The Field

The Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Community Development (SCD) offers opportunities to study many aspects of the built environment from a developmental design and planning point of view. Formerly titled Environmental Design, this program was established in 1966 as a pre-professional undergraduate degree. The name change in the fall of 2014 and the curriculum update in the fall of 2017 reflects the evolving nature of our field, dealing with social, built, and natural environments in their interdependence.

Graduates from the BS-SCD program will be prepared to pursue a professional or higher degree in the various fields related to urban design and planning and to make informed and effective development decisions that can have a lasting impact on the social, built, and natural built environments. The core curriculum broadly exposes students to the theories and techniques of planning and design so that they can understand how human and ecological activities can and do shape a landscape and what is involved in the sustainable development of a city and region. It provides the academic background needed for dealing with a wide range of cultural, social, political, economic and ecological aspects in the design and planning of sustainable communities across multiple scales.

Core classes prepare students to understand the dynamics of neighborhoods, cities, and regional landscapes, and to engage communities in envisioning a more socially and environmentally balanced world. Through five concentration options, the BS-SCD program provides historical, theoretical, and professional perspectives in the social and natural science fields. Each concentration emphasizes environmental or social issues at a different  scale, from construction details and buildings to urban landscapes and regions. The SCD areas of concentration are Landscape Design and Build, Built Environment, City and Society, and Climate Change and Green Infrastructure. With approval of the Program Director, cross-scale interests may be pursued with an Independently Designed Concentration.  Students should decide on their Concentration by the end of their Sophomore year.