Department of Urban Planning is the first post-graduate department of the School. It started as a Department of Urban and Regional Planning in the Year 1955. The vision of the Department is to ensure and maintain quality of education in settlement planning so as to be at par with institutions worldwide through sustained research in the field of urban planning, development and management, along with strengthening academic links of the Department with institutions in India and abroad, and by setting up of a Knowledge Centre in the area of urban planning.
Degree in Planning (Urban Planning) programme offered by the Department is designed to prepare students in the skills of analysis of physical, social, cultural, economic and ecological dimensions of urban settlements, comprehending their problems, evolving strategies to address the issues and emerging challenges in a planned manner and working out implementation mechanisms. Specialization is built around courses such as city and metropolitan planning, infrastructure planning, environment, development and disaster management, heritage conservation, urban development management, project planning, inclusive planning, energy, climate change and urban development.
The Masters programme focuses on exposure to project planning and information technology including the GIS. It also includes studio exercises in plan preparation through real world case studies related to comprehensive and micro level urban development issues, and problems related to various cities and towns in the country. Emerging number of new reforms in Urban Planning further push the need for producing qualified Urban Planner where urban planning department is committed to contribute to growing demand of urban planning industry.
Most of the alumni are engaged in various government offices like the Central and State level town and country planning organisations, Development Authorities and Urban Local Bodies (ULB’s) besides international agencies like the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the Department for International Development (DFID). A growing number are employed in the private sector as developers and urban design consultants besides engaged in various research and academic institutes, NGOs and consultancy firms both within and outside the country.
