Department of Urban
& Regional Planning
HOD: Rasheed Osuolale Oladosu, PhD, MNES
Brief
The Department of Urban and Regional Planning at ATBU was established in 1991/1992 Academic Session as a 5-year Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech. URP) programme. This was based on the report of a committee set up with members drawn from different universities in Nigeria. Two members of that committee, TPl Prof. J. B. Kaltho and TPl. Late ldris D. Suleiman have continued to maintain links with the Department until recently when Prof J. B Kaltho retired from active service and I.D. Suleiman answered the call of the Almighty. This Department therefore runs pace-setter programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes.
The B. Tech (URP) programme has been undergoing transformations by the introduction of new courses like GIS application in planning, Computer Applications in Planning, Entrepreneurial Planning, Climate Change, etcetera. The Department has been graduating students from its PGD (URP) and M. Tech (URP) programme being run in the urban management specialization since 2016. The ATBU Senate also approved other options of the M. Tech (URP) with specialization in Housing Development and management, Transportation Planning, as well as Urban and Landscape Design. The Department also runs a research-based PhD (URP) degree.
The Department has to its credit many fully accredited Town Planners who have distinguished themselves in the field. It is also making some contribution in community service to State and Local Governments. The population of the undergraduate students currently stands at 202. There are currently 29 academic staff, 3 academic technologists and 3 administrative staff. With this staff profile, the department is quite mature and vibrantly engaged in teaching and research revolving around lectures, studio projects, field trips and library.
Given the eclectic nature of the planning discipline and profession, the Department maintains close links with other Departments in the Faculty of Environmental Technology of the University where it is situated, particularly Environmental Management Technology, Architecture, Estate Management & Valuation, Quantity Surveying, as well as Surveying & Geo-informatics. It is also closely linked to URP Departments in other universities particularly University of Jos (UniJos), Aliko Dangote University of Science & Technology (ADUST), Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUT-Minna) and Modibbo Adama University of Technology (MAUTECH) Yola. It has recently registered as a member of the Association of African Planning Schools (AAPS) and with many of its academic staff being professional members of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), as well as registered with the Town Planners Registration Council (TOPREC).
Aims & Objectives
The philosophy of the Department is to use the comprehensive integrated planning education and training model to produce knowledgeable and practical result-oriented planners.
In this framework, there are two features of the Department. First, Urban and Regional Planning (URP) guides the development of the physical environment, natural and man-made, in response to the changing needs of the society. As the physical development problems increase in complexity and the rate of change of rural and urban communities accelerates, the need for the generalist planner becomes ever greater. Planning education in this Department therefore covers the inter-connected perspectives from social and behavioural sciences as well as the design professions. Second, the Department’s location in ATBU, Bauchi (a University of Technology) makes the Department adopt a focus on technology applications in identifying and explaining regional and urban development problems and deploying innovative techniques for forestalling and solving the problems.
That is, within a broad framework, the primary goal of the Department is to educate and train planners in the many socio-economic and land use issues ranging from the local action area plan to the broader strategies of metropolitan and regional development plans. Its distinction is established by the special emphasis on producing graduates with the knowledge and skills in the science and technology of planning to deal effectively with the intellectual and professional challenges of planning interventions in Nigeria and the African region.
The objectives of the Department are:
i) To provide students with the planning knowledge and skills including the ability to adopt them to changing circumstances of contemporary times and needs of the society;
ii) To give students understanding of the various dimensions of planning problems and the wide range of best practices and the science and appropriate technologies of planning interventions;
iii) To give students knowledge of the scope and limits of planning within development programmes and projects through understanding of the links of planning with other related disciplines, professions, developers and the society.
The Department sets out to distinguish itself in the application and development of smart urban planning principles, strategies and techniques for sustainable development.
Candidates gain admission into B. Tech (URP) 100 Level if they earn the minimum required JAMB scores prescribed. Candidates who are admitted are registered if they have five ‘O’Level credits in English, Mathematics, Geography and two other subjects from pure sciences, technology or social sciences.
Candidates are admitted and registered into 200 Level by Direct Entry (DE) if they possess the National Diploma (ND) in URP, Estate Management, Surveying, Architecture, Tourism and Civil Engineering at a minimum of lower credit pass as well as having the O’ level requirements as stated above. Also, DE admission may be offered to applicants with A’ Level requirements through the Interim Joint Matriculation Board (IJMB); earning not less than 8 points and possess the required O’Level.