A group of 20 Russian city planners and architects was recently on campus to participate in a special institute introducing them to the principles and practices of American city planning.

The two-week course, co-sponsored by the College of Environmental Design's Department of City and Regional Planning and the Institute of Urban and Regional Development, was chaired by planning department chair Michael South-worth and developed and coordinated by planning associate professor John Landis.They were assisted by the institute's manager, Barbara Hadenfeldt, and by several planning graduate students.Funding was provided by USAID.

The group was introduced to a variety of perspectives and viewpoints through presentations by faculty members from the departments of city and regional planning and landscape architecture and members of the local planning and development community.

Among the many topics addressed were the history and role of city planning in the U.S., California and the San Francisco Bay Area; the planning and provision of housing in both the public and private sectors; project finance; the principles and practices of environmental planning at the national, state and local levels; and citizen participation in planning.

As part of the institute, the Russian guests, who come from St. Petersburg, Irkutsk, Novgorod, Moscow and Tver, were invited to present planning issues, problems and trends relevant to their own cities.