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Planning at the University of North
Carolina was established in 1946.
It was among the first 10 planning education
programs in the United States. The original
bases of the Department and its program were
ideas about regionalism (hence the degree,
Master of Regional Planning), broadly
conceived development planning, and the
application of social science methods to
practical problems of government that were
being explored on the Chapel Hill campus in
the 1940’s.
This was the first planning department to be
established with its principal university base in
the social sciences rather than in architecture
or landscape design and to demonstrate the
interdisciplinary union of social science, design
and engineering. It has retained and
strengthened that social science legacy
through the multidisciplinary research and
teaching programs of its faculty.
Dr. John A. Parker
Regional Planning in 1946 and acted as chairmen until his
1974 retirement. He remained active in alumni affairs and
other departmental functions for the subsequent 25 years.
Dr. Parker envisioned the Department of City and Regional
Planning as the first planning program in the nation with its
principal university base in the social sciences rather than
landscape design, architecture, or engineering. Dr. Parker
died in 2001 at the age of 91.
Dr. F. Stuart
Chapin, Jr.
science to regional development needs, coupled with
a traditional basis in physical planning prevalent in
the 1940’s and 1950’s, the Department broadened
the scope of its curriculum and it faculty in the
following decades. Urban and community planning
were included almost from the start, and land use
planning became the basic approach to physical
planning. Social planning, housing, and environmental
planning were added in the 1960’s. Economic
development and community development were
added in the 1970’s.
The Department added planning in developing
countries, real estate development, and public policy
analysis in the 1980’s. The History, Design and
Preservation of the Built Environment is the most
recent specialization addition. The Department has
also increased its dual degree and certificate programs.
The concept of sustainable development as a goal
of planning remains central to the Department’s
mission. Whether the objectives are improved
physical, social, economic, or environmental
conditions, or more efficient and equitable policies,
programs and environments, planning is a way of
effectively marshalling resources to public
development objectives. The professional planner
combines an understanding of urban and regional
theory grounded in a spatial context and a grasp of
planning and management methods to guide development in the public interest.
In
1949, Stuart Chapin joined the faculty at the
newly established Department of City and Regional
Planning. During
his tenure at Carolina, Stuart
Chapin emphasized the development of land use
planning methods and the study of spatial growth
and development of cities undergoing rapid
urbanization. In 1957, he published the first edition
of Urban Land Use Planning, which was destined to
become a classic text for student and practitioners.
Stuart Chapin also conducted pioneering research
on how residents use their city in the course of their daily activities,
social and physical concepts of the
neighborhood, and urban growth dynamics. He also organized the Center
for Urban and Regional
Studies, which was one of the first centers in the
country devoted to advancing basic research on
urbanization and policies to guide it. Upon his
retirement in 1978, the Department’s library was
named renamed the Chapin Planning Library.
revealed in its distinguished professors
emeriti.
John A. Parker was founder and head of the
Department for its first 28 years, through 1974
and remained active in alumni affairs and other departmental functions for the subsequent 25 years. Jim Webb, designer, practitioner and contributor to the original plan for the Research Triangle Park, was the first faculty member hired by Parker. F. Stuart Chapin, Jr. the second faculty member hired by Parker, became the model social science scholar and wrote the seminal text on urban land use planning.
Maynard Hufschmidt came from the Harvard water resources planning program in the 1960’s, to help build the environmental and policy analysis areas. Shirley Weiss became a leading scholar in central city revitalization and large scale development planning. The legacy and proud traditions of these distinguished colleagues are carried on by an equally distinguished faculty whose activities and accomplishments are reflected in the body of this document. Edward Kaiser spent his entire 38-year career here carrying on Chapin’s work and contributing significantly to the field of development management.
Dr. Shirley F. Weiss