Our urban planning experts focus on designing more livable communities. They include renowned experts who have been named to leadership and advisory roles at the U.S Department of Housing & Urban Development and have provided expert testimony to the Senate Committees on Finance and Banking.
Degree Programs
Top Stories View All
Study: South LA leaders have diverse needs surrounding trees in their communities
Featured Faculty: Santina Contreras
Price in the News View All
Los Angeles Times
Green quoted, discussing how California’s housing market is showing signs of slowing down as home prices and sales drop
Featured Faculty: Richard K. Green
Los Angeles Times
Giuliano quoted about how the new air-rail link will affect how people access the Los Angeles airport
Featured Faculty: Genevieve Giuliano
LAist
Contreras’s research cited, which documents what residents want from trees
Featured Faculty: Santina Contreras
Los Angeles Times
Green quoted about the possible results of Proposition 33
Featured Faculty: Richard K. Green
City Watch LA
Contreras’s study cited, in a story discussing the challenges facing Los Angeles’s urban forest
Featured Faculty: Santina Contreras
Featured Faculty
Urban Planning and Development Faculty
Explore USC Price faculty and their cross-disciplinary scholarship.
Urban Planning Faculty
We live in the world’s first urban century. The challenges of our time – climate change, equity and inclusion, sustainable settlements – will play out in cities and communities. USC’s urban planning faculty are thought leaders, ranking among the most cited influencers in urban planning in the U.S. and worldwide.
Marlon Boarnet
Professor
Director, METRANS Transportation Consortium
Featured Research Centers
Urban Data Lab
Urban Data Lab uses computational data science and spatial analysis to explore urban transportation patterns around the world, critically interrogate how big data reshapes housing affordability, and leverage technology platforms for more just, collaborative city planning.
Urban Data Lab Website
Featured Research Centers
METRANS Transportation Consortium
METRANS is a U.S. Department of Transportation University Transportation Center. It is a joint partnership of USC and California State University, Long Beach. Its mission is to solve transportation problems in large metropolitan regions through interdisciplinary research, education, and outreach. Its four areas of focus are goods movement and international trade; urban mobility; transportation infrastructure and finance; and safety, security, and vulnerability.
METRANS Transportation Center Website
Featured Research Centers
Population Dynamics Research Group
The Population Dynamics Research Group uncovers demographic trends that drive major changes in society, providing insights that lead to effective policies. These population patterns underlie areas as diverse as housing, immigration, education, health, labor, transportation, the environment, and urban growth. The Popdynamics team monitors the future using multiple data sources including the decennial U.S. Census, the American Community Survey, and our own carefully crafted Demographic Futures projections which incorporate layers of demographic analysis and include greater detail than the census provides.
Population Dynamics Research Group Website
Featured Research Centers
Spatial Analysis Lab (SLAB)
Committed to expanding the visualization of public policy and urban planning, the USC Price School launched its Spatial Analysis Lab for research. SLAB’s research experiments with developing alternative cartographies to bring attention to overlooked urban spaces and people. It also critically studies how our visual narratives interface with social institutions and public discourse.
Spatial Analysis Lab (SLAB) Website
Featured Research Centers
Sol Price Center for Social Innovation
Aims to advance ideas, strategies, and practices that enhance the quality of life for people in urban communities. The center will provide opportunities for direct student engagement across all of the Price School’s primary disciplines.
Sol Price Center for Social Innovation Website