About

Turn vision into practice

For nearly five decades, the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning (UEP) has been a place where students, faculty, and the community work to turn vision into practice. UEP centers its mission around the intersection of planning, policy and social justice. A UEP education is:

Top-Ranked among 100 planning programs, ranked #1 master’s only program by Planetizen.
Hands-on learning environment inside and outside the classroom.
Engaged community strategy to address real-world issues.
Award-winning student work and internationally acclaimed faculty members.

At UEP, Students learn critical skills

To critically analyze the historical and systemic forces that perpetuate urban, social, and environmental problems and, in particular, their disproportionate impact on communities of color and other vulnerable and marginalized groups.
To analyze societal and environmental trends, assess public policy and planning interventions, and communicate findings so as to influence decision-makers and hold them accountable to their constituents.
To design, implement, and evaluate innovative and practical public policy and planning interventions to contend with these problems.
To recognize and realize opportunities for both incremental and transformational changes that take into account social, political, economic, institutional, organizational, and physical contexts.
To identify and leverage communities’ untapped assets to create innovative solutions that benefit the people who live there and grant them control over future development and distribution of resources.
To appropriately and effectively engage residents and other key stakeholders as empowered partners in public policy and planning processes and the co-production of knowledge.

UEP Students learn through an a multi-disciplinary approach

By project-based learning in addition to lectures and seminars
With a passionate, curious, critical, and diverse cohort of current students as well as a faculty of scholars, alumni and practitioners who are dedicated to student learning.
By engaging with and contributing to accumulated knowledge of scholarship and practice through dialogue and research with faculty and other students.
Through learning and researching together with community partners.

UEP offers four master's degree programs

The Master's degree programs are designed to sharpen the skills of policy and planning professionals working toward inclusive, just, and sustainable communities.

Master of Arts in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, which is accredited in urban planning and can be completed in two years of full-time study or in a part-time format designed for working professionals.
Master of Science in Environmental Policy and Planning, which is accredited in urban planning and can be completed in two years of full-time study or in a part-time format designed for working professionals.
Master of Public Policy for mid-career professionals, which can be completed in one year of full-time or two years of part-time study.
Master of Science in Sustainability, which can be completed in twelve months.

UEP offers certificate programs for students at various stages of their careers

During your time at UEP, you will benefit from access to a vibrant network of accomplished alumni, distinguished faculty, fellow students, and affiliated agencies. UEP also partners with other Tufts departments and schools, as well as other local colleges and universities, to offer students access to a diverse range of faculty and courses across the Boston area.

Department Chair

Peilei Fan

Professor and Department Chair of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning

(1) human-natural interactions and their impact on environment and social equity at multiple spatial scales, particularly in cities; (2) technology and development