LibGuides: Architecture: Urban Design & Planning

How to find books in our catalog

Use OneSearch to look for books by title, author, and subject. You can narrow your search by using filters such as resource type and location.

Don't know exactly what you're looking for? No problem! Using keywords or subject headings can help you narrow down your research topic. These are a few examples of keyword searches related to architecture:

These subject headings are a bit broad and might yield too many results. For suggestions on narrower search terms, check out the Library of Congress website.

How to find books on our shelves

The Architecture Library uses the Library of Congress Classification system.

Urban Planning is an interdisciplinary field which means the books your are looking for might be in many different places within the library, or even across multiple libraries.

Some relevant call number ranges are:

HE1-9990 Transportation and communications

HT51-1595 Communities. Classes. Races

HT165.5-169.9 City planning

HT170-178: Urban renewal. Urban redevelopment.

HT231: Effect of city life.

HT361-384 Urbanization. City and country

Library of Congress Urban Planning Call Numbers

How to find books outside of CUNY

WorldCat.org is a global catalog of library materials. You can search for books, music, video, articles and much more at libraries near you.
HathiTrust is a digital library of digitized reading materials such as books and periodicals. Many of the items in the collection are available without a subcription.

Electronic books can be found using OneSearch like the example below.

image of a book record in the CUNY OneSearch catalog

You can also access eBooks from one of the following databases using your CCNY login.

Our physical collection of periodicals can be found in the lounge of the Architecture Library. Check OneSearch first to see if we have the journal or magazine you're looking for, or stop by and ask us!

If we don't have what you're looking for in print, you may be able to access it online through the following databases:

Databases provide access to all kinds of scholarly and popular resources including peer-reviewed journals, academic books, newspapers, and more. Visit a list of all the databases provided by CUNY and search the list by subject here.

Below are a few databases we would recommend for research in Urban Design & Planning.

Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
The top database to journal articles published worldwide on Architecture and Design, Archaeology, City Planning, Interior Design, and Historic Preservation. From Columbia University's Avery Architectural Library
Urban Studies Abstract
Bibliographic records covering essential areas related to Urban Studies, including Urban Affairs, Community Development, Urban History, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline.

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR is a database of journals and primary sources that offers full-text to more than 2,300 journals.
Search and browse JSTOR citations from a mobile device.

To find out more about mobile apps, visit our Mobile Resources page.

Sanborn Maps

Historical fire insurance maps digitized by the Library of Congress can provide useful information about city planning and urban development.

JSTOR Images

Browse collections of images related to Architecture and City Planning.

Brooklyn Historical Society

The photography collections at BHS include images documenting the built environment of Brooklyn and Long Island from the 1870s to the present.

Digital Culture by Metropolitan New York

Directory of digital collections created and maintained by the Metropolitan New York Library Council. It offers over 150 online collections from many of the city's museums and universities, including City College, Baruch, & the Graduate Center.

Map of Mannahatta

Explore a virtual map of New York City from 1609 to discover the native landscape, block by block.