Studying Planning at Wits

What is 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.  It is about the organisation of human activity in a way that will help realise our hopes and dreams for the future.

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! While cities are rarely planned ‘from scratch’, planners are crucial in managing their growth 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.  Many planners are involved in urban renewal projects, the regeneration of inner cities, and township redevelopment.

Planning is about the organization of places and activities in ways that make towns and cities more attractive and people-friendly places. It is concerned with the design, functioning and management of all elements in a town or urban environment, from the smallest settlement or town to the largest city. 

The courses in urban and regional planning, and development planning at Wits offer a stimulating entry point into this rewarding career.

Why Study Planning at Wits?

The planning programme at the University of Witwatersrand 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. The programme is committed to producing students equipped to work both locally internationally, who can respond to challenges of globalisation, new technologies, inequality, economic and cultural practices.

The planning programme at Wits is the oldest and largest university-based planning programme in South Africa. The planning programme is forging a strong network of links with other institutions in Africa and internationally and a number of collaborative initiatives are underway. It is engaging directly with issues of critical concern to the management and future development of human settlement through service learning, focused research and supportive relationships with policymakers. Areas of research focus in the programme include human settlements, sustainable cities, housing, gender and the role of planners and other actors in shaping urban space.

Introduction to the Professional Planning degrees offered at Wits

• The BSc Urban and Regional Planning is  a 3 year undergraduate degree, plus the one year BSc Honours Urban and Regional Planning.

• The MSc Development Planning is a two year post-graduate degree open to students with undergraduate degrees in cognate disciplines. However, due to restructuring underway, the School is not taking in new students into this degree in 2013. Applications are underway to replace the MSc Development Planning with a PGDip in Planning followed by a one year MSc in Development Planning. We will update the website when these new developments are confirmed and well before they come on stream (as is expected) in 2014 and 2015.

Graduates from either of the two above programmes with two years of subsequent work experience in planning can register as professional planners with the South African Council for Planners

In addition, the School offers degrees in research in the field of planning:

• The MSc Town and Regional Planning

• The PhD