We approach planning and GIS education as applied disciplines at the confluence of multiple domains of knowledge.

Our programs have strong relationships with other schools within the College of Design and across campus in Engineering, Computing, and Public Policy. Many of our faculty hold joint or adjunct appointments in these other units.

While our students are exposed to the most recent knowledge and ideas impacting planning practice, we also focus on the “craft” of planning as an applied field. Students hone their planning and GIS skills by applying them to real life problems with real clients starting near home in an excellent laboratory, which is the Atlanta metropolitan region, but also abroad in China, Japan, India, and Mexico.

The world-class research programs directed by our faculty are also key components of student learning. The two College of Design research centers led by our faculty, the Center for Spatial Planning Analytics and Visualization (CSPAV) and the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development(CQGRD), together with the Urban Climate Lab, Eco-Urban Lab and projects from School faculty have generated research funding of about $4 to $5 million each year during the last 5 years.

Most of the research is conducted in interdisciplinary teams that include faculty and students from different academic programs at Georgia Tech and elsewhere. The diversity of talents and intellectual breadth fostered in these research teams provide an exceptional learning environment within which students mature quickly to become confident professionals or academics.