At SoAP, from the time of enrolment, students are immersed in lectures on ecological design and planning, on technology and innovation in the built environment, attending colloquia on critical theory and debating the discourses related to policies, spatial studies, urban management and governance. Underpinning our ethos as a School is an intent of influencing policy through advocacy and through research, particularly concerning issues of urban spatial transformation, sustainable development, affordable housing provision, social justice, and the right of all citizens to access the city. Beyond the classroom, students go out into the field for immersive learning experiences, they undertake research, explore findings in design projects and other practical and application-based course components, responding to South Africa’s cultural and socioeconomic complexity. This learning experience enables the students to develop the necessary skill-sets that are essential for success in architectural and planning professional practice, and to understand the important ethical issues, adopting an imaginative engagement with what is pertinent to our contemporary context. Read more>>>>