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Urban and Regional PlanningUrban and Regional Planning
CPUT is the only university in South Africa that offers diploma qualifications in urban and regional planning, and it offers a unique opportunity to gain work-placed learning experience. Due to changes to the higher education environment in South Africa and the associated nationwide transition to the Higher Education Qualifications Sub-Framework (HEQSF), CPUT has phased out the National Diploma, BTech and MTech. These qualifications were replaced by the HEQSF-aligned Diploma, the Advanced Diploma and the Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning, respectively.
Planners deal with the allocation of activities in geographical space. In consultation with communities and other stakeholders, Planners, for instance, decide on the location of residential homes, religious buildings (e.g. churches and mosques), schools, shops, sports grounds, parks and so on. The ultimate aim of planning is to improve people's living conditions and livelihoods. In other words, people are at the centre of Planning activities.
The department produces graduates who can demonstrate focused knowledge, skills, and values in urban and regional planning, with a focus on spatial development, including the sustainable design, regulation, and management of land-use systems to improve the quality of human settlements.
In terms of employment prospects, the planning profession has been identified as one of the most scarce skills in South Africa. CPUT graduates are in great demand from all employers across South Africa and even globally.
Students who are well-organised, enjoy working with data, maps, and graphs, and are interested in the development and growth of human settlements will enjoy the courses offered by the department.
Holders of Urban and Regional Planning qualification from CPUT have many career paths from which to choose. These can mainly be in:
- Private firms: where graduates work with teams of Planners and other professionals.
- Public sector: where graduates can work in local, provincial or national government.
- Non-governmental organisations (NGOs): where graduates work with other professionals to contribute to the empowerment of communities.
Service Learning Projects
Service-learning is a credit-bearing educational experience in which students participate in an organised service activity that meets identified community needs and reflects on the service activity in such a way as to get a further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility (Bringle and Hatcher, 1995, p.5).
Service-learning projects are governed by written partnership agreements that have clear roles and responsibilities. In 2013 Town and Regional Planning (TRP) registered a Service-Learning project to collaborate and maximise technical support towards a partnership between the Informal Settlement Network (ISN), Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC) and CPUT Department of Town and Regional Planning, which aims to assist communities within informal settlements to achieve community owned and driven development processes. ISN is a network of representatives of residents of informal settlements and backyards at the metropolitan level in South Africa that is committed to partnering with the government in the incremental improvement of informal settlements and backyard precincts and the improvement of livelihood opportunities for their residents while CORC is a Non-Profit Organisation (NGO). The partnership aims to ensure a holistic and collaborative approach that will at all times encourage community participation wherever possible and keep as its central focus, that the residents of informal settlements shall be the determinants of their own development agenda.
Upgrade to Flamingo Crescent
Next year will be more comfortable for residents of a Wetton informal settlement thanks to a year-long community engagement project by Town and Regional Planning students. Students worked with residents of the Flamingo Crescent squatter camp to redesign the settlement in a more usable and space-saving way. The end result was a newly mapped layout, and recently saw individual shacks being broken down and rebuilt according to the plan. Lecturer Nicholas Pinfold says the project was an overwhelming success and will be replicated in future. “During the project, community confidence was established, and students gained an extended understanding and appreciation of living conditions in the settlement,” he says. The project was recently recognized by World Design Capital 2014 and forms part of a collective of 450 successful missions to be rolled out next year.