Department of Urban and Regional Planning
Raising Communities and the Quality of Life
Urban and regional planning is dedicated to helping society manage change through sensitive and informed decision-making. Planners work in cities and regions to guide growth and development, so their work affects urban design, environmental quality, jobs creation, and socioeconomic equality and opportunity.
The Department of Urban and Regional Planning (URP) prepares students to define issues and implement solutions to improve the quality of life of the natural and built environment, in ways that promote social justice rooted in an understanding of social change. We stand proud as one of two universities in California whose undergraduate and graduate programs are both accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board. The department also has a 19-unit minor program.
Explore Our Programs
Bachelor of Science Urban and Regional Planning
Undergraduate students learn about the environmental, social, and economic processes affecting cities and regions, and the means by which planners work within those processes to guide urban and regional growth and change.
Master of Urban and Regional Planning
The program can be completed in two years if taken on a full time basis, or in up to seven years on a part-time schedule. Students come from a wide variety of backgrounds and disciplines, with many working part-time while they move into or expand their education in the field of planning.
Urban and Regional Planning Minor
The urban and regional planning minor provides students with the knowledge and skillsets including but not limited to the functions of cities, urban policy decision making process, analysis methods for urban issues, and planning, policy, design, and social action in urban environment.
Mapping Solutions: Geographic Information System (GIS) Lab
Cal Poly Pomona's hub for geospatial analysis, the GIS Lab is supported by four colleges: Environmental Design; Engineering; Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences; and Science. This facility hosts interdisciplinary GIS instruction, research and projects in disciplines such as geography and anthropology, urban and regional planning, landscape architecture, biology, computer science, civil engineering and electrical and computer engineering. Learn about the GIS Lab.
Explore Our Culture
2022 Dale Prize
Planning for a Pandemic
Follow @apsacpp
What's student life like for URP majors? See what they're up to by connecting with the Cal Poly Pomona chapter of APSA (American Planning Student Association).