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The four areas of Concentration within the Sustainable Community Development major allow students to focus on particular issues and scales of planning and environmental design that contribute to creating communities that are sustainable economically, environmentally, and socially. The areas of Concentration are: Urban Studies, Landscape Studies, Horticultural Studies and Built Environment Studies.

The Concentration in Built Environment Studies allows interested students to study the architectural environment from a variety of perspectives. Architecture is a social art concerned with fine building. It was Vitruvius, a Roman architect, who proposed a number of tests to determine whether a building might aspire to be called architecture. These tests are: firmness or structural soundness; commodity or convenience and utility; and delight or the ability to please the eye and the senses. This concentration allows students the opportunity to study firmness, commodity and delight in architecture, as well as the larger context of the social, ecological and built environments.

Students in the Built Environment Studies concentration may be interested in working in the green building industry or in pursuing a graduate-level professional design degree. This concentration allows students to explore aspects of buildings and their environment within the framework of creating sustainable communities.

The Concentration in Horticultural Studies is concerned with the small-scale details of building and maintaining sustainable landscapes, and allows environmentally-aware students to explore different aspects of the rapidly expanding 'green industry'.

The Horticultural Studies concentration brings together scientific knowledge of plants, soils, and ecology with the theoretical and practical aspects of landscape design, construction technology and business management. Although focusing on the small-scale details of the landscape, students in this field recognize the links between plants and humankind, and the role that plants play in contributing to our lives and to creating sustainable communities.

Should you choose the Concentration in Landscape Studies, you will be entering a field concerned with the conservation of the landscape, through the wise allocation of natural resources that anticipates and accommodates pressures arising in an urbanizing society. This concentration focuses on environmental policy and planning as they relate to preserving, protecting, restoring and enhancing the environmental quality of habitats and landscapes in the context of built form and regional growth.

Closely aligned with landscape planning, the Landscape Studies concentration deepens students' understanding of sustainable and ecologically-sound ways to conserve or revitalize the contextual landscapes of existing communities. Landscape planners may assist in directing expansion into appropriate areas of the countryside. Others will draw up policies to protect wilderness values in the face of commercial development and urban sprawl. Some will be concerned with the protection of agriculture in order to preserve land for food production and, at the same time, conserve farming as a way of life. Recognizing that we live in an increasingly urbanized society, some may improve recreational opportunities by planning for trails and greenway systems, links to our natural and cultural heritage. Landscape planners perform a delicate balancing act between adequately preparing for the impact of development on the environment and protecting landscape resources. They seek to act within a framework of sociological, economical and ecological principles, at the local level to conserve community values and globally to protect earth's fragile resources.

The Concentration in Urban Studies is concerned with the quality of life in towns, cities, and metropolitan areas. Environmentally, socially and economically sustainable communities may be created through careful expanded recreational and cultural opportunities, green infrastructure, economic development, improved housing, control of sprawl, historic preservation and preserved open space, not to mention political reform and environmental justice. The professional urbanist works towards ensuring the traditional role of cities in enriching the lives of those who inhabit them.

Closely aligned with urban planning, the Urban Studies concentration allows students to explore creative and systematic approaches for addressing the environmental, economic and social issues related to towns, cities, and larger regions. For instance, the urban planner will see shifts in the national marketplace that might boost local employment and bring new customs and ideas. Improvements, once made, must be managed efficiently, and to this end planners are constantly reviewing government policy and management strategies. The Urban Studies concentration introduces students to the theoretical, historical, social, political and technical dimensions of planning sustainable urban places.