Program Concentrations

Students may elect to study in one or a combination of five concentrations: Business Location & Transportation Analytics; Urban and Regional Analysis; GIS&T; Urban Planning; and Human and Environmental Systems.

Business Location & Transportation Analytics

The Business Location & Transportation Analytics concentration aims to enhance students’ knowledge of theories, techniques, and models of business location analytics and transportation analytics used by practitioners in the public and private sectors of the economy. This concentration is focused on business location decisions and practices in urban, regional, and national contexts, including commercial and institutional site selection and evaluation, economic development, and the use of transportation and mobility systems in contemporary societies, including infrastructure development, socio-economic impacts, and the structuring effect of transportation systems on urban and regional geographies. The concentration offers coursework in retail and office location, real estate development, transportation, logistics, regional economic development, business intelligence and methods of geospatial, census, and network data analytics. This concentration prepares students for jobs in location research with retailer and service firms, real estate developers, consulting firms, jobs in transportation analysis with various groups of service providers (carriers, freight forwarders, logistics managers, transit agencies), jobs with economic development agencies, or for continued academic training in economic and transport geography. Overview: The Geographic Information Science & Technologies (GIS&T) track offers course work giving each student the opportunity to acquire and apply GIS&T tools and techniques, specifically digital image processing, environmental, transportation and urban applications of GIS, GPS, GIS programming and customization, geocomputation, geovisualization, location modeling, network analysis, planning applications of GIS, remote sensing, spatial database design, spatial decision support systems, spatial optimization spatial statistics and geostatistics.

GEOG 5108 Sport, Place and Development (3)
GEOG 5132 Spatial Modeling for Social and Economical Applications (3)
GEOG 5155 Retail Location (3)
GEOG 5160 The Geography of Transportation Systems (3)
GEOG 5210 Urban Planning Methods (3)
GEOG 5240 Geography of Knowledge and Information (3)
GEOG 5255 Applied Population Analysis (3)
GEOG 5260 Transportation Policy Formulation (3)
GEOG 5265 Transportation Analysis Methods (3)
GEOG 6000 Topics in Urban and Regional Analysis (3)
GEOG 6015 Topics in Regional Geography (3)
GEOG 6030 Topics in Geographic Techniques (3)
GEOG 6103 Real Estate Development (3)
GEOG 6105 Applied Real Estate Development (3)
GEOG 6205 Geovisualization (3)
GEOG 6210 The Restructuring City (3)
GEOG 6212 Urban Labor Markets (3)
GEOG 6123 The Urban Region (3)
GEOG 6300 Applied Regional Analysis (3)
GEOG 6301 Industrial Location (3)
GEOG 6302 Regional Economic Development (3)
GEOG 6305 Site Feasibility Analysis (3)
GEOG 6306 Store Location Research (3)
GEOG 6408 Spatial Optimization (3)
GEOG 6500 Urban Planning: Theory and Practice (3)
GEOG 6600 Transportation Policy (3)
CEGR 5162 Transportation Planning (3)
CEGR 5171 Urban Public Transportation (3)
CEGR 6182 Transportation Systems Analysis (3)
ECON 5160 Economics of Transportation (3)
ECON 6238 Real Estate and Urban Economics (3)
ECON 6250 Advanced Urban and Regional Economics (3)
EMGT 6920 Logistics Engineering and Management (3)
GRAD 6104 Spatial Statistics (3)
MBAD 6208 Supply Chain Management (3)

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Urban and Regional Analysis

he concentration in Urban and Regional Analysis emphasizes place-based learning and research on pressing social, economic, political and cultural dynamics facing cities, and the urban systems to which they belong. The concentration trains students to apply traditional and innovative methods and theoretical perspectives on urban form, function and interconnections at all geographic scales with a view to addressing contemporary challenges such as urban development, suburbanization, sustainability, mobility, migration and settlement, economic transition, technological development, infrastructure provision, and demographic and cultural change. Students concentrating in Urban and Regional Analysis receive rigorous applied instruction that leads to careers in the public, private and nonprofit sectors as well as continued academic training in urban, economic, transportation, social and cultural geography.

GEOG 5108 Sport, Place and Development (3)
GEOG 5132 Spatial Modeling for Social and Economical Applications (3)
GEOG 5160 The Geography of Transportation Systems (3)
GEOG 5210 Urban Planning Methods (3)
GEOG 5240 Geography of Knowledge and Information (3)
GEOG 5255 Applied Population Analysis (3)
GEOG 5260 Transportation Policy Formulation (3)
GEOG 5265 Transportation Analysis Methods (3)
GEOG 6000 Topics in Urban and Regional Analysis (3)
GEOG 6015 Topics in Regional Geography (3)
GEOG 6030 Topics in Geographic Techniques (3)
GEOG 6105 Applied Real Estate Development (3)
GEOG 6103 Real Estate Development (3)
GEOG 6123 The Urban Region (3)
GEOG 6210 The Restructuring City (3)
GEOG 6211 Cities and Immigrants (3)
GEOG 6212 Urban Labor Markets (3)
GEOG 6300 Applied Regional Analysis (3)
GEOG 6301 Industrial Location (3)
GEOG 6302 Regional Economic Development (3)
GEOG 6306 Store Location Research (3)
GEOG 6305 Site Feasibility Analysis (3)
GEOG 6408 Spatial Optimization (3)
GEOG 6500 Urban Planning: Theory and Practice (3)
GRAD 6104 Spatial Statistics (3)

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Geographic Information Science and Technologies (GIS&T)

Geospatial data used in research, public affairs and private business is increasingly pervasive and traceable to geographic positions. The Geographic Information Science & Technology focus examines the nature of geographic data and information, and methods of capture, measurement, analysis and modeling of this information to advance our understanding of complex geographic phenomena. Research is articulated around the representation, numerical modeling and dissemination of spatially explicit information with state-of-the-art computational analytics. M.A. students in this rapidly evolving field at the interface of data, social, and natural sciences develop proficiency in state-of-the-art geospatial data analytics for an understanding of social and environmental processes of geographic systems across multiple spatial and temporal scales. In conjunction with a critical awareness of the content of geospatial information, students can build expertise in several sub-areas spanning from geocomputational modeling and simulation, cyberGIS, big spatial data analytics, social network analysis, satellite/airborne remote sensing, spatial data mining and machine learning, spatial statistics and geovisual analytics. Our internationally respected GIS&T faculty are well engaged in research on urban and regional socio-economic systems processes, transportation analytics, landscape and environmental systems, public health, energy, land change, sustainability and resilience.

ESCI 5170 Fundamentals of Remote Sensing (4)
ESCI 5180 Digital Image Processing in Remote Sensing (4)
GEOG 5101 Cartographic Techniques (3)
GEOG 5102 Cartographic Design and Map Construction (3)
GEOG 5103 Computer Programming for GIS Applications (3)
GEOG 5131 Environmental Modeling with GIS (4)
GEOG 5132 Spatial Modeling for Social and Economical Applications (3)
GEOG 5150 Spatial Database Development with GPS and GIS (3)
GEOG 6205 Geovisualization (3)
GEOG 6407 Geocomputation (3)
GEOG 6408 Spatial Optimization (3)
GRAD 6104 Spatial Statistics (3)
ITCS 5121 Information Visualization (3)
ITCS 5122 Visual Analytics (3)
ITCS 5145 Parallel Computing (3)
ITCS 6114 Algorithms and Data Structures (3)
ITCS 6140 Data Visualization (3)
ITCS 6162 Knowledge Discovery in Databases (3)

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Urban Planning

Professional planners use information strategically to help communities improve long-term health, safety, prosperity, and social equity. The core curriculum of the Urban Planning concentration provides students with theoretical and practical knowledge that they can complement with elective courses related to economic development, ecological conservation, social justice, land use policy, urban design, and transportation. Individual students’ interests and career goals further define capstone research projects that may incorporate economic, social, environmental, or geospatial modeling. The required capstone research frequently involves community-based scholarship that yields mutually beneficial partnerships outside the university. Knowledge, skills, and methods gained from the Urban Planning concentration afford students with opportunities for successful careers in public and private planning organizations. The concentration also prepares students for doctoral studies in planning, geography, policy studies, and related fields. Students with appropriate backgrounds may pursue a dual degree combining a Master’s in Geography (Urban Planning Concentration) and a Master’s in Urban Design.

Required Courses – Urban Planning requires the following 4 courses:

GEOG 5210 Urban Planning Methods (6)
GEOG 6216 Planning for Urban Sustainability (6)
GEOG 6500 Urban Planning: Theory and Practice (3)
GEOG 6501 Community Planning Workshop (3)

Other Courses

ARCH 7103 Design Studio: Topical (3)
ARCH 7104 Design Studio: Diploma Project (3)
GEOG 5209 Small Town Planning (3)
GEOG 5255 Applied Population Analysis (3)
GEOG 5260 Transportation Policy Formulation (3)
GEOG 5265 Transportation Analysis Methods (3)
GEOG 6103 Real Estate Development (3)
GEOG 6305 Site Feasibility Analysis (3)
GEOG 6306 Store Location Research (3)
MPAD 6102 Foundations in Public Administration (3)
MPAD 6128 Foundations of Public Policy (3)
MPAD 6131 Public Budgeting and Finance (3)

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Human and Environmental Systems Concentration

The Human-Environment Systems concentration focuses on interactions between human social systems and their associated physical environment. Students integrate coursework and research in urban ecology, environmental justice and equity, environmental and social sustainability, planning, climate change, paleoecology and earth sciences. Students should take a mix of courses that address knowledge and understanding of environmental systems, social systems, and social-ecological interactions. The Department of Geography and Earth Sciences houses facilities and resources that enable students to pursue cutting-edge, impactful research questions using the latest field, laboratory, and computational methods, as well as Geographic Information Science (GIScience) and remote sensing technologies.

ESCI 5000 Selected Topics in Earth Sciences (1 to 4)
ESCI 5170 Fundamentals of Remote Sensing (4)
ESCI 5180 Digital Image Processing in Remote Sensing (4)
ESCI 5222 Watershed Science (3)
ESCI 5233 Geoenvironmental Site Characterization (4)
ESCI 6000 Selected Topics in Earth Sciences (1 to 4)
ESCI 6105 Landscape Assessment (4)
ESCI 6201 Earth Systems Analysis: Climate (3)
ESCI 6202 Earth Systems Analysis: Biogeochemical Cycles (3)
ESCI 6250 Urban Air Quality (3)
GEOG 5131 Environmental Modeling with GIS (4)
GEOG 5150 Spatial Database Development with GPS and GIS (3)
GEOG 6030 Topics in Geographic Techniques (3)
GEOL 5140 Coastal Geology (3)
GEOL 5185 Mineralogy, Economics and the Environment (3)
GEOL 6102 Earth Systems Analysis: Paleoenvironments (3)

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