Major in Urban Planning

Plan a better city. Build a better world. Major in Urban Planning.

Are you ready to transfer to an exciting and fulfilling major and career?

Join us at the Department of Urban & Regional Planning!

The Urban & Regional Planning department prepares intellectually grounded students for careers in planning and planning-related fields. The Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies & Planning (BAUSP) program combines a variety of interests and prepares students for many fields, such as: government relations and policymaking, economic development and community organizing, transportation planning and land use, environmental/natural resources planning, housing, law, urban design, and many more!

Apply to Urban Studies & Planning

Earn an Accredited Professional Degree

This professional degree is accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board. Undergraduates take courses in a variety of areas. You’ll explore modern analytical methods as well as social and natural sciences. You’ll learn about communities, communication, and even the humanities, because people and their interactions drive the need to plan.

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I chose Urban Planning at U of I because even though we are at a large university, the department is tight knit and welcoming. You truly get to work with professors at a one-on-one level, and collaborate with your classmates in and out of the classroom.

Ana Mendoza, Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies & Planning

Learn more about Ana

I am currently working at Kanbe's Markets - a non profit in Kansas City that works to create equitable food access in our neighborhoods that are designated as food deserts. My education at UIUC has helped me be a part of many meaningful conversations regarding the Kansas City urban core.

Elle Angelo, Alum (BAUSP, '22)

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Coming from the suburbs, I am frustrated with the unsustainable growth and generally inaccessible environment that comes with suburbia. So, I would like my work to focus on creating walkable, connected, and equitable communities where one does not need to drive.

Charley Rasmussen

Learn more about Charley

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Want to build a more equitable and sustainable world?

Take a Course in Urban Planning!

Want to learn more about Urban Planning to see if it is the right program for you? Join us for one of our intro courses! These courses do not have any prerequisites and all fulfill a general education requirement.

UP 136: Urban Sustainability

This course explores ways we can begin to resolve global, regional and local issues of unsustainable development priorities by better understanding how and where we choose to live.

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UP 160: Race, Social Justice, and Cities

In this course, students will explore the contingent and contested social meanings attached to the idea of ‘race’ and how these ideas are mobilized into racist political projects to govern the inequalities shaped by centuries of genocide, land theft, racial slavery, decades of legalized segregation and neoliberal economic exclusions.

UP185: Cities in a Global Perspective

Introduction to the process of urbanization from a global perspective by exploring the social, political, cultural and economic forces that shape urban life. Students will learn to analyze urban development in a range of cities including those in the Middle East and South Asia, Latin America and Africa.

UP 101: Introduction to City Planning

This course provides an introduction to urban and regional planning by examining the history of American urbanization, the evolution of American planning thought and practice, and contemporary issues and planning approaches.