In recent years, there has been increased consciousness about the importance of urban politics in design and planning practices. While traditional experts see their works as an end product of engineering and scientific optimization, contemporary practitioners in design and planning have to cope with their tasks as a means of social and political relations. Give such social requirements and political expertise, this course attempts to understand the institutional structures and strategic actions being observed in recent design and planning professions. The lectures consist of multiple academic theories (e.g., postmodern sociology, consensus building methodology, institutional economy and transaction theory, information science, etc) and professional experiences (a series of external guest talks). Students are expected to have a better sense of "path-dependency" and "context-sensitivity" and use more pragmatic decision making techniques to establish "win-win" situations in urban design and regional planning processes.