Organisation profile

The Department of Urban Planning was established in 1971 as the first spatial planning related academic department in Taiwan. The department has offered graduate programs for master degree since 1987 and doctoral degree since 1994. It is the only urban planning department in Asia which combines undergraduate, graduate and doctoral studies. The department is committed to cultivate talents with spatial planning expertise, humanistic literacy, creativity, leadership, ethics and international vision. So the graduates can succeed in the professional work to enhance urban and rural environment quality, competitiveness, fairness and justice by responding to the global concern of the environment, economic and social issues. There are approximate 100 new students enrolled in the department annually, including 52 undergraduate students, 44 master program students, 3 doctoral program students and numbers of international students. The faculty of the department consists of 16 full-time and a number of part-time faculty members. The department building provides sufficient and well equipped space for the teaching and researching needs. The assets of Planning and Design College, such as library, computer lab, C-Hub and CNC digital production factory, are also available for the department. With the faculty with diverse research interests and well-equipped facilities, the department provides an optimal environment for the development of spatial planning profession. The department has played a key role in promoting the urban planning professional domestically based on its long-term commitment to pedagogy and methods on spatial planning in Taiwan. The main feature and strength of this department is the ability to conduct urban and rural planning using a scientific approach incorporating both quantitative and qualitative methods. In recent years, the department has endeavored to expand global cooperation network by seeking international academic partners and hosting, or participating, international activities, such as workshops and international conferences. As the result, more than 10 academic cooperation memorandums of understanding, including exchanging students and dual master degree programs, had been signed with the international top planning academic departments. The effect of internationalization has been increasingly significant and beneficial to the faculty and students.