Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) Planning is a comprehensive process through which public and private decision makers can arrive at policy decisions affecting the growth and development of cities and regions. The planning process encompasses public policy areas such as economic and community development housing transportation health, education, and welfare growth management public safety leisure, recreation, and cultural opportunities aesthetics and historic preservation. Planning, an integral function of departmental structures of government at the national, state, and local levels, also occurs within special authorities serving multijurisdictional organizations and private consultancies that provide planning expertise to a variety of interest groups concerned with the making of public policy. GSPIA’ s urban arid regional planning program prepares planners who analyze problems of people in urban and regional environments and guide the implementation of planned change to improve the quality and conditions of life. The skills and knowledge that students in this program master have their foundations in social, natural, and applied sciences. Primary focus is placed on the comprehensiveness of the planning function not only in terms of issue identification, policy formulation, plan preparation, and program implementation, but also in the context of environmental, social, economic, and political circumstances that impinge on the professional abilities of planners to identify and serve public interests. GSPIA ’ s planning program educates students as generalists and as specialists. This means that students are exposed to a broad array of urban/regional problems and issues, skills and knowledge, methods and techniques, theory, and practice. See also: MURP, Course Requirements, General Regulations, Tuition and Fees, Admission Information and Requirements The graduates from the MURP program will most likely______.