In collaboration with the Dirce Moroni Toulan Library of Urban and Public Affairs, Portland State University Library has digitized and made available historic student-created planning projects. Planning Workshop Projects, created for local and regional governments and civic sector clients, are the culminating works of teams of Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) students.
MURP Workshop Projects in PDXScholar
Planning projects require the development and evaluation of alternatives and include recommendations for courses of action. They are problem-centered and geographically-focused, and incorporate innovative public involvement efforts. Workshop projects have won fifteen state and six national awards in the past twenty years for the creative problem-solving evident in the products.
The 2011 Portland Mercado Project was completed by students Abigail Cermak, David Ruelas, Bridger Wineman, and Ellen Wyoming for client Hacienda Community Development Corporation. It won the 2012 American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) Student Project Award for Application of the Planning Process and the 2012 American Planning Association (APA) Oregon Chapter Student Achievement in Planning Award. This Workshop project outlined strategies to implement a Latino Market in Portland, which is scheduled to open in Southeast Portland this spring.
No Vacancy, a project for the Central Eastside Industrial Council by Becky Dann, Beth Somerfield, Emily Rice, and Briana Meier, won the 2010 AICP Student Project Award for Contribution of Planning to a Contemporary Issue. The team developed a guide to facilitate temporary uses of empty spaces in the area by, for example, arts-related organizations.
Josh Ahmann, Kevin Bond, Warren Greaser, Sarah Selden, Amber Springberg, Kartik Srinivas, and Jon Swae collaborated on the project Going Public! Strategies for Meeting Public Restroom Need in Portland’s Central City for the City of Portland Mayor’s Office. They won the 2006 APA Oregon Chapter Student Achievement in Planning Award.
Other winning projects include:
- Creating a Better Tomorrow: A Curriculum for Teaching Children about Planning (1994)
- Greening Our Cities: An Analysis of the Benefits and Barriers Associated with Green Roofs (1997)
- The Diggable City: Making Urban Agriculture a Priority (2005)
- Connect Cascade Locks: A Trails Plan for Economic Development (2012)
MURP projects have made major contributions to their clients, and have influenced the practice of planning locally and regionally. Many have drawn the attention of planning academics and local government practitioners from around the country.
The Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree is a two-year, accredited, professional degree program designed for those interested in working as professional planners. The curriculum includes a 43-credit core that focuses on the history and theory of planning as a field, plan making and implementation, analytical methods (including Geographic Information Systems [GIS]), and the dynamics of metropolitan development. Experiential learning is an integral component of the program.
PDXScholar, a service of Portland State University Library, provides open access to a diverse collection of academic, scholarly, scientific, and creative content produced by faculty, students, and staff. PDXScholar increases the visibility of authors’ works, maximizes research impact, facilitates interdisciplinary research, and provides regional and global communities with immediate and permanent access.
View MURP Workshop Projects, and see how PSU MURP student projects have shaped our region.