Community Design is for students who care about the character and future of our communities. You'll learn to design better living environments and give communities the tools to make their own choices through real-life and hands-on experiences. You'll do all of this while keeping sustainability and the environment in mind.

What will I learn?

Our courses examine ways that people can work towards creating and maintaining healthy and sustainable communities. We place an emphasis on design as a method of learning, analyzing, and addressing problems. We also focus on reasoned, creative, and practical outcomes. Our classes develop the knowledge and skills that allow you to analyze and create solutions for community issues.

Sample courses:

• Landscape Ecology
• Reading the Suburbs
• History and Theory of Urban Design

If you choose the honours option, you'll be able to take what you learn in class and put it into practice by completing an internship. For one term in your fourth year of study, you'll spend eight hours a week working for a company or organization involved in some element of community design or planning.

Careers and future study:

Our graduates are highly valued by public, private, and non-profit organizations. They find work with housing agencies, development firms, municipal planning departments, urban revitalization projects, federal departments or crown corporations, non-governmental agencies, real estate companies, non-profit environmental organizations, and many other related groups. Specific positions include:

• GIS administrator
• director of community development
• Transit planner

BCD Honours graduates can follow the process to become a Registered Professional Planner.

Future studies could include completing a Bachelor of Environmental Design Studies or programs at the graduate level in planning, public administration or business administration.