Update on the Planetizen Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs, 7th Edition

[Updated July 26, 2022]

Planetizen has begun initial steps for the production of the 7th Edition of the Planetizen Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs (Guide). On July 25, Planetizen distributed a customer satisfaction survey to previous Guide users to gather more information on potential changes to be implemented for the 7th Edition.      

7th Edition Guide *Draft Schedule and Deadlines

• Program Survey (data collection from each graduate planning program) start date: Early September 2022

• Educator Survey (opinion survey of faculty) start date: Early November 2022

• Program Survey responses due: Late November 2022

• Program Profile proofs ( pages showing program data collected by the Program Survey) approved: Mid December, 202

• Guide Publication: May 2023

Please stay tuned for additional updates, especially as the distribution of the Program Survey approaches.

*The current schedule for the production of the 7th Edition of the Guide is subject to change. 

Best Regards,

James Brasuell
Planetizen Editorial Director

[Updated August 26, 2021]:

Hello Planning Colleagues,

The Planetizen team is postponing the development of the 7th Edition of the Planetizen Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs (Guide) in light of the ongoing challenges and uncertainty posed by the Delta Variant and the continued spread of Covid-19.

Under normal circumstances for the data collection, editorial, and the rest of the work that goes into creating the only comprehensive ranking and listing of graduate urban planning programs, the Planetizen team would have begun contacting schools in Fall of 2020. That process will now wait until at least Fall 2022 to begin.

Planetizen recognizes the unprecedented challenges facing universities as they navigate ongoing disruptions in enrollment, funding, and staffing, and work to minimize public health risks for the entire campus community. Once again, as it was last year, now is not the time to launch a large, collaborative project. 

Planetizen will revisit the idea of publishing the Guide and announce an update to the publication schedule in the summer of 2022. As we said in December 2020, "Let's all get there safely first."

Please be well.

Best Regards,

James Brasuell
Planetizen Editorial Director

Chris Steins
Planetizen Founding Editor

***

[Original post, published on December 12, 2020]

Hello Planning Colleagues,

If you're keeping track at home, you'll remember that Planetizen has released the past several editions of the Planetizen Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs (Guide) on a two-year schedule. Given that the 6th Edition was released in the Fall 2019, we would typically be deeply involved in data collection and editorial development of the 7th Edition now...if 2020 were a typical year.

As we all know, 2020 is far from typical, and after conferring with the ACSP Advisory Committee for the Guide earlier this year, Planetizen supported their recommendation to postpone the 7th Edition until the disruptions of the pandemic are in the rearview mirror. The Guide relies on the participation of every graduate planning program to create the most comprehensive and detailed guide to graduate urban planning programs available anywhere, and we know that all of these programs are dealing with unprecedented stresses and uncertainty. We know that the Guide process is simply too much to add to your plates at this time.

When work and school start to return to normal, Planetizen looks forward to the chance to once again develop the guide as a tool for recruiting the best and brightest students to the field of planning. We will continue to partner with the ACSP Advisory Committee and all participating schools to maximize the impact of the Guide in attracting high quality students to the field. 

It's possible that a new Guide process will be tenable in Fall 2021, but we'll see. Let's all get there safely first. Please be well. 

Best Regards,

James Brasuell
Planetizen Managing Editor

Chris Steins
Planetizen Founding Editor