Course General Description

In a context of increased technological change, rapid urbanisation, social transformation, and a changing natural environment, planning is about efficient and effective space management and creating places with meaning and quality. The programme covers a range of fields, including geography, economics, sociology, and mathematics. Core planning subjects range from the design of urban spaces and principles of place-making in a culturally diverse context, to policies for the planning and management of entire spatial regions. The classes involve mostly small group teaching, and expose you to real-life issues during practical field trips. Planners often work in local, provincial, or national government, as well as in large companies with property portfolios, like insurance firms, and in communities, NGOs, and independent consultancies.

School General Description

Commonly known as “Wits”, the University of the Witwatersrand developed out of the South African School of Mines, set up in Kimberley in 1896. The institution moved to Johannesburg in 1904 and acquired full university status in 1922. From the start, it embraced a philosophy of non-discrimination on the basis of race, which led to intense conflict with the government - including police raids and the detention of both faculty and students - during the apartheid era. The university has an enrolment of 40,259 students as of 2018, of which approximately 20 percent live on campus in the university's 17 residences. 63 percent of the university's total enrolment is for undergraduate study, with 35 percent being postgraduate and the remaining 2 percent being Occasional Students.