URP News

UF Conference Advances Planning Across Research, Practice, and Education GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida Department of Urban and Regional Planning (URP) marked a major milestone with a successful two-day…

Bridging Data and Design: How URP’s Zhaoxi Zhang Is Harnessing AI To Advance Healthier Cities For Assistant Professor Zhaoxi Zhang, urban design goes far beyond maps and grids. As a…

Meet Lauryn Ballard, Recipient of APA Florida’s 2026 Andre Anderson Minority Scholarship Lauryn Ballard, a second-year MURP student, was recently named as the recipient of the 2026 Andre Anderson Minority…

UF Urban and Regional Planning Advisory Council Elects New Chair and Welcomes New Members Zachary Shrader, AICP The Department of Urban and Regional Planning’s Advisory Council has named Zachary Shrader,…

Planning by Example: A Conversation With Our Planner in Residence Elizabeth Abernethy Elizabeth “Liz” Abernethy first came to the University of Florida’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning back in…

For Nigeria native Oluwasegun James, life is busy. The University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning student is pursuing dual master’s degrees in urban and regional planning and integrated sustainable…

Celebrating 50 Years of Florida Planning: Annual Bartley Lecture Reflects on the Past and Looks Ahead to the Future View the lecture recording. The University of Florida’s Department of Urban…

UF Urban and Regional Planning Attends 2025 Florida APA Conference In September, faculty and students from the University of Florida’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning traveled to Daytona Beach…

MURP Students Victoria Fountain and Edgar Medero Receive 2025 American Planning Association (APA) Foundation Diversity Scholarship Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning students Victoria Fountain and Edgar Medero are the…

Meet Our 2025-2026 MURP Mentors Our 2025-2026 MURP Mentorship Program is in full swing! We’ve paired accomplished planning professionals with students in the final year of their MURP program as…

Dr. Yan Wang Featured in Topos Magazine Dr. Yan Wang, Associate Professor in the University of Florida’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning, was recently featured in Topos Magazine, a…

Dr. Kathryn Frank Publishes JAPA article on Rural Planning and Community Development Dr. Kathryn Frank’s recent article “What Can Rural Planning Learn from Community Development? Some Lessons Moving Forward” was…

Director’s Interdisciplinary Innovation Grant Awards Spark New Research at the University of Florida’s School of Landscape Architecture and Planning Four research teams from the University of Florida’s School of Landscape…

Finding a Path in Planning: How UF’s Online MURP Program Helped One Alumna Find Her Calling Melissa Ruth, AICP, at her graduation in 2022 Melissa Ruth, AICP, never saw herself…

MURP Alumna Helena Parola Appointed Director of Jacksonville Planning and Development Department Helena Parola (MURP ‘97) has been appointed director of the City of Jacksonville’s Planning and Development Department. The…

MURP Alumna Wendy Halsey Named Associate Vice President for Facilities Operations at Wake Forest University Wendy Halsey (MURP ’05) has been named Associate Vice President for Facilities Operations in facilities,…

50 Years of Success: The Origins of Urban Planning at the University of Florida  Over the last 50 years, the University of Florida’s Urban and Regional Planning department has played…

Dr. Yan Wang Granted Tenure and Receives Promotion to Associate Professor Dr. Yan Wang from the University of Florida Department of Urban and Regional Planning has been granted tenure and…

The UF Student Planning Association: Empowering the Next Generation of Planners SPA visited NV5 in Alachua, where they learned more about some of the projects the firm is working on…

UF URP Hosts End-of-Year Celebration To Close Out Another Successful Year The University of Florida’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning recently celebrated the end of another successful year at…

Dr. Yan Wang Receives NSF’s Most Prestigious CAREER Award to Lead AI Research for Spatial Regeneration Planning Congratulations to Dr. Yan Wang, Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional…

MURP student Matthew Mullings The UF Department of Urban and Regional Planning recently held a design competition where students were tasked with creating a logo for the department’s 50th anniversary,…

All 23 recent Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning graduates have passed the AICP examination. The AICP exam’s pass rate in the state of Florida is 58%, and 66% nationally,…

AI and Cities: An International Forum for Innovation and Collaboration Program Keynote Speakers Registration Awards We are excited to invite you to the inaugural AI and Cities: An International Forum…

Two MURP Students Honored with American Planning Association (APA) Foundation Diversity Scholarship Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning students Kaley Arboleda and Lauryn Ballard are the latest recipients of the…

UF Urban and Regional Planning Takes On the 2024 Florida APA Conference The UF Department of Urban and Regional Planning recently attended the 2024 Florida APA Conference in Tampa, where…

ACSP Seattle 2024: UF URP RecapExplore the highlights of URP faculty and students showcasing their research at this year’s ACSP conference. November 25th, 2024 Faculty and students from the University…

URP Student InternshipsSummer 2024 August 16, 2024 In the summer of 2024, our Master of Urban and Regional Planning students took on a variety of internships, applying their skills and…

UF Planning Program Ranks Top 25 in United StatesPlanetizen ranks the Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) program at the University of Florida as a Top 25 planning program…