NYU Wagner Curriculum
In their first semesters, Wagner students take several core classes that directly pertain to housing, land use and real estate, including Land Use Law, Introduction to Urban Design, Urban Planning Development & Decision Making (which covers regulatory issues surrounding the development process) as well as supporting topics such as economics and statistics. In addition to the core classes, there are a multitude of pertinent electives available at Wagner, many of which are listed below. Students who wish to concentrate their studies in the areas of housing, real estate, land use and urban policy may wish to declare a specialization in Economic Development & Housing Policy.
Community Organizing P11.2106
The purpose of this course is to expand students understanding of community organizing. Topics include the historical roots and approaches to organizing; applications of community organizing for empowerment and social change; the nuts and bolts of organizing, including issues of strategy and tactics; and the roles and personal dimensions of being an organizer. The course integrates theory and practice through the use of guest speakers and field trips, as well as drawing on the professional and political experience of the participants.
Geographic Information Systems and Planning P11.2618
This course deals with the mapping, management, and effective presentation of geographic and other spatially referenced data with emphasis on the planning applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Beginning with an overview of traditional mapping and graphic techniques, the course covers the basics of GIS, including digital cartography, relational database management, and topology and computer graphics. The theory, capabilities, and current uses of GIS are then explored from a management point of view, rather than that of the GIS specialist.
Advanced Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Data Management P11.2128
The course focuses on a number of advanced GIS methods now available in ArcGIS 9.0. Students will plan and conduct GIS projects in areas such as urban, environment, and transportation planning, housing, health care delivery, emergency management, etc.
The primary purpose of this course is to extend and build on the knowledge and skills that students acquired in Introductory GIS courses or through their hands-on experience using GIS. Students will be able to apply the advanced GIS skills they will acquire in this class immediately in their current work, in Capstone projects, and in their future public service professional careers.
It is anticipated that by the end of the course, students will have a good working knowledge of spatial analysis, geodatabase design and management, modeling various analyses, and mapping with ArcGIS. The uses of GIS are explored from a management point of view, rather than that of the GIS specialist.
Public Policy and Planning in New York P11.2415
This course explores current issues and problems facing the city of New York with an emphasis on economic development, land use, mass transit, school governance, neighborhood preservation, regional competition, and federal urban policies. Students prepare case studies-individually and in groups- on current planning and policy issues.
Transformation of the Urban Economy: Case Studies P11.2452
The course will examine economic development concepts, strategies, programs and projects in cities with particular emphasis on the New York Metropolitan area. It will provide students with a basic understanding of the process of economic development, tools for assessing development opportunities and for promoting economic development, information on successful and unsuccessful strategies and projects, and opportunities to discuss current issues in economic development.
Urban Economics P11.2608
This course introduces students to the economic forces that shape the spatial development of cities and metropolitan areas. The course examines why cities exist and why some grow more quickly than others. It also explores the location choices of households and firms within metropolitan areas and the resulting land use patterns. Finally, the course examines the spatial aspects of a variety of urban policy issues, such as poverty, segregation, urban decay, crime, congestion, and pollution. Assignments involve the analysis of census data for the New York metropolitan area.
Colloquium on the Law, Politics, and Economics of Urban Affairs P11.2616
This course, taught jointly by faculty members of the School of Law and the Wagner School, offers students an opportunity to explore the theoretical underpinnings of the leading current debates about such critical urban policy issues as whether and how to contain suburban sprawl; the impacts of various efforts to increase the production of affordable housing; and the successes and failures of efforts to improve and equalize the quality of education. The primary focus of the colloquium are discussions of works in progress by scholars from around the county, working in such disciplines as planning, law, public policy, and economics. In colloquium weeks, students participate in an in-depth discussion of the paper with the author. Students submit a short paper critiquing the work in progress. In alternate weeks, students meet with faculty to discuss supplemental readings and learn the background necessary to understand each paper.
Race and Class in American Cities P11.2620
Examines from a theoretical and empirical perspective how different racial, ethnic, and class interests interact in urban planning and development processes. Focuses on political systems and private market arrangements that affect the allocation and distribution of resources. A comparative approach identifies the ways in which different political regimes have analyzed and planned for the needs of a variety of racial, ethnic, and class interests.
Urban Economic Development: Theory and Practice P11.2621
Local economic development is examined in the context of theory, strategies, and practices. The advantages and disadvantages of economic development programs and strategies for communities and cities are discussed. Approaches to economic development in New York are compared with other large cities. Successful strategies from other nations are also presented.
Public Policy and the Shaping of Wealth and Poverty in the United States P11.2622
Financial assets underpin the economic fabric of the U.S. This course will examine how, for many people, the accumulation of such assets - namely land, homes, investments – has been stimulated and shaped by public policies (such as the home mortgage tax deduction, the G.I. bill, and IRAs), and how new innovations portend the expansion of such opportunities to the poor and racial minorities.
Common notions of wealth and poverty will be challenged, along with the conventional ‘income-maintenance’ paradigm that has dominated anti-poverty work. The course will review new strategies that are receiving increasing attention from foundations, community practitioners and policymakers for expanding this country’s successful wealth-formation vehicles – such as individual development accounts and life-long savings accounts. At the same time, the course will consider how effective public policy must understand the limitations of such innovations, considering factors undermining asset formation such as financial marginalization, persistent discrimination, predatory lending, and the increasing reliance on debt.
Workshop in the Planning and Management of the Urban Waterfront P11.2625
The urban waterfront is in the midst of a social and physical renaissance. This workshop is designed to provide students with an understanding of the changing patterns of use on the urban coast; the role of private groups and public organizations in the renewal of the city shoreline; and options for planning and the future of this valuable resource. Focuses on the New York waterfront facilities with comparison to notable waterfront revival projects throughout the country. Students develop plans and analyze specific waterfront sites in the New York metropolitan region.
Select Topics in Community Equity and Wealth Building P11.2635
This course introduces students to the field of community wealth building, as a strategy for achieving equitable community development. Through a combination of academic and field work, students will explore effects of redlining and disinvestment on low income urban neighborhoods and communities of color. They will study and apply ways that communities can gain access to capital, methods and mechanisms to ensure equitable development, and the technical tools needed to secure and retain community wealth. A rigorous understanding of this complex subject is critical for groups and practitioners seeking to address structural issues facing low-income disenfranchised neighborhoods. The course will expose students to a variety of critical perspectives, from a range of political viewpoints. It will employ a case study approach to explore implementation of community wealth building techniques, and will incorporate as guest lecturers experienced practitioners from the field. The course frequently will use New York City neighborhoods as laboratories for observing and developing successful strategies for community wealth building.
Housing and Community Development Policy P11.2638
Studies the dynamics of housing markets and neighborhood change and tries to identify the root causes of such problems as racial and income segregation, neighborhood decline, abandonment, and affordability. What role can and should government play to help address these problems, provide affordable housing, and revitalize distressed communities? The course reviews and evaluates the history of U.S. housing and community development policy and explores the different tools used by government, financial institutions, nonprofit organizations, and local communities
Real Estate Finance P11.2639
This course will provide students with a working knowledge of the fundamentals of real estate analysis and investment as they relate to economic development. Topics will include a review of the standard tools of financial analysis and economics as they apply in the real estate and economic development context. Case studies and examples will be drawn from a variety of real estate asset types including multi-family housing, office, retail, industrial, and land. The course will consist of a mix of lectures, case studies, discussion, and group presentations.
Advanced Urban Physical Design P11.2680
This studio design course offers students the opportunity to conceptualize, plan and test solutions in sketch fashion on variously sized tracts of land. Through the semester students will be exposed to different building types, typical parking solutions, the interaction of costs and design, and the methodology a developer might use when deciding whether or not to pursue a project. Students will work in teams of two and three on four separate and sequential “sketch” problems. At the completion of each problem, students will present their work at a class review session. During the semester students will also be asked to review various historic plans, and to make presentations and critiques of these plans.
Land Use Housing and Development Seminar P11.2670
In this seminar, we will analyze urban distress and federal, state, local and community responses such as initiatives to build housing and commercial projects in low income communities. We will analyze housing/community development policy, real estate financing, subsidies, community participation, land use, environmental review and legal challenges to development. A field trip to Harlem and the South Bronx is planned. Each student will work on a group project on a cutting-edge community development issue. The grade will be based upon class participation, a financial exercise, the group project paper and a presentation.
Permission of instructors required to register. Please contact Academic Services to register. The course is taught at the School of Law.
Community Relations and Public Works P11.4106
This course deals with securing community support for public projects, a complex yet vital part of the urban-planning process.
The course, taught by the head of NYC’s School Construction Authority and former NYU vice president for planning & real estate, takes up several essential aspects of public projects-such as construction of schools and hospitals, park reclamation, and so forth-and community support, including: When to start the outreach process to a community affected by a public project; Strategies for building support; Modes of communication and support; What homework is necessary before outreach begins; How to tie public outreach to mandated public review processes; How to anticipate (and respond to) potential community concerns.
Large Scale Planning P11.4147
Today, as deeply as at any time in its history, New York City is immersed in an active civic and planning discourse about how the city should be shaped.
No two figures loom larger over the city’s evolving landscape than Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs. Did Moses’ work remake New York City for the modern era, or did it substitute sterile and mechanical solutions for the city’s vibrant fabric? Was Jacobs a visionary proponent of a populist, granular urbanism, or an oppositional advocate figure who lacked the broad vision needed to sustain and transform a dynamic metropolis?
This class will not dedicate itself to answering these questions. Rather, this class will focus on redevelopment planning practice in New York City in a post-Moses/Jacobs era: the major issues faced by practitioners today in considering and executing large-scale planning efforts in a complex and growing city, and the lessons practitioners have drawn from the legacies of both Moses and Jacobs. While the class will focus on the public sector role in recent and historical planning efforts, students will also consider approaches to these issues within a broader institutional and social framework.
Children: Poverty and Urban Environments P11.4420
This course considers the intersection of two shaping forces in the lives of urban children - their access to (or lack of) to material resources, and the social and physical environment in which they are raised. Topics addressed will include trends in children’s poverty and inter-generational mobility in the U.S. and other developed countries, the role of neighborhood environment and spatial factors in contributing to child outcomes and adult poverty, disparities in neighborhood environments within cities, and an analysis of policies that will improve the well-being of children and create family-friendly cities. Students will be asked to write short responses to readings as well as a final paper.
Pre-Approved University-wide Electives
Community and Economic Development Law L13.2050
This seminar provides an introduction to major policy and legal issues related to housing, economic development, and development finance activities of community-based organizations. In simulation exercises, students grapple with policy concerns raised in class as they negotiate community control of resources, draft restrictions on the use of housing, design and create corporate structures, deal with regulatory constraints, and debate adoption of various corporate forms. Students learn and apply the legal skills of the corporate, tax, and real estate transactional and regulatory lawyer. The seminar addresses basic policy questions pertaining to low-income housing development, economic development, and community development finance, and examines such recent legislative initiatives as creating empowerment zones, altering the Community Reinvestment Act, and capitalizing community development financial institutions, including community development venture capital funds.
The Law School
Cross-Cultural Studies of Socialization E53.2023
Interdisciplinary examination of literature in the social sciences & history that locates in cultural those factors that shape & influence human behavior & social development. Emphasis is on cross-cultural comparison of socialization as a specific area of culture. Case studies are drawn from child rearing, informal & formal education, rituals, rites of passage, & culture & personality theory.
Steinhardt School of Education
Politics of Economic Growth G53.2424
Introduction to growth economics, the impact of intracountry inequality on growth, the effects of voter preferences and government policies on economic growth. Knowledge of some economics (microeconomics with calculus), game-theory (perfect Bayesian equilibrium), and statistics (OLS) is assumed.
Graduate School of Arts and Science, Dept of Politics
Fair Housing L10.3015
This course considers the law and policy of fair housing, broadly construed. Much of our time will be devoted to antidiscrimination laws in housing, with a primary focus on the federal Fair Housing Act. The Act addresses discrimination in the sale or rental of dwellings on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin. Other protections against discrimination in housing, including those found in constitutional law and in the Civil Rights Act of 1866, will also receive attention. In addition, we will examine legal mechanisms and government programs designed to improve the access of lower-income people to housing opportunities. The course will combine a close study of case law with readings that explore the question of fair housing from a variety of theoretical and policy perspectives.
The Law School
Real Estate Deals L10.3036
Using case studies of real estate deals (to acquire land, to acquire financing, to share risk, to foster approval or forestall opposition by neighbors, to gain approval by regulators), the course will explore the common barriers that prevent deals from closing. We will then analyze the comparative advantages, disadvantages and risks of a variety of ways of responding to those challenges. Students will work in teams to analyze particular case studies, and participants in the deals featured will make guest appearances to discuss their selection of strategies, what worked and didn’t work, unexpected problems, and the nature of the legal documents used to structure the deal. We won’t cover the basics of real estate transactions, but class members will certainly pick some of that up by analyzing the deals. The course will be run like a seminar, and students will be expected to be aggressive questioners of the guest deal-makers.
The Law School
