EDUCATIONAL APPROACH

The course is an applied research seminar, including lectures, discussions and individual research contributions on a timely planning project. Students will work individually and as a team to address strategic options for providing sustainable water supplies and urban infrastructure to the eastern fringe of the metropolitan Austin region, particularly in the State Highway 130 Corridor, an area slated for dramatic growth and change in the next decade. The principles addressed and planning solutions developed in this seminar will be transferable to other metropolitan areas.

Topical areas to be addressed in this planning seminar include the following: (1) projection and determination of water demands associated with alternative urban land uses; (2) evaluation of options for urban water management and utility service plans for new land development; and (3) development of orderly plans for planning, financing, providing and maintaining sustainable water infrastructure for growing metropolitan fringe areas.

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES

Students will learn practical planning and design principles, technologies, and practices for sustainable water management to meet contemporary urban needs. The course emphasizes integrative approaches to planning and design of land and water infrastructure.

SEMINAR TOPIC

The focus of the seminar is the practical application of sustainable environmental and water planning principles to the development of new communities.

REQUIRED READINGS

Web-based files, to be assigned and posted on the course's Blackboard site.

BASIS OF EVALUATION

• Practical exercises in water-based planning methods: 20%
• Research-based working paper on a topic pertaining to sustainable water planning and design. (Phase I report): 25%
• Final paper or contribution to group project (Phase II report): 40%
• In-class participation, field interviews, and group collaboration: 15%