Introduction
​The Department of Urban & Regional Planning maintains strong relations with planning professions through its affiliation with the South African Planning Institute and the South African Council for Planners. Its strategic linkages provide a platform for engagement on local, national, and global trends and promotion of research, teaching, and learning.
Responsibilities
​​The field of Urban & Regional Planning includes land use planning, urban design, transport and infrastructure planning, use and extension of information technology, heritage, and conservation, resource management, environmental monitoring, commercial and industrial development, policy-making and implementation, planning law and practice. Urban & Regional Planners plan and develop the infrastructure of towns and cities and are therefore key players as South Africa works towards improving spatial and social imbalances in urban and rural areas across the country.
Admission Requirements
Minimum APS: 27
English: 5 (60%+)
Mathematics: 5 (60%+)
Physical Sciences: 5 (60%+)
Career Opportunities ​
A typical Urban & Regional Planning graduate is theoretically and technically well-skilled to help communities, companies, and governments to integrate the environmental, economic, and social aspects of development. They are involved with land-use, working in a professional team to plan, design, implement, and manage development. Urban & Regional Planning graduates are able to conceptualize economic, sociological, geological, architectural, industrial, and geographical and among other factors to bring about efficient functioning of a town or region.
Urban & Regional Planning technicians and technologists work in the private and public sectors. The graduates from the department have been absorbed in employment with national, regional, and local authorities as well as with consultants and developers. The graduates are skilled and competent in several areas of planning sector and are able to work independently and in a team environment in various planning sectors such as land use planning and planning, development planning, urban renewal, property development and real estate, infrastructure planning and development, rural development, economic and social development and among other planning fields. Based on the adequate planning experience, a BTech graduate is able to register as a Professional Planner with SACPLAN.
Employment opportunities that exist across the Urban & Regional Planning sector and allied industries:
​Civil Service administrator
Community development worker
Environmental manager
Historic buildings inspector/conservation officer
Housing manager/officer
Landscape architect
​Local government officer
Planning and development surveyor
Sustainability consultant
Town planner
Transport planner
