History

The Department of Urban Planning was formerly the Department of Architecture of Chongqing University founded in 1937.

In 1958, the discipline Architecture launched the pilot education program of Urban Planning. In 1959, it started to officially enroll undergraduate students under the 5-year education system. It is one of the first two disciplines of Urban Planning in China. In 1960, the Urban Planning Research Office was established.

In 1978, the discipline Urban Planning resumed its enrollment of undergraduate students (4-year education system; and the 5-year education system was resumed in 1992). From 1982 on, the discipline Urban Planning started to enroll postgraduate students. In 1993, the discipline Urban Planning was approved to establish the doctoral program. It is one of the first disciplines in China to initiate the postgraduate education in Urban Planning.

In 1984, the Urban Planning and Design Research Office was established. In 1993, the Research Institute of Planning and Design of the then Chongqing Jianzhu College was founded, and was among the first ones to be granted the national class-A qualification in Planning and Design, with a complete system of enterprise-university-research disciplines.

In 1998, the undergraduate and postgraduate programs passed the national evaluation with outstanding results. From 2004 to 2016, the undergraduate and postgraduate programs were rated as "Outstanding" for 3 consecutive years, and passed the program education evaluation.

In 2007, the discipline Urban Planning was approved as the national key discipline, as one of the 3 national key disciplines in China. In 2012, in the 3 rounds of discipline evaluation in China, the discipline Urban Planning ranked No. 4 nationwide. In 2013, the Academic Committee on Urban Planning of Mountainous Areas of Urban Planning Society of China was founded. In 2016, the discipline Urban Planning was included in the National "Double-First-Rate" Discipline Construction Program, and the university-level and municipal-level key discipline construction programs.

Goals 

Keeping in step with the international academic frontier and taking root in the middle and west China, the goal of the Department is to carry out innovative research in Urban Planning of mountainous areas in China and gradually establish a talent nurturing system with complete levels (undergraduate and postgraduate students, doctoral candidates and post-doctors) and types (academic masters and professional masters, and academic doctors and engineering doctors) and integrated disciplines (architecture, planning and landscape architecture), expand the development horizon of modern Urban Planning discipline and develop the urban-rural planing theory and method suitable for underdeveloped regions in middle and west China, by fully utilizing the established disciplines of the Faculty, including Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Science of Building Technology and Design Art and the advantageous disciplines of Chongqing University, including Civil Engineering, Municipal Engineering, Real Estate Construction and Management, Laws, Arts and Ecology, with academic development of Urban Planning and construction of mountainous areas as characteristics.

Faculty team

In view of the comprehensiveness, complicatedness and professionalism of urban problems, the Department of Urban Planning, while introducing outstanding doctors of Chongqing University and the "top 8 architectural colleges and universities" in China, is making efforts to build a team of backbone teachers with diversified academic backgrounds, high level and high quality through talent introduction and re-education and training strategy, which aims to improve the international level and diversity of the faculty team. The Department of Urban Planning currently has 39 teachers, among which there are 13 professors, 16 associate professors, 10 lecturers and 1 teaching assistant. Specifically, there are 12 doctoral supervisors and 29 master supervisors. Zhao Wanmin and Li Heping were successively selected as specially appointed professors under the "Liangjiang Scholar Program" and "Bayu Scholar Program" of Chongqing.

According to the development needs of the discipline, the Department of Urban Planning has carefully picked sub-disciplines and set up research teams accordingly.

(1) The team of the science of human settlements in mountainous areas;

(2) The team of urban development history and heritage protection in mountainous areas;

(3) The team of regional planning and urban-rural development in mountainous areas;

(4) The team of urban-rural spacial planning and ecological technology in mountainous areas;

(5) The team of urban form and urban design;

(6) The team of community planning theory and method;

(7) The team of urban-rural planning space policy and management. As of 2020, the Department of Urban Planning has build a planning team of 55 members.

Teaching

According to the Guide Specifications for Undergraduate Disciplines of Urban Planning in Colleges and Universities (2013 Edition), and in view of the quality and structure characteristics of source of students and faculty team of the planning discipline of the Faculty, it has been making efforts to explore ways to nurture international application-oriented, interdisciplinary talents that meet the needs of national and regional construction and development, and have solid theoretical foundation of Urban Planning and design and practical ability, sense of social responsibility, teamwork skills, innovative thinking ability, and awareness of sustainable development and cultural inheritance. The following characteristics of courses have been formed:

(1) An integrated major-based course system focusing on design courses;

(2) A mutually integrated and supplementary "course group" teaching pattern that highlights overlapping of knowledge of different disciplines;

(3) An open teaching mode dynamically associated with development of the discipline;

(4) A participatory teaching mode that aims to improve the students' synergy innovation competence;

(5) Emphasis on hands-on practice and modern design and analysis auxiliary skill training.

External exchange

Focusing on its goal to expedite disciplinary construction and talent nurturing and improve the international level of teaching and external exchange, according to the international strategy requirements of Chongqing University, the Department of Urban Planning has been actively carrying out international cooperation and exchange by sending teachers and students on academic visit to foreign countries, and inviting well-known foreign professors and experts to the School to deliver lectures, and hiring long-term foreign teachers. Besides, the Department has been working actively with reputable foreign colleges and universities to carry out joint studio teaching, and hosting international and domestic teaching exchange activities in an effort to broaden the horizon of its teachers and students, improve the teaching level and enhance its influence.

In recent years, the Department has signed cooperation agreement with a number of foreign colleges, universities and research institutes, including University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Cardiff University, University College London, the School of Human Settlements and Environment of Kyushu University, Nikken Sekkei International, Hokkaido University, the School of Architecture of Universidad Mayor, National University of Singapore, University of Minnesota, University of Florida, University of Melbourne, University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, Universitat Hannover, Pusan National University, and Polytechnic University of Milan. Besides, it has also carried out academic exchange and cooperation with the Cross-Strait Urban Planning and Industry Federation, the School of Planning and Design of National Cheng Kung University and the Design Institute of National Taipei University of Technology in Taiwan. The Department has sent teachers and students of the Urban Planning discipline on an academic visit to The UK, the USA, France, and Australia and China's Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Scientific research

The Department of Urban Planning is implementing a policy that balances teaching, scientific research and practice, and has been carrying out multidisciplinary comprehensive researches on major topics related to urban and rural construction of China. In recent years, the Department has completed more than 100 national, provincial and ministerial-level scientific research projects, covering 3 first-level disciplines. By now, the Department has established 9 innovative platforms for scientific research, including the Key Laboratory of New Technology for Construction of Cities in Mountain Area, the Environment Research Center for Mountainous Towns and Areas of CAS/the Ministry of Construction, "science of mountainous town planning and building", which is a discipline under the Key Discipline Construction Program of "211 Project" of Chongqing University, and the "construction of mountainous towns and new technologies" under the "985 Project". In 2013, the Department established the Academic Committee on Urban Planning of Mountain Areas of Urban Planning Society of China, which holds annual planning meeting to promote the development of the Urban Planning discipline.

Since 2012, the Department has undertaken a total of 598 scientific research projects, and has been granted scientific research fund of about 380 million yuan. It has obtained 9 patents, and 3 provincial and ministerial awards for progress in science and technology; published 39 monographs, 16 textbooks and 1,321 academic papers. Among the papers published, there is 1 SCI-indexed core paper, 35 SCI-E-indexed papers, 105 EI-indexed core papers, 53 CSCD-indexed core papers, 96 teaching papers and 192 proceeding papers published at international and domestic academic conferences.

The Department has participated in the publishing of 2 national professional journals of the School, Journal of Human Settlements in West China and Light & Lighting, which are now gaining increasing influence and providing an academic exchange platform for development of the discipline.

Social practice

In view of the characteristics and needs of the urbanization development of west China, the Department of Urban Planning has been carrying out various social practice activities, such as research on urban and rural development, Urban Planning practice, Urban Planning education and talent training. In 2008, as organized by the School, and guided by more than 20 teachers of the Department of Urban Planning, students of the School offered technical support for the earthquake relief work as part of the planning for post-earthquake reconstruction of Jiangyou City, Xiaojin County, Nanba Town and Pingwu County. In 2010, as organized by Urban Planning Society of China, teachers of the Department of Urban Planning got involved in the post-disaster construction of Danqu, Gansu, which was stricken by disastrous mud-rock flow. Since 2011, as commissioned by the Organization Department of CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee and Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources, 16 teachers of the Department have been serving as the chief planners of counties and districts of Chongqing and offering suggestions on planning and economic development of districts and counties. Since 2012, the Department has been actively involved in forums held by Southwest China Education Alliance of Architectural Colleges and Universities, and has trained a great number of talents in Urban Planning from colleges and universities in west China.