Mission Statement

The mission of the Department of Community and Regional Planning (CRP) at Temple University is to:

• Strengthen the effectiveness of planning practice in creating sustainable communities.
• Prepare students with the understanding, values, and skills that enable positive contributions in a rapidly changing world.
• Advance knowledge and guide public decision-making through research and service.
• Articulate public interests that are important to Philadelphia, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the mid-Atlantic region.

 

Strategic Goals

The Department of Community and Regional Planning has four strategic goals for 2010 to 2015:

Ensure that the department has the infrastructure and resources to provide a supportive environment for faculty and students.

Provide leadership on the role of planning in effecting societal challenges.

Strengthen the quality of the program and achieve full accreditation from the Planning Accreditation Board for the MS in Community and Regional Planning.

Provide an array of programs and initiatives that are mutually reinforcing and support the department's mission.

A Brief History of the Department of Community and
Regional Planning

There is an urgent need for professionals involved in developing plans for the growth and revitalization of urban, suburban, and rural communities.

Planners are on the front lines of creating and maintaining sustainable communities at the local and regional level. They seek to improve the welfare of people and their environments, ranging from small villages and rural areas to large cities and ecosystems.

In 2002, the Temple University Board of Trustees approved bachelor and master degrees in Community and Regional Planning (CRP). Seventy-four students in the master's degree program have graduated to date. In 2006, the first Community and Regional Planning undergraduates completed the program.

In June 2009, the Temple University Board of Trustees formally approved the School of Environmental Design in the College of Liberal Arts. The School of Environmental Design builds upong the important work of the former Ambler College, incorporating Temple University Ambler's well regarded "green" programs and institutions - the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture, the Department of Community and Regional Planning (CRP, and the Center for Sustainable Communities.

Planning concentrates on shaping such environments in response to the needs of their citizens. Planners engage citizens, political leaders, public agency officials, and representatives of industry, commerce, and non-profit organizations in this process through the use of numerous skills and tools; from preparing comprehensive plans and ordinances to negotiating solutions among diverse stakeholders to solving problems or taking advantage of opportunities. Planners must understand how cities, towns, and regions are structured and how to develop plans that maintain and improve the quality of life in those communities.

The School of Environmental Design community and Regional Planning Program (B.S. and M.S.) provides students with a broad-based understanding and awareness of these multi-dimensional land-use and planning issues. Students develop an understanding of the physical and economic aspects of planning, sensitivity to the social and environmental impact of planning decisions, and a knowledge of governmental structures as they apply to planning.

To address planning issues, students acquire problem-solving skills - Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and computer skills, site planning, planning and zoning law, research and design methods, negotiation and mediation abilities, and communication skills - and experience working in teams and the real-life world of a required internship.

Since the program's inception, students in the Community and Regional Planning program have helped map out the sustainable future of municipalities such as Milford Township, Bucks County, and Fort Washington in Montgomery County. They've also examined flooding concerns in the Pennypack Creek Watershed and the Fort Washington Office Park; transportation issues along the much-traveled Route 309 corridor; and historic preservation in Springfield Township, Montgomery County.

Students with degrees in Planning have many employment options in the public and private sectors. Community and Regional Planning graduates and current students have found careers that directly impact communities throughout the region; securing positions with the likes of the Montgomery County Planning Commission; Radnor Township; the Department of Homeland Security; Hunterdon County, New Jersey; area environmental, land use, and economic development firms; and Temple's own Center for Sustainable Communities.

For more information on the Department of Community and Regional Planning, its faculty, and student and faculty research, call 267-468-8300.