PhD in City & Regional Planning

Welcome to our online source of information for the Doctoral Program in City and Regional Planning in the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design. Here you will find information about our outstanding faculty, their research interests, teaching, and professional activities; the expectations and requirements of the program; and profiles of our PhD students.

The University of Pennsylvania is an intellectually stimulating environment in which to study the today’s metropolitan challenges. To develop responses, our PhD students have easy access to a broad, multi-disciplinary faculty and all the resources of a first-rate urban research university.

Penn’s PhD program in City and Regional Planning, overseen by the Graduate Group in City and Regional Planning, dates back to the 1950s. Since that time, the faculty have guided more than 330 students though their graduate studies to the completion of the degree and aided them in assuming positions of leadership in both academia and the profession throughout the United States and across the world. 

General University and Graduate Group policies govern the doctoral degree; see the University's Policies and Procedures, especially the Academic Rules for PhD Programs and the Resources for PhD Students. We expect students to familiarize themselves with the policies very early in their academic careers.