Welcome to the web site for the Doctoral Program at the Department of City and Regional Planning, School of Design, at the University of Pennsylvania. Here, you will find information about the varied research interests and professional accomplishments of our outstanding faculty, the aspirations of the students who are currently working toward their Ph.D., and the expectations and requirements of the Program.

The Ph.D. program in the Department of City and Regional Planning is one of the oldest in the country, dating back to the 1950s. Our respected faculty have guided over 280 graduates though their graduate studies to the completion of the their dissertation. They have enabled our graduates to assume positions of leadership in both planning academia and the planning profession. The names of the graduates and the topics of their dissertations are set out in the "Community" section of this site. Starting with the admissions decision that seeks to assure that each student will have a mentor who will guide that individual's work in the field of his or her choice, individual faculty members work with students to maximize their learning and personal maturation as they move toward the completion of their course work and dissertation.

The Graduate Group in City and Regional Planning is responsible for doctoral education in urban planning at Penn. Its members are listed in the "Faculty" section of this site, and their research interests and publications are summarized in the "Research" section of the site. The Graduate Group has a core faculty drawn from the Department, and additional faculty who work in related disciplines throughout the University. Each of its members has marked out one or more fields of expertise, so that the Graduate Group as a whole covers most of the major areas of planning scholarship. Their deep engagement with a broad range of urban issues reflects one of the major elements of the University of Pennsylvania's Strategic Plan: the Urban Agenda.

The University of Pennsylvania is a rich and bustling - even contentious - environment in which to study the serious problems that face our metropolitan areas today. Students enrolled in the Ph.D. Program have easy access to a broad, multi-disciplinary faculty and all the resources of a first-rate urban research university.

Concentrations in the Ph.D. Program include housing, economic development and urban revitalization; management and guidance of urban development; ecological planning and environmental design; creation of forecasting and planning models for large urban regions; transportation and infrastructure planning of cities and regions; cartography and spatial statistics, including geographic information systems; history and culture of cities; urban economics, housing and public finance; design and organization of planning processes; and urban design.

All applicants must have a B.A or B.S degree and an excellent prior academic record. Work experience in the field of city planning is desirable, but not required. All applicants must submit Graduate Record Examination scores, so it is essential that they take the GREs in the fall of the year before matriculation. All applicants for whom English is a second language must also submit their TOEFL scores, which must be higher than 615 (or 254 for computerized TOEFL scores).

If you are considering pursuing a doctorate in city and regional planning at Penn, please communicate with me by telephone (215-898-7880) or e-mail (keenej@design.upenn.edu). I will be glad to review with you the ways in which we may help you achieve your educational and professional goals in the field of urban planning.

John C. Keene
Professor of City and Regional Planning
Chair, Graduate Group in City and Regional Planning

...or click here for more program requirements