Regional planning promotes the core idea of developing human settlements and regions in a balanced, integrated, resource sensitive and participatory manner. The philosophy of the programme is to develop specialization in planning for regions. The course is oriented predominantly towards the future. The programme aims to ensure economically, socially and environmentally sustainable regions. Special Economic Zones, corridor development, resettlement and rehabilitation, rural development and eco-sensitive region are only a few significant examples, central to concerns of regional planning. The Seventy-Third and Seventy-Fourth Constitutional Amendment Acts in India have ensured the efficiency of plan making process for different scales of regions by giving impetus to bottom-up planning. It also calls for a change in the role of regional planners to plan both rural and urban areas in an integrated manner.

Regional planning course is a unique course taught only at SPA New Delhi to fulfil the agenda for region-based planning for nation building. The Regional Planning course is spread over four semesters. The first semester is an integrated semester. This is an inter-disciplinary semester where the basics of urban, regional, housing, transport, environment planning are taught to the students. Second semester introduces the students to fundamentals of regional planning. The subjects taught are Planning for Region, District Planning and Rural Development, Regional Infrastructure, Land Management, Advanced GIS, Climate Change and its Impact and Poverty. The studio exercise involves preparation of Block and Village Development Plan using participatory and bottom-up approaches. The third semester introduces the students to the complexities of regional plan making by covering subjects of Environment and Development, Project Planning, Institutional Analysis and Governance, Legal Issues in Planning, Resettlement and Rehabilitation and Spatial Data Infrastructure. The studio for third semester involves planning for a large size region such as a metropolitan region, a district, etc.

The programme is designed to equip students in skills of regional analysis, preparation of regional plans at various spatial scales, action oriented research, formulation of policies as well as evaluation of plans. To expose our students to global expertise in the field, Department of Regional Planning has continually endeavoured to network with national and International Institutions.