Capstone Projectsandrew2024-06-17T13:32:40-07:00

Student Capstone Projects

UCLA Luskin master’s students are required to complete a capstone project to earn their degree. Master or Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) projects can take the form of an applied planning project (client project), a comprehensive group project or a thesis. Master of Public Policy students complete an applied policy project.

The Client Project is applied planning research on a real-world problem conducted by MURP students. ITS-supported client projects have taken national honors in recent years, including 2023, 2022, and 2021.
The Comprehensive Projects are similar, in many respects, to the client project, but larger in scope and scale. These projects simulate real world planning practice in that they incorporate students from various areas of concentration working together to research a problem from multiple planning angles.
Master’s theses focus on posing and answering a research question in planning that has not previously been answered. Research is conducted by a MURP student in conjunction with a faculty committee.

Do you have a student research project idea? Let us know by July 19, 2024

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Total Results: 163

2015 | Student Client Project

(Re)visioning Overland Avenue: The Next Great Street

Melody Wu

Client: Palms Neighborhood Council

Transportation & Communities

2015 | Student Client Project

Los Angeles’ Untapped Resource: Recommendations to Streamline and Standardize Citywide Green Alley Implementation

Rachel Lindt

Client: Trust for Public Land

2015 | Master's Thesis

Open for Business? Effects of Los Angeles Metro Rail Construction on Adjacent Businesses

Rosalie Singerman Ray

Transportation & Communities

2015 | Student Comprehensive Project

Oriented for Whom? The Impacts of TOD on Six Los Angeles Neighborhoods

Matthew Hom, Mark Friedlander, Mark Simpson, Laura Krawczyk, Allyson Ujimori, Mariana Huerta-Jones, Jake Connor, Aaron Ordower, Darryl Yip, Sheila Nem, Erica Lee, Katie Olson-Kenny, Vicky Wu, Chi Dang

Transportation & Communities

2015 | Student Client Project

Re-inventing the Bus Stop: Design Guidelines and Analysis for Transit-Friendly Parklets in Alameda County

Ben Kaufman

Client: Alameda County Transit

Public Transit

2015 | Student Client Project

The Bus Stops Here: Best Practices in Bus Stop Consolidation and Optimization

Daniel Berez

Client: Houston METRO

Public Transit

2015 | Master's Thesis

Wrecked by Work? Examining Work-Related Motorcycle Crashes in Colombia

Manuel Santana Palacios

Access to Opportunities

2014 | Master's Thesis

How Do Taxis Work in Beijing? An Exploratory Study of Spatio-Temporal Taxi Travel Pattern Using GPS Data

Yifan Zhang

2014 | Master's Thesis

Identifying Traffic-Related Air Pollution Hotspots in the Built Environment

Lisa Wu

Environment, Traffic

2014 | Master's Thesis

Overcoming Barriers to Accessible Transit

Carla Paola Salehian

Access to Opportunities

2013 | Master's Thesis

The Origins of Metropolitan Transportation Planning in Travel Demand Forecasting, 1944-1962

Cheryl Deutsch

Transportation & Communities

2012 | Student Comprehensive Project

Connect in Burbank: Linking High Speed Rail, Air Travel and Business to Create a Vibrant, Mixed-Use District

Darren Conly, Bradley Cleveland, Taylor Choe, Kristi Bailey, Amy Vetal, Jinghua Suo, Michael Coons, Dao Doan, David Dawson, Lu Lu, Katie Lemmon, Esther Jung, Christopher Jones, Jessica Hyman, Nicholas Foster, Reuban Duarte, Lindsey Miller, Alek Miller

Client: City of Burbank

Transportation & Communities

2012 | Student Client Project

Is Just Growth Smarter Growth? The Effects of Gentrification on Transit Ridership and Driving in Los Angeles’ Transit Station Area Neighborhoods

Will Dominie

Client: Bus Riders Union

Transportation & Communities

2011 | Student Client Project

Benefit-Cost Analysis for Transportation Project Evaluation: Selecting a Tool for the Metropolitan Transportation

Michelle Go

Client: Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Transportation & Communities

2010 | Student Client Project

Cycling in Los Angeles: Findings from a Survey of Los Angeles Cyclists

Jennifer Alexis Lantz

Client: Los Angeles Sustainability Collaborative

2010 | Student Comprehensive Project

Metro Orange Line Sepulveda Station Transit Oriented Development Capstone Studio

Ruby Horta, Scott John, Eric Douglas, Kevin Finkel, Raul Lugo, Lauren Finkel, Kevin Kahn, Andrew Lee, Haila Adamo, Dante Doberneck, Jeremy Cogan, Steven Mateer, Jacqueline Torres

Client: LA Metro

Transportation & Communities

2010 | Student Client Project

The Plane Truth: Air Quality Impacts of Airport Operations and Strategies for Sustainability: A Case Study of the Los Angeles World Airports

Colleen Callahan

Client: Coalition for Clean Air

2010 | Student Client Project

Transportation and Travel Costs in Transnational Remittances: A Case Study of Remittance Costs from Los Angeles, California, to Oaxaca’s Valles Centrales

Ramiro Alberto Ríos Flores

Client: Technical Institute of Oaxaca: Regional and Technological

Access to Opportunities, Transportation Finance

2008 | Student Client Project

Cleaner Skies, Brighter Future: Opportunities and Obstacles to Reduce Airport-based Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Laura Zahn

Client: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

2008 | Student Client Project

First-rate Advocacy from Second-tier Issues: Participatory Transportation Planning in Low-Income Los Angeles

Vanessa Carter

Client: Strategic Concepts in Organizing & Policy Education (SCOPE)

Access to Opportunities