School of Urban Planning and Design

The School of Urban Planning and Design at Peking University, originally part of the School of Environment and Urban Studies at Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School established in 2001, became an independent entity in 2009. Leveraging Peking University's multidisciplinary strengths, the school focuses on international frontier research areas in urban sustainable development. It is committed to building an internationally leading research team for smart city governance innovation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), and to cultivating high-end urban and rural planning and design talents who are "morally upright, theoretically sound, and practically capable." The school has achieved research breakthroughs in three major areas: smart cities, eco-friendly living, and new planning and design technologies. It has also established itself as a talent training base for integrated urban and territorial spatial planning, a research hub for urban science and new technologies in the GBA, and a think tank for urban sustainable governance in the region.

Faculty

The school boasts a strong faculty, comprising over 40 teaching, research, and administrative staff members. Among them are five national-level talents, including one academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, one fellow of the British Academy of Social Sciences, one National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars awardee, and two national-level young talents. Faculty members hold 21 academic positions in international academic organizations, such as the vice-chair of the Transport Geography Commission of the International Geographical Union, and serve as editors-in-chief for two international journals, associate editors for nine journals, and editorial board members for 20 journals.

Two faculty members have been consecutively listed in the Highly Cited Scholars list released by Elsevier, a renowned international publisher, while six have been included in the world's top 2% scientists' "Lifetime Scientific Impact" and "Annual Scientific Impact" lists for several consecutive years.

Disciplinary Strengths

The school has a solid foundation in disciplinary development, covering three categories: basic disciplines, frontier disciplines, and applied disciplines. The basic disciplines include Peking University's top-tier disciplines of geography (A+) and ecology (A), with geography ranked 22nd globally in the 2021 QS World University Rankings by Subject. Both earth sciences and ecology have entered the top 1‰ of the global ESI rankings. The frontier discipline is the provincial key discipline of "Human Settlements Science and Technology" in Guangdong. The applied discipline is "Territorial Spatial Planning," which has been approved by the Ministry of Education for master's and doctoral programs.

Scientific Research

The school has undertaken nearly 400 research projects, including national 973 Program topics, National Key R&D Program topics, National Natural Science Fund projects, National Science and Technology Support Program topics, international cooperation projects, and National Social Science Fund major projects, with a total funding of nearly 370 million yuan. It has also strengthened the integration of theory and practice by undertaking nearly 270 horizontal projects, such as regional development strategy formulation, territorial spatial planning, urban and rural planning, urban design, ecological restoration projects, and environmental protection projects, with funding exceeding 240 million yuan.

In the past three years, the school has published 412 academic papers and 23 monographs, among which 331 are SCI/SSCI papers (231 in the JCR Q1 zone), and nine are in Nature Cities, Nature Communications, and other CNS journals and their sub-journals (four as first or corresponding authors).

The school has achieved numerous awards in the fields of smart cities, urban spatial planning, and regional ecology research, including the Second Prize of the Beijing Science and Technology Award for Natural Science, the First Prize of Geomatics Science and Technology Progress, the Second Prize of the Chinese Society for Urban Studies Science and Technology Progress, the Silver Award for Global Smart City Technology Innovation, the First and Second Prizes of National and Guangdong Provincial Excellent Urban and Rural Planning and Design, the Second Prize of Environmental Protection Science and Technology Award, and the Top Ten Research Advances in Chinese Geography.

Since its establishment, the school has trained over 1,100 master's students and more than 100 doctoral students. It admits approximately 60 master's students annually, with about 40 through recommendation without entrance examination, and 12 to 15 doctoral students each year.

Relying on artificial intelligence technology and decision support platforms, the school trains integrated talents who are proficient in the basic theories and specialized knowledge and skills in smart cities and urban big data analysis, urban and regional planning, land use planning, ecological planning, urban design, and geographic spatial intelligence. These talents are capable of conducting scientific research, teaching, or practical work in this discipline, serving territorial spatial planning and the development of the GBA.

Platforms

The school currently has the Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Key Laboratory of Philosophy and Social Sciences in Guangdong Province, the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Base in Guangdong Province, two Key Laboratories in Shenzhen, the Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences in Shenzhen, the Big Data Laboratory of Human Activities and Regional Governance, the Peking University Future City Laboratory (Shenzhen), the Landscape Design and Child Welfare Laboratory, and the Soil Ecological Restoration Technology Research and Development Center.

The Key Laboratory of Land Surface System and Human-Earth Relationship of the Ministry of Natural Resources focuses on the three key areas of quantitative scientific assessment, simulation monitoring, and optimization governance of human-earth relationships. It diagnoses territorial spatial resource issues, supports the optimization of territorial spatial patterns, serves territorial spatial planning, and explores innovative systems for high-quality development and governance of territorial space under the new era's open pattern in the GBA and beyond.

Featured Courses

The school's featured courses include Theories and Methods of Geography, Theories and Applications of Territorial Spatial Planning, Geographical Statistical Models and Methods, Landscape Ecology, Theories and Advances in Physical Geography, Special Topics in Urban and Rural Planning, Theories and Methods of Urban System Optimization, and Urban Spatiotemporal Analysis and Geocomputation.

Employment

In recent years, the school's graduate employment rate has exceeded 97%, with a further education rate of 11%. Graduates pursuing further studies have enrolled in renowned domestic and international universities, such as Tsinghua University, The Ohio State University, and the University of Southern California. Employment sectors are diversified, mainly in enterprises, government agencies, and public institutions. Graduates are primarily employed in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Beijing, with nearly 40% choosing to serve in the GBA over the past five years, in response to national development policies.

The School of Urban Planning and Design remains committed to serving the national strategic needs of building a world-class urban agglomeration in the GBA and establishing Shenzhen as a pioneer demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics. With the support of Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, the faculty and students are confident and capable of transforming the school into an internationally leading research team for innovative urban human settlements in the GBA.