Urban and rural planning is the key discipline of Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture. In 1984, urban planning became a new research direction under architecture and since 2001, undergraduates have been enrolled to major in this discipline with a five-year duration of study. In 2012, urban and rural planning became a Beijing municipal key discipline for construction. In 2015, it was included on the list of Beijing’s Double Training Plan and Practical Training Program. In 2019, it was selected as one of Beijing municipal first-class disciplines. In 2020, the doctoral program in urban and rural planning has been applied for national approval. Recently, the discipline has been approved as the 2020 National Construction of First-Class Discipline.

In 1980, urban planning was offered in the undergraduate training program of architecture

In 1984, the graduate program of architectural design and its theory includes urban design direction

In 2001, undergraduates have been enrolled to major in urban planning

In 2003, urban planning became a Beijing municipal key discipline for renovation

In 2007, graduate students have been enrolled to major in urban planning and design

In 2011, urban planning professional education first passed the undergraduate assessment

In 2012, urban and rural planning became a Beijing municipal key discipline for construction, ranked 12th in the subject rankings hosted by the Ministry of Education

In 2013, urban planning professional education first passed the postgraduate assessment in Urban and Rural Planning, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development

In 2015, urban planning professional education passed the undergraduate assessment for the second time

In 2016, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Future Urban Design was approved (Beijing)

In 2017, for the second time, urban planning professional education passed the postgraduate evaluation in Urban and Rural Planning, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development

In 2018, architecture has been approved as the first-level discipline doctoral program

In 2019, urban planning professional education was approved as excellent in the 3rd undergraduate education assessment

In 2020, the doctoral program in urban and rural planning has been applied for national approval

In 2020, urban planning professional education has been approved as a national first-class professional construction site

【Positioning of Discipline Setting】

The discipline is equipped with qualified faculties coming from well-known universities or colleges at home and abroad with doctoral degrees, and half of them are registered urban planners with rich field experience in design institutes. They also have strong scientific research capabilities and are competitive in terms of the research field and direction, including urban and rural heritage protection and development planning, urban and rural planning and urban design, and urban and rural ecological environment and infrastructure planning.

In addition, the University has been introducing domestic and overseas high-end talents, academic leaders, and well-known experts and scholars in the industry to enlarge the University’s professional group in the field of urban and rural planning.

The University has employed guest professors including Professor Roy Strickland from the University of Michigan, Professor LIN Zhongjie specializing in Urban Design from the University of Pennsylvania, Professor LIU Shaoyu from the National University of Singapore, and Professor Luca Maria Francesco from the Politecnico di Milano to promote the internationalization of the discipline and the level of relevant scientific research group.

The University has introduced off-campus academic tutors including Academician WANG Jianguo and Academician CUI Kai, internationally well-known first-class scholars such as Jonathan Barnett as academic advisers, and Professor ZHANG Jie, national survey and design master, as dean to provide strong support for the discipline construction.

The University has also employed more than 30 experts in the practice field from well-known design institutes such as the China Academy of Urban Planning & Design, Beijing Tsinghua Tongheng Urban Planning and Design Institute, Beijing Municipal Institute of City Planning and Design, and Urban Planning Institute of China Architecture Design and Research Group to serve as off-campus tutors for postgraduates. High-level engineering and technical personnel from excellent design companies or professors from other universities are also invited to contribute guidance to the course development of the University.

Professional group specializing in Urban and Rural Planning

【Characteristics and Achievements of the Discipline】

In terms of teaching, the “2+3” mode is adopted to align with the talent cultivation goal: the first phase focuses on basic courses for cultivating foundation capabilities; the second phase focuses on professional courses that target at developing professional theory, skills and practical capacity. Undergraduates majoring in Urban and Rural Planning have a five-year duration of study, in which theoretical knowledge, practice, and skills are emphasized and integrated. In terms of discipline design and teaching, the new talent cultivation concept of integrating scientific knowledge and teaching has been explored in depth, which is characterized by combining urban and rural planning design programme with professional curriculum design, forming a teaching style of “field research, solving actual problems and practical operation” and promoting students’ all-round development.

“2+3” talent cultivation mode for undergraduates majoring in Urban and Rural Planning

Basic Courses

Urban and Rural Planning(III)

Urban and Rural Planning(IV)

Business foundation of planner

Urban and Rural Planning(I)

Urban and Rural Planning(II)

Principles of urban and rural planning(II)

Conspectus of Urban Design

Urban Municipal Engineering Planning

Urban Geography

Regional Planning & Urban Planning Management and Regulations

Architectural Design (I)

Architectural Design (II)

Principles of Urban And Rural Planning (I)

Urban Traffic Planning

History of Urban Construction in China And Abroad

Preliminary Design (I)

Preliminary Design (II)

Conspectus of Urban Planning

The award-winning coursework of urban and rural planning and design completed by students of the fourth grade

The overall city planning and the regulatory and detailed planning and design work completed by students of the fourth grade

Joint graduation design work completed by students coming from seven different universities

Graduation project completed by students of the fifth grade

The discipline development is equipped with first-class teaching and scientific research platform. Based on the integrated platform of education, research and production such as the University’s national virtual reality experiment center, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Future Urban Design and Class-A design institute, joint off-campus teaching and intern bases have been established together with more than 10 Class-A design institutes including China Academy of Urban Planning & Design, Beijing Tsinghua Tongheng Urban Planning and Design Institute, and Beijing Municipal Institute of City Planning and Design. Well-known experts in the industry have also been employed to serve as off-campus tutors to participate in course construction. In recent years, students and faculties of this discipline have undertaken many significant research and field projects targeting removing non-capital function and realizing the development positioning of “four centers” and engaged in international competition organization, which has provided strong support to improve teaching quality.

Urban renewal design of the South Street District of Beijing’s sub-center of Tongzhou

Since 2016, based on Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Future Urban Design, 9 joint workshops have been organized with globally prestigious universities and a total of 62 students specializing in Urban and Rural Planning have participated in the program. Cooperation mechanism has also been established with universities in the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, Italy, Singapore and other countries, with design researches focusing on urban renewal design and urban and rural heritage protection planning. Internationally renowned scholars including Professor Niall Kirkwood of Harvard University and Professor Roy Strickland of University of Michigan have also been invited to the workshop. The previous themes of the workshop include “Renewal Design of the Old Town of Beijing’s Sub-center of Tongzhou” co-organized with Harvard University and the University of Michigan, “Healthy City Design-Beijing and New York” with the University of Michigan, “Cambridge Urban Renewal Design” with Cambridge University, and “Urban Design of Shared City” with the National University of Singapore and so on. .

“International Joint Workshop on China’s Urbanization” co-organized with the University of Miami

International Summer Exchange Workshop co-organized with the Chinese University of Hong Kong