Historic Preservation

Preservation planning uses policy and planning tools to carry out preservation at larger scales – of neighborhoods, cities, towns, and cultural landscapes. Issues of larger-scale preservation -- and how they connect with other planning, development, environmental and social issues – continue to grow as strategically important parts of preservation practice.

Work in the preservation planning concentration focuses on decision-making processes relating to the management and financing of heritage places through time, as well as the integration of heritage values into territorial planning and policy systems. Community planning, adaptive reuse proposals, policy analysis and innovation are typical project types. The professional pathways for those focusing on preservation planning include: public policy (including regulatory and survey work), city and town planning (including urban revitalization, economic development and community development), real-estate development and consulting, advocacy, and creative placemaking.

Correspondingly, preservation planning graduates secure jobs in a broad range of organizations: governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, foundations, not-for-profit corporations, developers, and consulting firms.