Urban and Regional Planning
BAUP Director: Alice Novak
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
111 Temple Hoyne Buell Hall
611 East Lorado Taft Drive
Champaign, IL 61820
(217) 333-3890
The Department of Urban and Regional Planning offers a program leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Urban Planning. The aim of urban planning is to sustain and enhance the quality of life in cities and regions. Therefore, in addition to technical skills, students also acquire a broad liberal education that leads to an understanding of the natural and social environments, their problems, and their potential for enriching human life. The urban planning degree emphasizes skills in analysis, problem solving, and communication within complex urban and social contexts. As a result, undergraduate planning education leads to diverse professional careers or graduate study in urban planning or related professions, such as law, business, public policy or public administration. Continuation in the program requires the student to maintain a 2.00 grade point average. The degree is professionally accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board.
A transfer student must have completed 30 or more semester hours of acceptable undergraduate college work (including introductory courses in microeconomics, statistics, political science, and sociology; a sequence in English composition is desirable) with an earned grade point average of at least 2.75 (A = 4.0). Transfer applicants not meeting these requirements will be considered in special cases.
The Department also offers a minor in Urban Planning. The minor provides students with the opportunity to apply disciplinary knowledge from a variety of fields (such as economics, politics, environmental science, informatics, sociology, architecture, landscape architecture) toward understanding urban phenomena and planning for orderly, efficient, functional, environmentally friendly, and aesthetically pleasing urban development. The minor introduces students to a) cities as arenas with challenges such as housing affordability, population segregation, neighborhood disinvestment and decline, environmental pollution, and traffic congestion; and b) professional planning practice, which devises actions to address such issues and improve the quality of life in urban areas. Urban issues are explored on a range of scales from the neighborhood to the mega city.
The Department's administrative and faculty offices, classrooms, and computer laboratory space are located in Temple Hoyne Buell Hall. Students may go to Room 111 for information.
The Department of Urban and Regional Planning also offers a program of graduate studies leading to the Master of Urban Planning degree, joint degree programs with the Master of Architecture, Master of Landscape Architecture and the Juris Doctor degrees, and the Doctor of Philosophy in Regional Planning.
Curriculum in Urban and Regional Planning
For the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in Urban Planning
A minimum of 120 hours is required for this degree.
First and second years
Required General Education Courses
Current University of Illinois General Education requirements include courses in humanities, composition, social sciences, cultural studies, quantitative reasoning, and foreign language. See the General Education Web site for information on courses that meet these requirements.
The following Social and Behavioral Science General Education Courses are required by Urban Planning:
| 3 | ECON 102 - Microeconomic Principles |
| 4 | SOC100 - Introduction to Sociology |
| 3 | PS 101 - Intro to US Gov & Pol |
Urban Planning courses which fulfill the University General Education requirements are noted in the program listing below.
| Hours | Required Urban Planning Courses |
|---|---|
| 3 | UP 101 - Introduction to City Planning |
| 3 | UP 203 - Cities: Planning & Urban Life or UP 204 - Chicago: Planning & Urban Life |
| 3 | UP 205 - Ecology and its Applications (Natural Science, Gen Ed) |
| 3 | UP 260 - Social Inequality and Planning (Social Science, Gen Ed) |
| 3 | STAT 100 - Statistics (Quantitative Reasoning I, Gen Ed) |
| 35 | General Education and Open Electives3 |
| 60 | First and second year total |
Third year*
| Hours | First Semester |
|---|---|
| 4 | UP 312 - Communication for Planners (Advanced Composition, General Ed) |
| 3 | General Elective or Open Elective3 |
| 9 | Planning Electives2 |
| 16 | Total |
| Hours | Second Semester |
|---|---|
| 6 | UP 347 - Planning Workshop I |
| 4 | Department Elective in Urban Planning1 |
| 3 | General Education or Open Elective 3 |
| 3 | UP 316 - Planning Analysis (Quantitative Reasoning II, Gen Ed) |
| 16 | Total |
*Transfer students must fulfill first and second year requirements.
Fourth year
| Hours | First Semester |
|---|---|
| 4 | Department Elective in Urban Planning |
| 6 | Senior Planning Workshop4 |
| 4 | General Education or Open Electives3 |
| 14 | Total |
| Hours | Second Semester |
|---|---|
| 4 | UP 311 - Local Planning, Government & Law |
| 6 | Planning Electives2 |
| 4 | Department Elective in Urban Planning |
| 14 | Total |
1. A total of 12 hours of
departmental electives must be taken in Department of Urban and Regional Planning
courses.
2. Planning elective courses totaling 15 hours must be chosen from
a list of campus courses maintained by the department. Urban Planning courses over the 12 hours of departmental electives automatically count as planning electives.
3. Open electives as needed to complete the total hours required. Excess department
and planning elective courses may be applied toward this requirement.
4. Urban planning workshop classes include UP 447, 448, 455 and
478.
Minor in Urban Planning
The Urban Planning Minor requires the successful completion of 20 credit hours of coursework, including four core courses and two electives. Two of the listed core courses (UP 205 and UP 260) also satisfy general education requirements.
Core courses:
- UP 101
- UP 203 or UP 204 (prerequisite: UP 101)
- UP 205 (This course can be waived if student has previously taken IB 105)
- UP 260 (prerequisite: UP 101)
Electives: (8 credit hours, 11 credit hours if UP 205 is waived). All 100-, 200-, 300-, and 400- level courses offered by DURP.
Admission criteria: 2.75 GPA, as space is available. For admission criteria and process, see www.urban.illinois.edu or contact the BAUP Director, Alice Novak, at novak@illinois.edu.