning techniques, tools, and principles necessary for effective planning. The class consists of five parts: a review of basic reporting and statistics, population projections, economic analysis, land use forecasting, and management and budgeting. 

• Spring 2023. Students created a report summarizing a review of basic reporting and statistics of their chosen community using Adobe InDesign. This was an initiative of ECU as a digital literacy grant program. Sample student products: New Bern, NC by Jordan Kearney, Knoxville, TN by Cameron Brown, and Bristol City, TN by Mary Archibald. 

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Sustainable Urbanism: Seoul, South Korea - Summer Study Abroad   

Realizing sustainable urbanism is the key to the future, tremendous global sustainability efforts have been implemented. With scarce natural resources, limited land, and population concentrations, South Korea devotedly developed and implemented many projects to address urbanization-related problems. The Seoul Summer Study Abroad program has five central themes: Modern architecture and urbanism, traditional architecture and culture, sustainable development with environmental innovations, cultural placemaking, and transportation innovations. Although the program is open to all ECU and non-ECU undergraduate and graduate students, it will be much more attractive to those in urban planning, geography, architectural design, and landscape architecture. The approaches students will encounter are new to the United States, especially in eastern North Carolina. Students will meet each project's lead designer/planner to hear about their experiences directly. The hands-on involvement with touches on eastern Asian culture and history will be a lifetime experience for students in their professional careers.

>> For additional information about the study abroad program, visit https://planning.ecu.edu/study_abroad/

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PLAN4025. Housing and Neighborhood Planning

Problems and development of housing and community issues have been major concerns in planning, affecting all government decision-making levels. PLAN4025 provides students with an introductory survey of the concepts, problems, issues, and public policies related to housing and neighborhood planning. Current local, state, and federal policies and housing trends in the United States are discussed. Students also review various community development techniques and case studies.
Partnered with the City of Greenville Neighborhood Advisory Board [NAB], students worked with the NAB members throughout the semester and contributed to the city's neighborhood symposium with the project finals.

• Partnered with the Town of Bethel, North Carolina, students investigated rural residents' housing conditions and deferred housing maintenance issues in Spring 2023. Read the research report, Deferred Maintenance of Housing Study: Bethel, NC. (13MB) 

• In SP2021, students developed podcasts from their research on six Housing Market Analyses in (mostly) eastern North Carolina. Check out the Housing Market Analyses website.

• My students' documentary film production, "Get Involved! Preserve Your Neighborhood." Presented at the 2015 City of Greenville's Neighborhood Symposium (duration 38:48) --> Received the 2015 North Carolina Marvin Collins Planning Award in the Undergraduate Student Project category by the North Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association (NC-APA).

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PLAN3041/6301. Computer Applications in Planning

Today, planning is much more visual and computer-aided. Computer-aided design skills are highly recommended for a planner to strengthen public participation in planning, aid the public in understanding proposed plans, and help communicate with various stakeholders. This course introduces various computer applications, from communication tools, online questionnaire applications, new cloud-based presentation applications, image manipulation software, graphic design, and publishing software. 

• In the Fall of 2023, two independent classes seamlessly worked on one project with different tasks. Students in PLAN3021: Intro to Planning Technique designed the project, conducted a secondary analysis of the town, and designed/conducted/analyzed the questionnaire survey; students in PLAN3041: Computer Applications in Planning completed the urban design of the features and the site design. Check out the final report: Stantonsburg Station: Seal Building Site Transformation Project, Town of Stantonsburg, NC. (28.7 MB)

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PLAN4075. Transportation Planning

Spring 2022, Downtown Parking Study, Washington, NC (18.8 MB) - Partnered with the Pamlico Business Resource Center on behalf of the City of Washington, the class conducted the Downtown Washington Parking Study in Spring 2022. The study includes a stakeholder meeting, field observations, surveys with residents, merchants, visitors, and government officers, and case studies. A total of 16 recommendations were made for the city to implement. The project received the American Planning Association North Carolina Chapter's Marvin Collins Outstanding Student Project Award. 

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