Proposal

Narrative

URP 6200 Planning Methods I is a course covering practical analytical methods ranging from demographic analysis, economic analysis, and project cost-benefit analysis. The economic analysis section covers economic base analysis and economic projection. Input-output analysis is a key component of economic projection, yet students were not able to practice what they learned from theory due to lack of available open data. Later on during the course, the students are required to conduct a project feasibility analysis, and one component is to estimate the economic impact of their chosen project. Again, due to data availability issues they were not able to accurately estimate the impact to make decisions about the best planning scenarios. The Regional Input-Output Modeling System (RIMS II) is an economic data tool that provides readily available data in most recent years to help estimate the economic impact of economic activities or planning projects. With the data tool students will be able to better understand the economic multiplier effect of any economic activity within the South Florida region and the economic impact of a proposed planning project or activity. This will not only strengthen their understanding of economic multipliers through the economic input-output process, but also will help them make the best planning decisions when comparing activities generating the most economic benefit regarding jobs, GDP, and tax revenues. Through this data tool, they will be able to understand how each economic industry is closely related to each other and therefore able to estimate the total output, the GDP, and the total jobs created through a proposed planning project. The impact of this data on student learning is evident and will open up a horizon regarding their mastery of the circuit of capital, and the direct, indirect, and induced impact of economic activities.

Facilities

Hardware Requirements

Existing computers at FAU and the faculty and students' personal computers, since the data tool can be shared among the faculty and the students per the license agreement of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. No new hardware is needed.

Software Requirements

No additional software is needed.

Personnel Costs

No personnel costs associated with the project.

Other Costs

The costs will be the purchase of the most recent RIMS II data for the following two regions: Martin County & Palm Beach County RIMS II data $275 Broward County & Miami-Dade County RIMS II data $275 Total $550

Timeline

The data tool can be used by students during the 2023-2024 academic year.

Sustainability

Since the data tool is for educational purposes time sensitiveness is not a key issue for this project. In this case, students will be able to use the data for the 2023-2024 academic year, and students in later years can use the data until the instructor deems the data obsolete. Even in that case, the instructor can still use the data to showcase the concept of economic multipliers and how to estimate economic impact through the data. This way students will be able to apply what they learn into their career practice with the updated data, in case they decide to pursue economic development planning.

Resource Matching

No matching resources.

Implementing Organization

The Department of Urban and Regional Planning and the College of Science will help with the funding disbursement. The faculty will manage the usage of the data tool.