About the Bachelor

About the program :

The department of Urban and Regional Planning was established in 1396 H, 1976 G, in response to the growing national need for professionally trained cadres in planning, urban affairs, policy analysis, and the rapid population and economic growth occurring in Saudi cities following the oil boom. Urbanization, while increasing rapidly, has raised important issues about land development, housing, urban growth, transportation and infrastructure, environmental protection, community services provision, and urban development issues. The Kingdom adopted a series of actions towards the professional practice of planning at different levels of government following the adoption of the second National Development Plan in 1975. The department being based in Jeddah, the second largest city in the Kingdom, regarded as the gate of the Holy cities and the main commercial and administrative center in the western region, provided the department with a special importance, strong, exciting, and supportive environment within which to offer a professional program.

The department was established within the School of Environmental Design (SED), which was under the administration of the Faculty of Engineering. Later, because of the special nature of the school departments' specializations, it was separated as an independent faculty in 1998. The department was one of three departments constituting (SED). The other two departments are the department of architecture and landscape architecture. In 2006 a new department of Geomatics was added. The program of the department of Urban and Regional Planning was originally devised by a special team from Harvard University, professors M. Kilbridge and J. Sultan.

The program in the faculty was originally designed as a six-year program with 182 credit hour requirement for graduation. The program was divided into three years core program and three years departmental program, reflecting a strong coherence among the three departments constituting the school at that time. However, in 1999, the faculty shifted to a new developed program of 165 credit hours that has to be completed in five years, coping with the market demand and alumni interview surveys. In the first semester of the year 2014/2015 a new developed curriculum has been adopted where the required credit hours for graduation have been reduced to 155 credit hours. In this new adopted curriculum students are directly admitted to the departments after successfully completing the university prep year aligning with the national education policies and international standards.

Mission :

To be a platform to qualify creative graduates of a global level in the sciences of city planning to serve the community, and the local market with environmental sustainability.

Goals:

1. Updating the bachelor's program at the level of international universities.
2. Achieving academic accreditation for the bachelor's program.
3. Activating student research cooperation at local and international levels.
4. Motivate participation in local and international educational platforms to develop the level of faculty members.
5. Focusing on the development of learning outcomes to raise the efficiency of the student.
6. Activate the links between the program and graduates to develop the discipline.
7. Develop students' knowledge and sciences before and after graduation.
8. The program should be a house of expertise to serve the community.
9. Develop professional solutions that achieve environmental sustainability.
10. Finding and investing effective cooperation with public and private sector institutions at local and global levels.