Program Overview

Urban and Regional Planning

Planning, also called urban, town, city and regional planning and development planning, is a dynamic profession that works to create more convenient, equitable, healthful, efficient and attractive places for present and future generations.

Overview

This is a professional degree only offered to BSc URP graduates from Wits. It has been accredited by the South African Council of Planners (SACPLAN) at NQF level 8, which equips candidates with critical, practical, and research skills. Candidates acquiring the degree can register as a professional planner after two years of relevant work experience in the planning profession.

The BSc Hons URP also provides entry into Masters coursework programmes offered by the School, as well as the research-based MSc Urban and Regional Planning. The Honours programme aims to develop and consolidate candidates undergraduate planning skills. It includes courses of direct significance to engage with and contribute to the profession: professional practice and ethics, planning law, and advanced planning theory.

Why Study Planning at Wits?

The planning programme at Wits is located within the most economically important metropolitan complex in Africa, Johannesburg - a centre of vibrant urban development and change. The programme strives to provide quality education that is appropriate to the needs of a rapidly urbanising country, and a continent facing enormous developmental changes.

Career Opportunities

Urban and regional planning is a rapidly growing profession, which is of fundamental importance to the development of South Africa and the region. Planners help shape the future by managing the growth of cities in strategic and sustainable ways. The discipline of planning has many facets: sustainable development, spatial planning, land use management, housing, urban regeneration, environmental management, local economic development, tourism planning, and urban environmental design.

Curriculum

The degree includes a substantial project, which will involve a week-long field trip, generally out of South Africa. All coursework is completed by the end of June, with the rest of the year focused on the research report, which is submitted mid-October, with orals in November.

Duration and Structure

This degree is taken on a full-time basis from February to October/November. It is however possible to take the degree over two years, doing some courses in the first year, and others in the second. All courses are held during working hours (8 am 5 pm) on weekdays.

Entry Requirements

The minimum admission requirements are:

• BSc URP from the University of the Witwatersrand with a minimum average mark of 60% for their 3rd year subjects.
• Graduates of the Wits BSc URP with a lower mark than 60% will be expected to obtain at least a year of relevant work experience.

University Application Process

Applications are handled centrally by the Student Enrolment Centre. Once your application is complete in terms of requested documentation, your application will be referred to the relevant School for assessment.

University Fees and Funding

The Fees site provides information about the payment of fees and closing dates for fees payments. For information about postgraduate funding opportunities, including the postgraduate merit award, the University's Postgraduate Funding portal is a database of scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities available to Wits postgraduate students.

Programme Details

• Programme Code: FHA04
• Faculty: Engineering and the Built Environment
• School: Architecture and Planning
• Qualification: BSc(Hons)(URP)
• Duration: 1 - 2 years
• Study Mode: Full-time; Part-time
• Closing Date: 30 September