“Planning Urban Services” examines selected key urban service needs for municipal maintenance, for servicing new growth and for redevelopment. It also reviews the approaches used by local government to plan for and finance these services. Students are introduced to the methods of fiscal and economic reasoning relating to implementation of urban service policy and programs. A major element of this course is the assigned term paper examining a specific local government’s effort to foster the development of a “new” urban center.

Each paper attempts to analyze the efforts of a selected local government in planning for the urban service needs of its “new” urban center -- or what, in some instances, may be classified more properly as a new municipal “focal point.” This paper has a required format and students are also required to make a class presentation outlining the findings of their research. These papers may be prepared individually or in small teams, depending upon the individual decisions of the students.

It should be recognized that the 13 papers prepared by these graduate students in Urban and Regional Planning, are STUDENT WORK done in fulfillment of a course requirement. They are not graduate thesis which are subject to intense research and review both by peers and faculty. The papers are not consultant work product which is commissioned to examine specific tasks.

These papers are the basis of limited research to fulfill the paper requirement of a single course, and done in accord with a required outline. Nevertheless, the information collected and analyzed provides a valuable contribution to the literature relating to South Florida local government efforts to plan for and implement plans for new urban centers. In that spirit, these papers and power point presentations are being made available for others to read and to benefit from the efforts undertaken by these students. Making these papers available to the public is not an endorsement of their content by the Department of Urban and Regional Planning or Florida Atlantic University.

Please note that in the event that reviewers of this information would like to submit comments, corrections or submit additional materials for inclusion on this site, please do contact me to discuss the addition of this information. We appreciate any efforts to help us provide the best possible information relating to these student case study papers. We also welcome any information and comments related to the topic of planning for the urban service needs of new urban centers that are not covered by the papers on this site. This material can be sent to:

Professor Frank Schnidman
Florida Atlantic University
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
709 Askew Tower
111 East Las Olas Boulevard
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308
EMail: schnidma@fau.edu