Urban Planning

People are at the heart of what we do. Urban planners make communities better places to live. We address the environment, economic development, and land use. We focus on design, transportation, and community development. We talk about social issues, politics, and law. We prepare documents that provide guidance for future direction. We make plans about people and for people.

Students with large group of children in Mumbai, India — DURP students with children in Mumbai, India

Planning

People take part in the planning process at every level—from city councils and planning commissions to businesses and neighborhood groups. We guide decision-makers toward the best choices to help communities accommodate change. Our efforts require that we work with people.

For us, urban planning is about being community minded and socially engaged. Our department has over 100 years of history in Illinois urban planning education. Located in the College of Fine and Applied Arts, we incorporate design components into our curricula, while providing a planning education with firm roots in the social and policy sciences. We are people focused on people.

We hope you will join us in helping to make a better future.