Department of Urban Planning. — In 1945 John W. Hyde was appointed as Professor of Planning in the Department of Architecture. A strong interest had developed in city planning, and a senior major in city planning was added in 1946 as an option of the five-year curriculum in architecture. A graduate program leading to the degree Master of City Planning was also established in that year. By 1956 a faculty committee recommended to the Regents that a new department of urban and regional planning be added to the College. The broad scope of the problem — training in urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan — required the participation of all units concerned, and a University Committee on urban planning was appointed to study the problem. In 1965, after a thorough review of previous studies of education in planning, an interdisciplinary planning institute was proposed to coordinate the various planning programs already in existence, but scattered in various units around the campus. Following a formal proposal submitted by the College, the Department of Urban Planning was established in July 1965 with Gerald E. Crane as chairman.
A two-year course of graduate study was prepared — the first year consisting of required courses comprising the "core" program; the second year, of courses intended to provide depth in various aspects of planning of interest to the student.
In the second year of operation of the program, enrollment increased to 30 students, and additional part-time faculty were appointed. Space and equipment was grossly inadequate until the summer of 1970 when the department occupied a vacant house near the Architecture Building. Until the occupation of the new Art and Architecture Building on the North Campus in 1974, enrollment was maintained at approximately 50 students despite a very high application rate. After one year in the new building, enrollment had climbed to 84. Of these, 40 percent were women and 13 percent were minority students.
Curriculum modifications had been made annually since the inception of the program, but during the 1973-74 academic year an extensive revision was accomplished. The first year courses were structured around five core areas of knowledge, team teaching of core courses was introduced, integrative workshops were initiated, and self-study and evaluation procedures were established to monitor the development of both individual students and the program. Special attention was given to the formulation of dual and interdisciplinary programs such as urban planning and landscape architecture, architecture, business administration, and law.
In the brief period since its formation, the department had made steady progress towards the creation of a first-rate urban planning program. It now has excellent facilities, a good and diversified faculty, a well-rounded curriculum, and ample course offerings.
Gerald E. Crane
The University of Michigan, an Encyclopedic Survey Supplement, pages 70 - 71
