Whither Urban and Regional Planning? An Investigation into the Popularity of and Satisfaction with Urban and Regional Planning as a Course of Study among Secondary School and University Students in Nigeria.

Abstract

The study examined the level of awareness of Urban and Regional Planning (URP) both as a course and a profession among 553 secondary school and 453 undergraduate students of Urban and Regional Planning across responding universities in Nigeria. It was observed that about 70% of the secondary school students correctly identified what Town Planners do, about 96% of them recognized the need for Town Planners and almost half offered Geography (41.38%) or like Geography (50.83%). Also, URP was not among the popular courses of choice to be pursued at the tertiary level among the students. From the four-year admission data obtained from the Federal University of Technology Minna, about half (241) of the 485 candidates were admitted from those rejected from the Architecture Department. Overall, about 70% of URP students felt satisfied with the course and 87% will recommend it to others. Therefore, the study recommends up-scaling of career talks centering on the job prospects for URP graduates. This should be complemented by strong advocacy in the government circle on the need to create vacancies for planners in planning-oriented agencies.