Learn how to navigate the challenges of policymaking in a multitiered regulatory framework and within a pluralistic society through Tyler’s City and Regional Planning graduate program.
Gain the communication skills and tools necessary to work effectively with a range of communities, administrative stakeholders and interest groups in the processes of planning and decision-making. Our small and intimate program engages with planning professionals from across the Philadelphia region and our graduates are employed in public, private, and non-profit positions across the country.
Our courses encourage you to pursue your individual interests and research in a collaborative, hands-on learning environment. You'll build meaningful working relationships in the classroom that often grow into long-term professional connections. You’ll also engage in interdisciplinary dialogue through the architecture and environmental design lecture series and other dynamic school-wide initiatives.
The Tyler School of Art and Architecture features its own admissions team, who can provide you with the information you need to make the best decision for your educational and career goals.
Accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board, this degree prepares you to address complex challenges facing communities of all sizes — with a focus on sustainability. You learn to navigate policy-making challenges and to build communication and engagement skills, giving stakeholders with diverse interests input for planning and decision making.
This graduate certificate in Transportation Planning features both core and elective courses that give you extra flexibility. Gain the knowledge and skills needed to analyze and address transportation debates and efforts in communities facing diverse challenges.
A combination of core and elective courses give this graduate certificate in Sustainability and Climate Resilience the flexibility to meet your personal and professional motivations. You also gain insights and strategies for communities that face increasing impacts from climate change.
You will be prepared for professional planning practice and career advancement in the public, private, for profit or non-profit sectors.
You will develop strong analytical skills and the capacity to apply them in addressing complex issues.
Our multi-disciplinary approach will build your understanding of American communities with respect to their social, economic, and physical conditions, the problems they face, and the opportunities they can build upon.
You will develop strong interpersonal and communication skills and know how to apply them to define, develop, and implement planning goals.
You will understand the unique values, roles and responsibilities of the planning profession with particular emphasis on considerations of the environment, equity, and economy as framed by the concept of sustainability.
You will have the opportunity to gain knowledge and build a specialized skill set within the field of planning.
Our capstone Graduate Planning Studio brings our students together with real clients to develop implementable and timely planning products. In developing research plans, conducting community engagement, and presenting findings to communities, our students get hands-on professional experience that makes a real impact.
All planning students gain professional planning work experience while in the program through internships with agencies, organizations, and firms throughout the region. This experience is a vital part of students’ co-curricular learning, and oftentimes leads to full-time employment.
Tyler City and Regional Planning students not only have practitioners as instructors in the classroom, they have many opportunities to engage with professional practice through our strong affiliation with the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Planning Association, its Southeast Section that runs mentorship events each year, and our relationships with allied design professions associations in Philadelphia.
Each spring, Tyler Architecture and Environmental Design hosts a dynamic on-campus Career Fair that brings together leading firms and organizations.
Students gain exposure to a wide range of career paths in architecture, landscape architecture, planning, construction, government agencies, and NGOs. Tyler’s career services staff work one-on-one with interested students to find internships and jobs.
Tyler’s Master of Science (MS) in City and Regional Planning program is accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board (since 2012). Graduating students are eligible for status as an American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) candidate, pre-certified planner. The Planning Accreditation Board requires all accredited programs to post information on student achievements, tuition, student retention and graduation rates, AICP exam pass rates and employment. This information is available at: PAB Accreditation Public Information.
Nearly all Tyler City and Regional Planning alumni find planning or planning-related jobs within a year of graduation – often before they graduate.
Recent alumni work at:
Guided by a faculty of experienced, practicing professionals, Tyler City and Regional Planning students learn how to navigate the challenges of city planning and community development. We balance theory with practice, and current technical skills with long-term vision. Students learn in small classes and collaborative environments. We use the City of Philadelphia as our classroom through guest lectures, field visits, and studio projects.
“The M.S. in City and Regional Planning program at Tyler didn't just equip me with professional skills—it guided me to identify and reckon with my core values around life, career choice, and the issues that resonated deeply with me. Tyler taught me how to actively listen and consider others' perspectives—a skill that now defines my work in planning and development. Most significantly, Tyler helped me recognize that planning isn't just about designing spaces, but facilitating human connections that transform those spaces into meaningful places of shared belonging.”
Visit the Planning Studio Projects to view more work by Tyler CS in City and Regional Planning students, whose work reflects the creativity of our students to craft innovative solutions, and our commitment to address issues of equity, climate change in support of communities across the City of Philadelphia.
Project Team: Meghan Sack, Kaylen Phillips, Emma Bingay, Russell Livolsi, 2024
Partnering with the Legislative Division of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, (Re)mapping the Future of Philadelphia: Zoning as a Pathway to Housing Equity, defines and develops dimensions of equity; investigates the history and planning context behind zoning in the city; documents existing demographic, housing, and zoning conditions; researches zoning and housing best practices from peer cities and conducts interviews with Philadelphia stakeholders and peer city representatives to guide the development of recommendations for updating the zoning code, policies, and procedures of the city to promote housing equity; and applies these recommendations in a zoning remapping exercise of a City Council district.
Project Team: Leah Daniels, Bobby Fanning, and Samantha Zrillo, 2023
Every year, hundreds of people die in car crashes in the Philadelphia region and many of these crashes involve cars traveling at unsafe speeds. Unfortunately, Philadelphia does not have a framework nor the authority to set safe and appropriate speed limits. Instead, they must follow outdated rules and regulations set by the State. This limited power prevents the City of Philadelphia from keeping their citizens safe. Since the 1860s, there have been several approaches to speed limit setting (SLS) that have developed over time in response to emerging trends and technology. Now, in 2023, the Safe System approach mindset along with innovative trends and technology allows jurisdictions to analyze individual roads to determine a safe speed.
Project Team: Nicholas Bambino, Jonas Bruggemann, Monica Mullaji, 2023
In March 2020, the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) led to a national pandemic response in the United States which included restrictions for public gatherings, especially in indoor spaces. Many cities responded by reclaiming space outdoors for a variety of activities. The City of Philadelphia created the Temporary Outdoor Dining Program to allow businesses to use adjacent parking spaces in front of their establishment for dining operations and other activities. Due to the location in the street, outdoor dining setups came to be known as street eateries, or streeteries. The restrictions on indoor dining and public gatherings indoors became a lifeline for many businesses throughout the pandemic. Streeteries occupy space in the publicly-owned right-of-way with tables, chairs, and structures for additional dining capacity.
Program Head Dr. Jeffrey Doshna maintains a collection of graduate student studio reports available online.
