ENV Virtual Brochure

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

Students in a planning group exercise

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.
Grad students meet alumnus Earl Gales Jr

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.
URP students in Beijing as part of ENV China Study Abroad program

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.
GIS maps by Dr Dohyung Kim

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

The theme of the Dale Prize for Excellence in Urban and Regional Planning is Government’s Role in Enabling Markets to Provide Housing that Meets Critical Societal Needs
Planning in the Pandemic 2021 Dale Prize graphic

Planning for a Pandemic

Revisit the long, shared history of planning and public health to improve quality of life, and the urgency to address inequalities exacerbated by COVID-19.
APSA students at a URP public lecture

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).
Expo Line

Contact the Department

Connect with the department and view the faculty directory at www.cpp.edu/urp