UQ has reduced the legnth of its urban planning degree to help address looming societal challenges.
(Photo credit: The University of Queensland )
Key points
- From 2027, UQ is reducing the duration of its key urban planning degree from 4 to 3 years to meet industry demand for accredited urban and regional planners.
- The move comes as experts report organisations across Australia are struggling to fill planning roles to help ease significant housing and environmental issues.
- Students undertaking UQ's 3-year Bachelor of Urban Planning will complete core courses and an elective on their way to accreditation.
Industry demand for urban and regional planners amid a 'perfect storm' of housing, infrastructure, and climate pressures has prompted The University of Queensland to redesign its Bachelor of Urban Planning and provide a more direct path to accreditation.
UQ has reduced the duration of its key urban planning degree from 4 to 3 years amid industry concern a scarcity of qualified planning experts is directly impacting housing supply and affordability across Australia.
Urban planners shape how our cities and communities grow, helping create places that are liveable, connected, inclusive and sustainable while balancing development, environmental protection, transport and the needs of communities.
Students undertaking the new 3-year urban planning degree at UQ will continue to have a clear pathway to accredited postgraduate study, including a Master of Urban Planning and Master of Urban Development and Design.
(Photo credit: The University of Queensland)
Head of UQ's School of Architecture, Design and Planning (ADP) Professor Ali Cheshmehzangi said planners with advanced skillsets were needed to kickstart crucial infrastructure and facilities in the face of mounting population and environmental pressures.
"In Australia we are at a point of inflection," Professor Cheshmehzangi said.
"We have a housing crisis. An ageing population. We wrestle with issues of social inclusion and healthy environments. We need to build climate resilience in our communities. It is really a perfect storm.
"Addressing these issues is a societal-level challenge, but we need people with the right knowledge and skills."
From 2027 UQ is introducing a 3-year prescribed Bachelor of Urban Planning under a new accreditation framework approved by the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA).
PIA chief executive Matt Collins said that organisations across Australia were struggling to fill planning roles, particularly in regional areas, with a lack of qualified candidates the greatest barrier to recruitment.
"Australia has a real shortage of planners at exactly the time we need planning expertise the most, with major housing, infrastructure and population challenges across the country."
"UQ's new pathway responds directly to that need by giving students a focused route into an accredited profession and helping qualified planners enter the workforce sooner."
A pathway to solving society's biggest issues
Students undertaking UQ's 3-year Bachelor of Urban Planning will complete core courses and an elective to help them build in-demand skills across land use, transport and infrastructure, heritage and conservation, resource management, commercial and industrial development, and planning law and practice.
Coursework includes hands-on experience through applied education, design studios, field trips, community projects, and industry placements with government, community and industry partners where students will turn ideas into real outcomes.
Professor Cheshmehzangi said students would continue to have a clear pathway to accredited postgraduate study through the Master of Urban Planning, alongside the Master of Urban Development and Design.
"Our redesigned programs provide students with next-generation planning skills required to solve some of the biggest issues we're grappling with as a nation but not at the cost of academic rigour," Professor Cheshmehzangi said.
"As well as being provided the same support, flexibility, and learning opportunities, students are being given a more direct, more focused, and faster route to the workforce and an avenue to make a difference to communities and the environment."
