Center History

UTSA began offering courses in urban and regional planning during the fall of 1973. The first graduate-level courses in urban planning appeared in the Division of Environmental Studies–the forerunner to the College of Architecture and the College of Engineering. Dr. Richard Tangum founded UTSA’s Center for Urban and Regional Planning Research in the year 2010. Historically, the Center served as a vehicle for town planning, working closely with the UTSA’s Institute for Economic Development to foster economic and community development throughout South and West Texas and the Lower Rio Grande Valley. 

In 2018 Ian Caine, Associate Professor of Architecture, was named as the Center’s second Director. During the pandemic years, the Center continued scaled-down operations as a community design center, advancing UTSA’s commitment to community engagement and public service while generating social impact throughout South Texas and the Lower Rio Grande Valley. In 2021, the Center joined the newly formed Klesse College for Engineering and Integrated Design, which the university launched “to identify and solve grand challenges where humanity intersects the physical world.” In the fall of 2022, the Center expanded its academic capacity significantly by adding four core research faculty from UTSA’s program in Urban and Regional Planning. 

Today, the UTSA Center for Urban and Regional Planning Research maintains its historical commitment to community design while also supporting advanced academic research in the areas of environmental resilience, housing, and transportation. The Center continues to work with community partners throughout the region, collaborates with faculty in allied disciplines, and employs student researchers from urban planning, architecture, and engineering. The Center produces a wide range of deliverables, including peer-reviewed publications, master plans, urban designs, websites, and exhibitions.

Mission

The mission of the UTSA Center for Urban and Regional Planning Research (CURPR) is to generate new knowledge of the forms, processes, and impacts of urban growth while advancing the creation of more sustainable, inspiring, and equitable cities.

Vision

Our vision is to become a thought leader on the topic of urban growth, developing new models for San Antonio and Texas that make a national and international impact.

Values

We prioritize local impact.
The Center utilizes San Antonio and the Texas Triangle as a living laboratory, helping local and regional communities confront the grand challenge of urban growth. This challenge includes adding 1.1 million people to San Antonio over the next 25 years, and adding 10 million people to the Texas Triangle by mid-century.

We employ a multidisciplinary approach to research and discovery.
The Center leverages its position within the Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design and the larger university to draw on faculty expertise across multiple disciplines. These collaborations allow us to pursue a wide range of research methods while constructing a comprehensive and multidisciplinary view of urban growth.

We elevate the role of teaching and learning in everything that we do.
The Center provides a pedagogical platform for faculty and students from architecture, urban and regional planning, and departments across the University. The opportunities come in a variety of forms including funded research assistantships, service-learning, independent studies, design studios, and academic seminars.

We maximize the impact of community engagement and service.
The Center maximizes its local and regional impact by generating a broad range of activities, from comprehensive plans to public symposiums. We maximize the impact of our work by publishing in a variety of venues, from academic journals to popular press outlets.