Department of Town and Regional Planning

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Programme: Urban & Regional Planning

​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 provides 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.

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 is 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:

Urban & Regional Planning
  • ​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

 

Short Learning Programme

GIS Applications in Urban and Regional Planning (GIS011)

Course Objective

The online learning programme intends to provide skill-oriented learning in GIS applications in the built environment field. The course will also expose the participants to free and open-source software, open standards and open data enabling them to implement the solutions discussed in the course at their own organizations.

Course Outline & Outcomes

The course builds on the introduction/ overview of GIS sector and related technologies, global perspectives, theoretical concepts on spatial data and analysis and covers in-depth hands-on session on the relevant urban and regional planning domain sectors such as solid waste management, crime prevention and safety, spatial planning, land use management, transportation, and urban infrastructure/ utilities.

Learning Outcomes

  • Demonstrate an understanding of conceptual knowledge of urban thematic areas and the significance of GIS in the provision of effective and efficient cities.
  • Analyze selected thematic areas and identify key challenges and opportunities for GIS applications at various levels.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of applications of GIS in various thematic areas of the urban and regional planning sector.
  • Apply GIS techniques on selected urban thematic areas using open-source data for creative and analytical thinking for the purpose of problem-solving using Open-Source GIS QGIS.
  • Demonstrate the use of Open-Source GIS QGIS for improved governance, efficient delivery of public services and strong decision support using various techniques and approaches in urban and regional planning.

 

Gis

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Head of Department: Dr Trynos Gumbo

tgumbo@uj.ac.za​
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