Leadership in Urban Planning: How to Effectively Advance Great Urban Planning Initiatives
Good planning practice is more than technical skills- it’s leading people to plan and follow through! This course supplements technical and legal training for graduate students and mid-career urban planners by providing skills and techniques to help lead planning initiatives and organizations. Using a case study-driven format, the course will emphasize how to apply technical and legal skills effectively in a complex and shifting public arena.
Course Information
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About this Course
This course teaches practicing and aspiring city planners - and those in related fields - how to take good ideas and make them happen. Since the failures of urban renewal in the US and elsewhere in the world, the planning profession has struggled with the perception that bold planning meant doing bad things to communities. This course challenges that concept by separating out the effective leadership skills planners need from the bad decisions many planners made in the mid-20th century.
In this course:
- Young planners just starting out will learn how to position themselves for success
- Mid-career professionals will gain the skills needed to get ahead in their organization and field
- Planning Directors and other senior managers will learn how to work within complex organizations to both make great planning happen - and keep their jobs!
This course is not your typical course in city planning. Nor is it like the business management courses offered on leadership in the private sector. This course is specifically designed for planners in public and non-profit organizations, as well as planning practitioners in private consulting who work with public agencies.
How is this course different? Unlike many traditional planning courses, we look at where planning practice runs up against politics and management challenges. We will look at media relations as well as how to work within complex organizations to advance great plans. We'll also look at models such as strategic planning and facilitative leadership that help get things done.
Finally, we offer a series of video case studies with experienced planners who have founded great planning organizations, implemented important plans, and advanced policy initiatives.
Advance your planning career as a leader in planning, with the help of this course!
What you'll learn
- How to move great planning ideas forward in a complex environment
- The strategies and tactics of planning practice
- What lessons to learn from the failures and successes of past planning efforts
- When to push a good idea and when to hold back
How you'll learn
Real-World LearningLearn from MIT faculty and experts who ground their teaching in real-world cases rather than mathematical models, making the material approachable for all.
Practical ApplicationApply your new knowledge with hands-on, practical exercises drawn from healthcare, sports, finance, sustainability, and more.
Prerequisites
Students should enter this class with a basic idea of planning theory and practice in the American context (the equivalent of 1-2 undergraduate or graduate level course in urban and/or regional planning.)
Meet your instructors
Jeff Levine
Associate Professor of the Practice
Jeff Levine, FAICP, is an urban planner who has worked in New England for 25 years and an Associate Professor of the Practice in MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Until 2019, he was the Director of Planning & Urban Development for the City of Portland. Previously, he was the Director of Planning & Community Development for Brookline, MA, and a planner in Somerville, MA, and at the Cape Cod Commission.
Jeff has served on the Maine Legislature's Commission to Increase Housing Opportunities in Maine by Studying Zoning and Land Use Restrictions. He is also the President of the Northern New England Chapter of the American Planning Association, the former chair of the GrowSmart Maine Board of Directors, and a member of the boards of the Greater Portland Transit District and the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition, where he previously served as Interim Executive Director. He is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners.
Areas of Expertise:
- Planning Practice
- Public Leadership
- Housing Policy
- Economic Development
Major Works:
Leadership in Planning: How to Communicate Ideas and Effect Positive Change (Routledge, 2021).
