News & Events

Check out the CRP Resource Library

Books, plans and student work are available for student and faculty use in the Pearl Hall Resource Room, P133

View the entire catalog here.

Cultural Cartographies Del Ojo al Embudo

Opening 04.21.10
5:00 p.m.
George Pearl Hall Gallery

This exhibit presents research led by Architecture Professors Tim Castillo and Geraldine Forbes with graduate students from Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Community & Regional Planning. The team developed a digital archive using interactive media and open source applications to offer a multi-faceted public community database. This research was conducted in the Embudo Valley and begins to document the cultural landscapes of this northern New Mexico community.

This was an interdisciplinary effort that began to re-examine the boundaries of traditional architectural research and move towards a collaborative working model incorporating a faculty-student team with a variety of expertise in an array of disciplines. Areas of expertise include landscape architecture, historical preservation, architecture, community and regional planning, economics and demographics, informatics and digital visualization.

Design for Arid Lands

Emeritus professor of architecture and planning Paul Lusk, and director of the graduate program in landscape architecture and the associate dean in the School of Architecture and Planning Alf Simon presented their recently-published book: "Building to Endure: Design Lessons for Arid Lands" at UNM's George Pearl Hall April 8.

Published in October by UNM Press, "Building to Endure" looks at the long history of human habitation in the American Southwest and similar arid areas to propose new - and some very old - strategies to meet the challenges of creating more equitable, adaptable, and enduring communities for the twenty-first century. Section one addresses the lessons that can be found in ancient, historical, and contemporary designs and how they might be applied to our evolving role on the planet. The second section applies these lessons to major components of the built and natural environment: urban form, landscape, water, and energy. The final section offers a series of case studies that provide useful examples and practical guidelines for creating affordable, energy efficient, and environmentally sound communities and housing.

Welcome!

The University of New Mexico Community and Regional Planning Program welcomes prospective, new and returning students to our online resources.

As one of the most progressive and community-based planning programs in the country, the CRP program educates students to plan and advocate for sustainable communities and ecosystems. We emphasize planning within diverse human communities, and promote participatory processes that respond to community identities and social justice needs. We encourage applications by prospective students from New Mexico and around the world.

The CRP program is part of the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning.

Director's Message

Greetings from the Community and Regional Planning Program at the University of New Mexico!

Community and regional planning is a diverse and exciting field of study, and the UNM CRP Program offers an especially unique perspective on planning issues in the American Southwest with a focus on community-based practice and research.

The UNM CRP program offers a professional masters degree in Community and Regional Planning (MCRP), in which degree candidates may concentrate in one of three fields: Community Development, Environmental and Natural Resource Planning, or Physical Planning and Design. The CRP program also offers dual degree programs with Latin American Studies (MA/MCRP), Public Administration (MPA/MCRP), and Water Resources (MWR/MCRP). Graduate certificate programs are available in Historic Preservation & Regionalism and Town Design.

Collectively, the CRP faculty's expertise in research and practice encompasses a variety of fields, including political economy of urban development, climate change in the Southwest, work force housing, community economic development, land use dispute resolution, rural development, watershed management, land use suitability analysis, urban design and much more. The Resource Center for Raza Planning, formed in 1996, applies planning processes and techniques to the survivability and sustainability of traditional communities in New Mexico. The Indigenous Planning component is another unique strength of our program.

Situated along the historical El Camino Real and surrounded by Native American communities, CRP degree candidates are thrust into a diverse and often challenging planning environment. This requires the facilitation of and participation in a community-based planning process that incorporates varied interests and distinct cultural narratives in order to produce fair and sustainable plans for all.

If you are interested in planning, this website offers information on UNM's Community and Regional Planning degree programs and faculty contact info. To schedule a visit to the SAAP or to sit in on a CRP class, please contact me at tcordova@unm.edu, or my assistant, Liz Siletti, at esiletti@unm.edu We look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,
Teresa Córdova
Program Director and Associate Professor

CRP Calendar:

More Web Resources: