About

Do you seek a career through which you can impact your community and the world? Do you want to help shape the future of cities, towns and neighborhoods? Are you motivated to improve quality of life and enhance sustainability?

The Bachelor of Science degree in community and regional planning will give you the knowledge and skills to make a difference. Planners play an important role in urban growth and development, helping to prepare for infrastructure (roads, railways, sidewalks, greenways and lands), build housing, and achieve a balance between the built and natural environment.

The BS in community and regional planning curriculum is 48 hours, including core courses, an area of emphasis (community planning or coastal planning), and electives. Students will choose either a minor or two concentration areas, and students are also encouraged to complete an internship.

Planners work at every scale: internationally, nationally, at the multistate level, at the state level, and for multicounty regions and localities (counties, cities and special districts). Planners also work at the scales of the neighborhood and individual development sites. The subject matter of planning is broad and includes environment, transportation, community facilities, land use, housing and community development, social and economic development, and others. Professional planners work in a variety of settings, including governments, nonprofit groups and private firms.

ECU Advantage

ECU's BS in community and regional planning is the only accredited undergraduate planning program in the state of North Carolina and one of only 15 nationally. The program has a long history and support from a strong network of alumni who work throughout eastern North Carolina and beyond.

The program provides students with hands-on experience and feedback from practicing planners during senior year studio and practicum courses. Students are encouraged to participate in the Student Planners' Action Network (SPAN), a student organization registered with the ECU Student Government Association (SGA) and the American Planning Association (APA).

What You Will Study

Program Director: Misun Hur (212-A Brewster Building; 252-328-1270; hurmi@ecu.edu)

Students entering the Community and Regional Planning, BS program are encouraged to declare their major as soon as possible in accordance with university requirements.

The degree requires a minimum of 120 s.h. as follows:

I. General education requirements including the one listed below - 40 s.h.

(For information about courses that carry general education credit view the General Education Program section.)

  • COMM 2410 - Public Speaking
II. Core - 33 s.h.
  • GEOG 2400 - Spatial Data Analysis OR
  • MATH 2228 - Elementary Statistical Methods I OR
  • MATH 2283 - Statistics for Business

  • PLAN 2410 - Introduction to GIS in Planning
  • PLAN 3020 - Environmental Planning
  • PLAN 3021 - Introduction to Planning Techniques
  • PLAN 3022 - History and Theory of Planning
  • PLAN 3030 - Urban and Regional Planning
  • PLAN 3031 - Quantitative Analysis in Planning
  • PLAN 3032 - Planning Legislation and Administration
  • PLAN 4065 - Land Use Planning
  • PLAN 4096 - Planning Studio
  • PLAN 4099 - Practicum in Planning
III. Areas of emphases - 9 s.h.

(In consultation with the planning advisor, choose one area of emphasis from the following.)

    A. Coastal planning and development:

    Choose three courses from the below list:

    • PLAN 4015 - Disaster Planning
    • PLAN 4045 - Environmental Resources Planning and Management
    • PLAN 4055 - Coastal Area Planning and Management
    • PLAN 4305 - Ecological Landscape Planning
    B. Community planning and development:

    Choose three courses from the below list:

    • PLAN 4003 - Urban Form and Design
    • PLAN 4025 - Housing and Neighborhood Planning
    • PLAN 4040 - Community Facilities Planning
    • PLAN 4075 - Transportation Planning
IV. Electives - 6 s.h.

Choose two additional elective courses from the below list:

  • GEOG 2420 - Cartography
  • PLAN 1900 - Sustainable Cities
  • PLAN 2030 - Global Cities
  • PLAN 3018 - Planning Internship *
  • PLAN 3025 - Racial Geographies
  • PLAN 3028 - Planning Internship *
  • PLAN 3038 - Planning Internship *
  • PLAN 3041 - Computer Applications in Planning
  • PLAN 3430 - Geographic Information Systems I
  • PLAN 4003 - Urban Form and Design
  • PLAN 4015 - Disaster Planning
  • PLAN 4025 - Housing and Neighborhood Planning
  • PLAN 4040 - Community Facilities Planning
  • PLAN 4045 - Environmental Resources Planning and Management
  • PLAN 4046 - Planning and Design Studio
  • PLAN 4050 - World Architecture and Urbanism
  • PLAN 4055 - Coastal Area Planning and Management
  • PLAN 4065 - Land Use Planning
  • PLAN 4075 - Transportation Planning
  • PLAN 4121 - Problems in Planning
  • PLAN 4131 - Problems in Planning
  • PLAN 4250 - Environmental Impact Analysis
  • PLAN 4270 - Water Resources Management and Planning
  • PLAN 4305 - Ecological Landscape Planning
  • PLAN 4430 - Geographic Information Systems II
  • PLAN 5985 - Historic Preservation Planning
    • Note:

    *May count a maximum of 3 s.h. from PLAN 3018, PLAN 3028, PLAN 3038 toward the degree.

    V. Minor or concentration area - 18 s.h.

    (In consultation with the planning advisor, choose a minor or two concentration areas from below, with a minimum of 9 s.h. chosen from each of the two areas.)

      A. Coastal resources concentration:
      • COAS 2025 - Survey of Coastal and Marine Resources
      • COAS 4025 - Society and the Sea Seminar
      • GEOG 4220 - Coastal Geography
      • GEOG 4440 - Coastal Applications of GIS
      • GEOG 4540 - Coastal Storms
      • GEOL 1550 - Oceanography
      • GEOL 3700 - Advanced Oceanography
      • HIST 5520 - Maritime History of the Western World Since 1815
      • SOCI 3410 - Introduction to Maritime Sociology
      B. Community health concentration:
      • ANTH 3027 - Human Diseases and Ancient Environments
      • EHST 2110 - Introduction to Environmental Health Sciences
      • EHST 3600 - Air Pollution
      • EHST 5800 - Solid and Hazardous Waste Management
      • EHST 5801 - Solid and Hazardous Waste Management and Laboratory
      • GEOG 4340 - GIS for Health Studies
      • HLTH 2000 - Principles of Public Health
      • HLTH 3050 - Public Health Systems and Policy
      • SOCI 3327 - Medical Sociology
      C. Environmental resources concentration:
      • ANTH 2005 - Environmental Anthropology
      • ECON 3855 - Environmental Economics
      • GEOG 2350 - Climate Change: Science and Society
      • GEOG 3220 - Soil Properties, Surveys, and Applications
      • GEOG 3250 - Environmental Hazards
      • GEOG 3420 - Remote Sensing of the Environment I
      • GEOL 3500 - Hydrogeology and the Environment
      • POLS 3256 - Environmental Politics
      D. Geographic information science:
      • GEOG 3420 - Remote Sensing of the Environment I
      • GEOG 3430 - Geographic Information Systems I
      • GEOG 3450 - Introduction to the Global Positioning System
      • GEOG 3460 - GIS Applications Programming
      • GEOG 4410 - Advanced Cartographic Design and Production
      • GEOG 4420 - Remote Sensing II
      • GEOG 4430 - Geographic Information Systems II
      • GEOG 4440 - Coastal Applications of GIS
      • GEOG 4450 - GIScience, Society and Technology
      • GEOG 4460 - Digital Terrain Analysis
      E. International development concentration:
      • ECON 3353 - Development Economics
      • ECON 3750 - Economics of Poverty and Discrimination
      • GEOG 2003 - Geography of the Global Economy
      • GEOG 2110 - World Geography: Less Developed Regions
      • GEOG 4325 - Resources, Population, and Development
      • POLS 3140 - Politics of Globalization
      • POLS 3257 - International Environmental Policy
      • POLS 3297 - International Political Economy
      • POLS 4360 - Politics of Developing Areas
      F. Public administration concentration:
      • ECON 4214 - Public Finance
      • MGMT 3202 - Fundamentals of Management
      • POLS 3240 - State and Local Government
      • POLS 3241 - Urban Political Systems
      • POLS 3242 - Municipal Policy and Administration
      • POLS 3252 - Public Administration
      • POLS 3253 - Government Fiscal Administration
      G. Recreation concentration:
      • GEOG 2019 - Geography of Recreation
      • GEOG 4335 - Geography of Tourism
      • RCSC 2000 - Foundations of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Studies
      • RCSC 2601 - Leisure in Society
      • RCSC 3104 - Public and Non-Profit Recreation
      • RCSC 3120 - Commercial Recreation and Tourism
      • RCSC 3300 - Outdoor Recreation Programming
      • RCSC 4111 - Recreation and Park Planning
      H. Rural development concentration:
      • ANTH 4260 - Cultural Ecology
      • ECON 3750 - Economics of Poverty and Discrimination
      • GEOG 3055 - North Carolina
      • GEOG 4325 - Resources, Population, and Development
      • GEOG 4335 - Geography of Tourism
      • HIST 3100 - North Carolina History
      • SOCI 3222 - Rural Sociology
      I. Urban studies concentration:
      • EHST 3600 - Air Pollution
      • GEOG 3004 - Urban Geography
      • GEOG 4560 - Urban Climatology
      • POLS 3241 - Urban Political Systems
      • POLS 3242 - Municipal Policy and Administration
      • SOCI 3225 - Urban Sociology
      • SOCI 3289 - Community Organization
    VI. Electives to complete degree requirements for graduation.
      Note:

      Excluding general education requirements, no one course may be used to fulfill two or more degree requirements.

        For more information about this degree visit the university's academic catalogs.
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