Capstone Project: Urban Planning & Real Estate Development

The capstone is a professional document required by the program in lieu of comprehensive examinations. Additionally, the electronic portfolio is a collection of the work you completed during your graduate program.
It represents a deeper presentation of your skills. The Capstone and Electronic Portfolio are designed to demonstrate your individual mastery of the following professional competencies and contribute to your overall Student Outcome Assessment:

Competencies

1. Blend a body of professional knowledge with continuous learning
2. Develop the ability to utilize financial and other analytical techniques
3. Demonstrate an understanding of social responsibility in planning and real estate development
4. Develop creative strategies to address challenging situations
5. Utilize technology, particularly GIS
6. Demonstrate conceptual and technical expertise regarding your selected Planning Concentration area
7. Use data to inform both public and private-sector decision-making

Content & Organization

The capstone project should have the skills and knowledge you have learned in your coursework integrated throughout.

The final product should be organized as follows:

1. Executive Summary

2. Table of Contents

• List of figures
• List of maps
  
  

3. Introduction

• Problem statement, research question (i.e. purpose)
• Summary of Context (location)
• Summary of methods used and overview of document
  
  

4. Literature Review - Detailed Context of Planning Problem

• How the issue is framed in the literature
• Detailed description of study area and planning problem
  
  

5. Methodology

• How are you framing the problem?
• How did you arrive at your question?
• What methods and data are you going to use to address the problem and answer the research question?
  
  

6. Findings

• What did you discover?
• Describe, in detail, what you learned in your investigation
  
  

7. Policy Recommendations/Implications for Planning

• Based on your findings, what sorts of policy recommendations do you feel need to be developed?
• Based on your findings and policy recommendations, what sorts of implications do you foresee for your study area? For the larger community?
  
  

8. Bibliography

9. Appendices - a copy of the database is required along with other supporting materials you wish to include

Evaluation Criteria

1. Substance

• Clear Statement of purpose (problem statement) and focus
• Link to the larger purpose, as demonstrated in the literature
• Appropriate methodology and one in which you have experience
• Demonstrates understanding of methods, link to concepts and the nature of data
• Clear statement of findings
  

2. Presentation and Language Style

• Grammatically correct
• Appropriate and consistent research citation and documentation
• Maps, appropriately generated and designed
• Appropriate graphics to display data and the results of analysis
• Visual materials to support presentation of the context of your problem
  
  
  

Approximate Timeline

This is a very general guideline. You will need to be in constant contact with your Capstone Advisor for exact deadlines pertaining to your candidacy.

Semester prior to Graduation:

• Select faculty advisors
• Submit a clearly focused Problem Statement including your research question and general plan
• Submit IRB application (if you plan to publish)
• Submit Capstone Proposal & preliminary bibliography
  
  

Graduating Semester:

• Complete candidacy procedures and application for degree
• Submit rough draft of your Capstone Project
• Make revisions
• Submit penultimate draft of Capstone Project
• Make revisions
• Submit final, bound and edited, Capstone and Electronic Portfolio
  
  

For More Information

You can e-mail Dr. Sarah Coffin with any questions you may have and to get this semester's deadlines at coffinsl@slu.edu.