The Department of Urban and Regional Planning’s Mission Statement and Strategic Plan has been developed through a broad-based participatory process that reflects the desires of the faculty, the department’s Advisory Council (AC), practicing professionals, alumni, and students as well as the feedback and instructions of the Planning Accreditation Board (PAB). It declares our department’s desire to develop a program of excellence that supports planning education, the profession, our communities, and the University of Florida’s status as a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU).
OUR FUNDAMENTAL PURPOSE AND ROLE
The five-year vision for the on-campus and online degree programs proceeds from identified, shared values linked to our goals and metrics, which are included in subsequent documents. Our roles are defined by our fundamental purposes:
- To conduct cutting-edge research that develops new theories, methodology and technologies for guiding the next generation of planning.
- To educate planners on how to work with established and innovative technologies and planning methods and consistently deliver relevant, quality, inclusive plans and programs.
- To contribute to the stewardship of the planet by promoting sustainability and resiliency in the built and natural environments.
- To provide professional and public services to communities in Florida and the nation.
Our status as a State institution historically defined the Department’s roles to educate, investigate, and actively participate in the wellbeing of Florida’s communities. Over the past decade our fundamental commitment to sustainability has broadened our service role to include the communities of other states, nations, and the world.
MISSION STATEMENT
The University of Florida’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning (URP) strives to be a leading graduate program with excellence in planning education, research, and service for the citizens of the state, the nation, and the world. We value diversity and strive to recruit and retain faculty and students with diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, and economic backgrounds.
Our mission is to educate the next generation of planning professionals to be good stewards of our built and natural environments, to conduct innovative research that improves quality of life for all, and to provide planning services to communities. The faculty in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Florida defines “Urban and Regional Planning” as a professional practice that applies analysis of social, economic, and physical systems, the design arts, and theories of decision-making to the challenges of managing the existing as well as planning the future of built and natural environments. We believe that the ultimate aim of good planning, in both the private and public sectors, is the equitable distribution of wellbeing and quality of life. Planning in the public interest, we believe, demands the highest levels of skill in the development, negotiation, and administration of plans, and attention to distributive justice.