Course Requirements for Master of Urban and Regional
Planning
Syllabus for Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP)
Session: 2012-13 to 2015-16
The syllabus for Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) is designed for:
i)
Eighteen-Month (Three Six-Month Semesters) MURP Program for students with four-year
undergraduate degree in Urban and Regional Planning; and
ii) Two-year (Four Six-Month Semesters) MURP Program for students with four-year
equivalent undergraduate degrees in permitted disciplines including Urban and
Regional/Rural Planning.
The title of compulsory and elective courses, credit hours and credit per course, and semesterwise distribution of courses as per the requirement specified in the Ordinance for Master of
Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) is given below.
Compulsory Courses for Eighteen-Month MURP Program:
URP 5001
Planning theories, practice and ethics
3
URP 5002
Research methodology
3
URP 5003
Planning Laws and Administration
3
URP 5004
Strategic Planning
3
URP 5005
Thesis
9
URP 5006
Research Seminar
3
URP 5007
Thesis Defense
3
URP 5009
Written Comprehensive
3
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Pamphlet
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
Compulsory Courses for Two-Year MURP Program:
URP 5001
Planning theories, practice and ethics
3
URP 5002
Research methodology
3
URP 5003
Planning Laws and Administration
3
URP 5004
Strategic Planning
3
URP 5006
Research Seminar
3
URP 5008
Project
3
URP 5009
Written Comprehensive
3
Elective Courses:
URP 5010
Urban Planning and Development
3
URP 5011
Regional Planning and Development
3
URP 5012
Rural Planning and Development
3
URP 5013
Planning Laws and Administration
3
URP 5014
Sustainable Management of Resources
3
URP 5015
Housing and Community Planning
3
URP 5016
Project Evaluation and Management
3
URP 5017
Infrastructure Planning for Urban and Rural Areas
3
URP 5018
Transportation Planning and Management
3
URP 5019
Theory and Practice in Urban Design
3
URP 5020
Environmental Planning and Management
3
URP 5021
Tourism Planning and Management
3
URP 5022
Local Level Planning and Development
3
URP 5023
Geographical Information System (practical)
3
Selection of Elective Courses:
Student(s) of both of streams of MURP will choose elective courses as per the requirement
specified for each semester from available courses offered by the Department. Students may
consult her/his Thesis Supervisor and Chairman of the Examination Committee to select elective
courses. One course should match with her/his Thesis/Project topic.
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Pamphlet
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
For Two-Year (Four Six-Month Semesters) MURP Program, more courses may be included as
compulsory courses (from the list of elective courses) as shown in the semester-wise distribution
of courses. Students of this stream will choose their elective courses from the remaining elective
courses.
Semester-Wise Distribution of Courses and Credit Hours for Eighteen-Month
MURP Program
First Year First Semester
Course No.
Course Title
URP 5001
URP 5002
URP 5003
URP 5004
Planning theories, practice and ethics
Research methodology
Planning Laws and Administration
Strategic Planning
Credit
Hours
3
3
3
3
Total
12
First Year Second Semester
Course No.
URP 5006
URP 5009
Total
Course Title
Two elective courses
(to be chosen from available elective courses)
Research Seminar
Written Comprehensive
Credit
Hours
3+3=6
3
3
12
Second Year First Semester
Course No.
Course Title
URP 5005
URP 5007
Thesis
Thesis Defense
Total
URP 5008
Project
Two elective courses
(to be chosen from available elective courses)
Total
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Pamphlet
Credit
Hours
9
3
12
3
3+3=6
9
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
Semester-Wise Distribution of Courses and Credit Hours for Two-Year
MURP Program
First Year First Semester
Course No.
Course Title
URP 5001
URP 5002
Planning theories, practice and ethics
Research methodology
Credit
Hours
3
3
Two elective courses
(to be chosen from rest of the available elective courses)
Total
(3+3)= 6
12
First Year Second Semester
Course No.
Course Title
URP 5003
URP 5004
Planning Laws and Administration
Strategic Planning
Credit
Hours
3
3
Two Elective Courses
3+3=6
Total
12
Second Year First Semester
Course No.
Course Title
URP 5006
URP 5009
Research Seminar
Written Comprehensive
Credit
Hours
3
3
Two elective courses
(to be chosen from rest of the available elective courses)
Total
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Pamphlet
3+3=6
12
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
Second Year Second Semester
Course No.
Course Title
URP 5008
Project
Three elective Courses
(to be chosen from rest of the available elective courses)
Total
Credit
Hours
3
3x3=9
12
Course Contents in Details
Plan 5001: Planning Theories, Practice and Ethics
1. Planning as an academic discipline and as professional activity; scope of planning in urban,
rural and regional contexts; critical overview of theories on urban, rural and regional
planning; decentralized planning and development.
2. Focus on different types of planning: Planning policy analysis; Detailed area planning;
Advocacy planning; Aspects of different types of plan; Relationship between land use
planning and overall development process; Role of physical planning as a tool for achieving
desired objectives in development.
3. Planning practice and the role of planners; Plan making process: methods and techniques for
plan preparation, policy formulation and implementation in view of the requirements of
planning as a continuous process.
4. Practical limitations in the application of planning theories in developing countries; Conflicts
between theory and practice; typical practice dilemmas, their causes, consequences and
possible resolutions.
5. Ethical issues in planning profession; Development of theoretical ideas and concepts towards
a standard practice at different levels of planning; Need for standard ethical codes in
professional practice.
URP 5002: Research Methodology
1. Research problem and research questions; Types of research: qualitative vs. quantitative,
theoretical vs. empirical, inductive and deductive propositions. Preparation of research
proposal: title, introduction, statement of the problems, conceptual framework, setting
objectives and hypotheses, review of literature, scope and limitation of research.
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Pamphlet
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
2. Research Design; testing hypotheses; Data collection: sources and quality of data, merits and
demerits of data collection procedures.
3. Sampling procedure: selecting sampling type and designing sample size. Methods of field
survey: advantages and disadvantages of different methods; Construction of questionnaire:
types of questionnaire, guidelines of formulating questionnaire, pre-testing, and field
monitoring of survey.
4. Processing and presentation of data: Analysis and presentation techniques of data. Thesis/
Report writing: general guidelines, content and structure of report, abstract, summary,
writing quotations, footnotes, references and bibliography.
URP 5003
Planning Laws and Administration
1. The organization and function of planning agencies at different levels of government; Intersectoral co-ordination of planning, development and implementation of plans.
2. Aspects of institutional capacity for implementation of different aspects of planning laws.
Enabling legislation: Eminent domain, police power: Administrative of planning laws in the
U.K., U.S.A and other developed countries.
3. Implementation of development plans; the enforcement of planning laws- planning
permission, building permission, development orders, regulations of development control.
Compensation and betterment issues- restriction on development and renewal practices.
URP 5004
Strategic Planning
1. The course will focus on advanced treatment of theoretical and practical knowledge on
planning and development. Important aspects to be covered are:
2. Meaning of strategic planning, goals and objectives, need and context for strategic planning;
Distinction between conventional planning and strategic planning; strategic measures of
solving emerging planning problems in spatial and social contexts; Infrastructure planning
and growth management strategies; strategic planning and community welfare; strategic
planning in the context of Bangladesh, case studies on strategic planning.
URP 5005
Thesis
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Pamphlet
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
Each student will submit a Thesis on her/his selected research topic.
URP 5006
Research Seminar (Related to Thesis)
Each student will present a number of seminars on research proposal related to Thesis topic and
will perform other assignments/projects as course teachers instruct to do.
URP 5007
Thesis Defense
Each student will defend her/his Thesis before a board of Examiners.
URP 5008
Project
Each student will submit a Project on her/his selected research topic.
URP 5009
Written Comprehensive
The Course Teacher (s) will select the topics of study based on the important courses of study. A
combination of different topics may be included as contents of study by the Examination
Committee.
URP 5010
Urban Planning and Development
1. Theories of urban growth, structure and land use pattern; The shape, size, structure,
distribution and spacing of cities and towns.
2. Characteristics of urban land uses; Component of urban land uses- residential, commercial,
industrial, recreational, institutional, urban periphery and circulation system; Spatial
organization of urban land uses; Hierarchy of urban circulation system.
3. Planning and design considerations for urban renewal and central area redevelopment;
Planning of townships, satellite town, new town, neighborhood, town centre, recreational and
open space, commercial area, industrial estate, and administrative entities; Concept of
environmental areas free from traffic nuisance.
4. Theories dealing with current planning problems: Problems/Characteristics of large cities
including traffic, transportation, redevelopment, recreation and problems arising in sub-urban
areas adjacent to cities and arterial highways.
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Pamphlet
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
5. The dynamics of city region: Urban land management- Imperfections in urban land market
and planning policies; urbanization process, rural-urban migration and problem of settlement
management.
URP 5011
Regional Planning and Development
1. The meaning and concept of region: Policies and strategies for regional planning and
development; Resource allocation for regional development.
2. Analysis of regional economic structure: regional accounts; inter-regional trade and
economic transactions; external factors in regional development. Critical review of theories
on Short-term and long-term regional change: Sectoral growth and regional economic
progress.
3. Spatial organization and integration: Polarized development vs. dispersion of regional
incomes; Characteristics of Regional production complexes.
4. Examination of regional resource endowment and development: regional growth vs. regional
economic development, balance vs. imbalance in regional development, regional growth vs.
regional welfare.
5. Social and political issues in regional planning and development policies; Study of regional
development programs and projects; Experience of regional development in Bangladesh.
URP 5012
Rural Planning and Development
1. Historical background and evolution of rural development planning; Development theory and
rural development policy- dilemmas of development, neo-liberalism, structuralism, mixed
economy, open economy and welfare economy; Different rural development approachestop-down
and
bottom-up
initiatives,
trickle
down
effects,
radicalist
/collectivist/reformist/gradualist approaches.
2. Spatial organization aspects of rural development: organization of rural land uses, land
reform and agrarian development, rural centre planning, development of physical
infrastructures; comprehensive village development, local plan books for different
institutional levels, coordination of public and private initiatives at local government levels.
3. Institutional linkages for economic development: Creation of marketing network for rural
products; Provision of institutional support in improving the quality of rural products,
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Pamphlet
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
generating economic activities for employment, creating rural industries and non-farm
activities, planning human resources, and encouraging policy of participatory development.
4. Rural development planning in Bangladesh: early planning efforts, innovative experiments
and replication of models, review of experience of different approaches and programs in the
context of local institution building; Organizational framework for rural developmentpolicies and strategies for strengthening local institutions, decentralization policy of 1982.
URP 5013
Quantitative Techniques (Practical)
1. The course will deal with advanced quantitative techniques as may be specified by the course
teacher, in addition to the following:
2. Statistical data collection and processing of data; Overview of descriptive statistical methods;
Measuring of central tendency; Measures of dispersion; Probability density function and
distribution; Normal and binomial distribution; Hypothesis and Tests of significance.
3. Sampling theory, large and small samples; Population projection techniques; Correlation,
regression; and Multivariate analysis and applications.
4. Transformation and management of data; digital computation; computer programming and
application of various software packages in researches.
URP 5014
Sustainable Management of Resources
1. Theoretical and practical aspects of sustainable development: Meaning of sustainable
development, definitions and key concepts; Physical/natural, economic, social and
environmental aspects of sustainable development; Natural and man-made influence and
interferences in sustainable management of resources.
2. Policy options for sustainable management of resources: Government’s efforts towards
encouraging sustainable development in all sectors and at all levels of government; publicprivate partnership in sustainable growth management; community organizations in
sustainable development; participation of various stakeholders in the sustainable
development projects.
3. Social responsibilities in sustainable development; Implementation of environmental laws
and development of social capital; Environment-resilient practices in all development
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Pamphlet
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
activities; Safe, equitable and just society; Development of Human resource; Improvement in
quality of life.
URP 5015
Housing and Community Planning
1. Basics of housing and community planning: Relationship between housing and community
planning; Role of housing in promoting social integration; Principles and standards of
housing design; Physical development of housing sites involving population densities,
utilities, traffic and circulation systems, grouping of building, and organization of related
land uses.
2. Cost components of housing: Potential areas for housing cost reduction; Building height and
land saving relationship.
3. Housing Situation in Bangladesh: Critical review and analysis of urban and rural housing
policies, strategies and programs; Factors influencing housing situation and evaluation of
current housing problems.
4. Determining and forecasting Housing demand and supply in urban and rural areas of
Bangladesh; Public, private and NGO initiatives in solving housing problems; Real Estate
Developers and urban housing; Housing development and controlling authorities; Housing
Finance.
5. Housing for low-income urban population; Structure and functional analysis of low-income
housing; basic problems of low-income housing; limitation of current housing policies; Slum
improvement programs and resettlement plans.
6. Critical issues of land tenure for urban and rural housing in Bangladesh; Land value taxation
for housing in Bangladesh; Basis of land valuation and implementation of property tax
systems.
URP 5016
Project Evaluation and Management
1. Preparation and implementation of projects; Purpose of project evaluation; Economic versus
financial evaluation.
2. Concept of cost-benefit analysis; problems of identification, categorization, qualification and
evaluation of costs and benefits; private versus social costs and benefits.
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Pamphlet
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
3. The welfare basis of cost-benefit analysis: Consumer surplus, producer surplus, Pareto
criterion, transfer payments, shadow pricing, equity problem.
4. Basis of project selection: Financial criteria, Discounter Cash Flow Techniques. Choice of
discount rate and social time preference; Selection criteria; Ranking rules; Deferment criteria.
5. Dealing with risk and uncertainty; Treatment of income distribution and inequalities;
Workshop on project evaluation; Introduction to Critical Path analysis Techniques.
URP 5017
Infrastructure Planning
1. The systematic approach to planning of basic utilities: Water systems, sewerage and land
drainage systems, roads, and other utilities.
2. The urban, regional and rural road pattern; The various types of roads and structuresalignment, width, gradient, layout, and construction.
3. Road capacities; the planning and designing of road and road junctions; Derivation of design
standards considering transport policies, traffic systems, parking standards and control.
4. Designing Urban and Rural water supply, sewerage disposal and land drainage systems, and
other utilities such as electricity, gas and their relationship with general development.
URP 5018
Transportation Planning and Management
1. Role of transport in national development- physical, economic, social, political and cultural.
Contemporary transport policies- transport and environment, transport and sustainable
development.
2. Approaches to transportation planning and traffic management- legal and institutional
provisions. Planning norms and standards- planning principles, network classification,
standards and other elements.
3. Land use and Transportation interaction, spatial location of population and employment,
various urban forms, land use and transport planning process in urban context, optimizing
methods and the land use transport system.
4. Theory of travel demand; Modeling concept- Travel demand and behavior analysis, factors
affecting travel demand, trip generation and distribution models, modal split models, model
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Pamphlet
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
choice- aggregation and disaggregation. Demand forecasting techniques regression
techniques, calibration process, gravity model, discrete choice model.
5. Economic characteristics of transport markets and modes of competition; Intra-sectoral
investment models and investment policy in transport sector as adopted in Five Year Plan of
Bangladesh; Transport pricing and cost.
6. Developing transport plans/options, framework for evaluation of system options/plan
preparation. Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) - Transit oriented transportation, Mass
transport.
URP 5019
Theory and Practice in Urban Design
1. The role of plan organization and spatial relations; Factors effecting the creation of urban
space, building groups and building facades.
2. Principles and techniques for the design of the city environment, with special attention to its
perceptual form; Development of the form of urban environment- influence of various
concepts and ideas; The relation between city form and community objectives, the visual
plan as part of the total planning process.
3. Critical analysis of Neo Urbanization concepts; Basic design principles of space, and
circulation applied to the physical pattern of cities; Morphological evaluation of cities.
URP 5020
Environmental Planning and Management
1. Understanding the environmental systems and sub-systems; ecology and environment;
Problems of pollution- air, water and soil pollution in both urban and rural areas; Analysis
and quantification of effects of pollution; pollution prevention and management methods and
techniques.
2. Contemporary environmental issues in global, national and local contexts- greenhouse
effects, acid rain, ozone layer depletion, El-Nina, sea level rise etc.
3. Environmental impact assessment, techniques of assessment, social considerations on
environmental impacts, government policies and market-based measures towards
environmental management.
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Pamphlet
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
4. Approaches to environmental planning and management- theory and practice, modeling
environmental problems and solution to environmental problems; Analysis of economic
implications of environmental problems.
URP 5021
Tourism Planning and Management
1. Need and scope of tourism planning and management; Conceptual understanding of tourism
planning and management; Different aspects and elements of tourism; Factors of tourism
growth and development; Characteristics of different tourism sites.
2. Economic potential of Tourism development; the contribution of tourism sector in the
economy; the need and essentials in tourism planning and management.
3. A critical review of tourism planning and management in Bangladesh: tourism potentials and
possible areas and sites; Current status and level of planning and development.
4. Management aspects in tourism development; the management role in the promotion of
tourism planning and promotion; Hierarchy in tourism planning and management.
5. A critical analysis of practices in the tourism sector: the policies and strategies; Planning and
development aspects of tourism sites, spots and facilities; Problems in local planning and
management practices.
URP 5022
Local Level Planning and Development
1. The meaning of planning and development at local level; Conceptual understanding of
different levels of planning; Need for local level planning to the planners.
2. A critical appraisal of local level planning and development in the context of developing
countries; the practices, constraints, and steps and approaches towards improvement.
3. A critical analysis of local level planning and development practices in Bangladesh: Different
levels of planning and development ; institutional structure at different levels; functions and
responsibilities of local institutions at different levels of local governments; Scope of
contribution for planners through local institutions.
4. Decentralization of planning functions and responsibilities; Need for a holistic approach in
the provision of utility services; clarity in planners’ job and responsibilities; Participatory
planning and development; Community planning and development issues. Need for
integration between urban and rural areas.
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Pamphlet
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
5. Decision making process in local governments: Scope for policy-making, preparation of
annual budgets and plan books; Resource mobilization and local government finance.
6. Need for reforms in manpower structure in municipalities and other local governments;
Empowerment in implementing planning laws and provisions.
URP 5023
Geographical Information System (practical)
1. The course is designed to overview the important aspects of Geographical Information
System (GIS) and its application in planning problems. The course teacher may include
necessary aspects in addition to the following:
2. A critical overview on the procedures of developing spatial database, processing of spatial
data, and linking of topological and attribute data for presentation and analysis. Application
of different GIS software on selected planning projects.
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Pamphlet
Department of Urban and Regional Planning