Office Hours
By Appointment
Education
PhD in Urban Planning and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago.
MS in Historic Preservation, School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
BS in Urban and Regional Planning, Michigan State University.
Professional Experience
American Planning Association, Research Department, 1997-1999 and 2002-2006
University of Illinois at Chicago, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Program, 2002-2006
University of Illinois at Chicago, Great Cities Institute, 2001-2002
City of Detroit Planning and Development Department, 1999-2001
About Me
Rebecca Retzlaff, PhD, AICP, is a professor in the Department of Political Science at Auburn University. She is a core faculty member in the Master of Public Administration Program and the Community Planning Program and the Director of the Academic Sustainability Program. She teaches classes on land use law, resiliency, urban history, and environmental policy.
Retzlaff’s research interests are at the intersection of urban policy and urban history. She examines urban history to improve communities and the environment, focusing on local development regulation, societal change, and environmental policy. Her scholarship explores how historical perspectives can inform contemporary urban challenges. By integrating archival research with policy analysis, she investigates the evolution of development regulations, the impact of policy decisions on people and communities, and the role of environmental policy in shaping cities over time. Her work emphasizes the importance of historical context in understanding current urban dynamics. Her research bridges the gaps between historians and policymakers.
Retzlaff’s work has been published in urban history and policy journals, including the Journal of Urban History, Journal of Planning History, Journal of Planning Education and Research, and Journal of the American Planning Association. She is the author of a book on the history of city planning in Montgomery, Alabama, published by the University of Alabama Press in 2026. She is also the co-author of a book on planning law in Ohio, published by Thomson Reuters.
Research Interests
Urban policy, urban history, policy history, environmental policy, local development regulation, resiliency, sustainability
Courses Taught
- POLI 1090: American Government in a Multicultural World
- POLI 2120: Cities and Urbanization
- POLI 3680: Environmental Policy
- POLI 5140/6140: Public Service and Social Change
- POLI 5160/6160: Resiliency for Public and Nonprofit Institutions: Concepts and Methods
- CPLN 7350: Planning History and Theory
- CPLN 7430: Land Use Law