Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning

This degree leads to a professional career in planning, with employment opportunities in both city and country.

Planning is about designing places that will stand the test of time - not cost the earth.

Planning is about working towards a more livable, more sustainable world.

Planners need to be familiar with a wide range of issues and the degree provides a broad general education in all major areas of planning and urban design, including land use planning, social planning, economic planning, transport planning, environmental planning, professionalism and ethics, and environmental and planning law.

Work experience is an important part of the program and means that students receive a hands-on education, opportunities to put their learning into practice and a head-start in terms of gaining on-the-job experience.

Course Aims

The Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning enables graduates to contribute towards making the world more liveable and sustainable through developing understanding and skills in a wide range of areas relating to place-making and land use planning. Work experience is an important part of the program.Candidates completing the honours component are able to extend their intellectual range in their chosen study topic and hone their research abilities and analytical and communication techniques.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: BUrbRegPlan students: demonstrate a broad and coherent body of knowledge in urban and regional planning, including deep understanding of the discipline's underlying principles and concepts; demonstrate cognitive, critical and technical skills to analyse and address land-use and built-environment problems in a range of social, economic and environmental contexts; demonstrate knowledge and skills to exercise the judgement and responsibility required of a professional planner in the governance of diverse urban and regional contexts; and demonstrate initiative in solving planning problems, capacity to work independently and collaboratively, and ability to consolidate and communicate information via written, oral and graphical forms. BUrbRegPlan with Honours students: demonstrate a broad and coherent body of knowledge in urban and regional planning, including deep understanding of the discipline's underlying principles and concepts; demonstrate cognitive, critical and technical skills to analyse and address land-use and built-environment problems in a range of social, economic and environmental contexts; demonstrate knowledge and skills to exercise the judgement and responsibility required of a professional planner in the governance of diverse urban and regional contexts; demonstrate initiative in solving planning problems, capacity to work independently and collaboratively, and ability to consolidate and communicate information via written, oral and graphical forms; undertake independent research under supervision in a professional environment by: critically analysing a challenging complex or multi-faceted problem, identifying and articulating research questions, designing and planning a project in urban and regional planning; developing and constructing appropriate research methodology to address a research question; and analysing, interpreting and critically evaluating research findings; be communicators of urban and regional planning by communicating ideas and research findings to a range of audiences using a variety of written and oral communication modes; and be accountable for their own learning and professional work by: demonstrating initiative and intellectual independence; collaborating effectively within a research environment; and complying with regulatory frameworks and practising professional ethics relevant to their disciplinary area.

Graduate Attributes

Knowledge of a Discipline Graduates will possess broad and coherent knowledge about land use planning and its place in contemporary society locally and internationally. Graduates will understand how planning influences society and space in a variety of urban and regional contexts. This knowledge will be delivered through various teaching platforms, in the classroom and online, via a variety of materials ranging from critical readings to maps, plans and statistics. Students will also gain real world exposure to planning through 12 weeks of practical experience. The development of knowledge in the discipline will be monitored through assignments within each unit of the course. Graduates of the BUrbRegPlan with Honours will have enhanced knowledge in a specialist area of planning through targeted research. Communication Skills Graduates will possess well-developed skills to communicate in various forms essential to the discipline. This will include the ability to communicate through oral communication, report writing, statistics, maps, plans and other graphical forms. It will also include skills to constructively engage with various participants in urban and regional planning. These skills will be taught and practised in lectures, tutorials and online activities and assessment tasks throughout the course. Graduates of the BUrbRegPlan with Honours will also have knowledge of academic communication in advanced research contexts. Problem Solving Graduates will possess skills to identify problems and develop solutions in urban and regional planning. This will include capacity to interpret urban and regional environments, their composition and social impacts, and to contribute to the improvement of those environments through autonomous and collaborative decision-making. The course will hone these skills in general methods of urban and regional planning, natural hazards, and urban design. Gradutes of the BUrbRegPlan with Honours will also have skills to apply advanced research methods to identified problems in urban and regional planning contexts. Information Literacy Graduates will have the ability to identify information requirements in a variety of planning situations, and skills in sourcing, using and representing that information for planning practice. This will include assembling information from primary and secondary sources, and evaluating the significance of that information for a given context. These skills will be taught throughout the course, and exercised through a variety of guided assignment tasks. Graduates of the BUrbRegPlan with Honours will have advanced skills in the developmet and implementation of methodologies in research contexts. Ethical Conduct and Social Responsibility Graduates will have awareness of the professional and ethical responsibilities of the planning profession in urban and regional contexts. Graduates will have skills to engage appropriately with various participants in the planning discipline, and to be appropriately responsive to various social and cultural influences in planning interactions. Graduates of the BUrbRegPlan with Honours will also have awareness of the ethical responsibilities that accompany advanced academic research. Lifelong Learning Skills and knowledge developed during the course will foster intellectual curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking in the graduate. Well-developed cognition of planning concepts and practices developed through the course will provide a foundation for lifelong intellectual engagement with the discipline. Independence and Collaboration The various learning activities undertaken during the course will provide the graduate skills to work independently and collaboratively in a variety of planning situations. Graduates will have a confidence in their autonomous grasp of planning knowledge, and skills to inclusively negotiate planning outcomes with a variety of stakeholders. These skills will be developed through on-campus and online interactive activities, ranging from self-directed learning to collaborative projects. In addition, graduates of the BUrbRegPlan with Honours will have demonstrated skills to undertake independent academic research.