DURP

Graduate students and faculty from Florida State University’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning (DURP) at the Mark and Marianne Barnebey Planning and Development Lab have been honored with the 2025 Award of Excellence in the Outstanding Student Project Group category by the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA).

“The Barnebey Lab worked alongside Plan Hillsborough to deliver innovative, context-specific recommendations for updating Hillsborough County’s Future Land Use Map,” said Dennis Smith, Planner-in-Residence and Director of the Barnebey Lab. “Through research, engagement with planning practitioners, and scenario planning across four key urban areas, the Lab helped advance a more connected, inclusive, and sustainable vision for the County’s future growth.”

Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey visited Florida State University’s URP 4022: Collective Decision-Making class to discuss public health, city planning, and to answer students’ questions on urban issues.

“Mayor John Dailey, an alumnus of COSSPP, continues to be a dear friend of the college. My urban planning students are always captivated by his engaging, behind-the-scenes take on collective decision-making and how urban planning outcomes are achieved in practice,” said Chris Coutts, Ph.D., professor of urban and regional planning, who teaches URP 4022. “My students are often surprised to learn that Tallahassee is, in many ways, ahead of the curve in working towards sustainable development.”

Florida State University students and faculty from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning’s (DURP) The Mark & Marianne Barnebey Planning & Development Lab won a 2025 Florida Planning and Zoning Association (FPZA) award in the Education category: Plans or efforts that effectively promote planning and zoning best practices.

“The Barnebey Lab worked alongside Plan Hillsborough to deliver innovative, context-specific recommendations for updating Hillsborough County’s Future Land Use Map,” said Dennis Smith, AICP, Planner-in-Residence & Director of the Barnebey Lab. “Through research, engagement with planning practitioners, and scenario planning across four key urban areas, the Lab helped advance a more connected, inclusive, and sustainable vision for the County’s future growth.”