Bar-Ilan’s Urban Planning Program Receives Official Recognition from the Israel Planners Association

What will the cities we live in look like twenty or thirty years from now? Where will we live, how will we get around, how much green space will be available to us, how will our neighborhoods cope with climate change, and will urban spaces become more accessible, equitable and inclusive for the people who live, work and spend time in them?

Behind each of these questions are urban planners whose decisions shape the daily lives of millions of people. Now, the Urban Planning Program in Bar-Ilan University’s Department of Environment, Planning and Sustainability has reached an important professional milestone: the Israel Planners Association has granted the program permanent recognition.

The program is now listed on the Association’s website among the recognized academic programs whose graduates are eligible to apply for registration in the professional planners registry. According to the Association, eligibility is based on completion of a master’s degree that includes the core curriculum required for the planning profession.

What Does This Mean for Graduates?

One of the most important practical implications of this recognition is that graduates of the program can apply for registration in the Association’s planners registry. The registry is a voluntary professional database of urban and regional planners who meet the relevant academic and professional experience requirements. The program’s recognition therefore reflects its compliance with the core academic standards established by the Association for professional training in the field of planning.

For our graduates, this creates a direct bridge between academic training and professional practice. Graduates of the program go on to work in local authorities, government ministries, private planning and consulting firms, and civil society organizations across a wide range of fields, including urban planning, public policy, infrastructure and environmental planning.

Not Just Studying Cities, but Learning to Plan Them

Bar-Ilan’s Urban Planning Program was designed to connect planning theory with the complex realities in which planners operate in Israel. Throughout their studies, students gain hands-on experience working with partners in the field, including local authorities, policymakers, and civil society and community organizations. They also take part in developing physical, social and environmental plans at the urban scale.

The curriculum combines sustainability, innovation, spatial justice and social awareness with the use of digital tools including GEODESIGN, ArcGIS and Python.

The program offers a broad range of courses taught by three core faculty members specializing in architecture and planning, as well as more than a dozen additional faculty members with expertise in areas including environmental policy, transportation, migration, environmental economics, heritage conservation, land and water policy, planning law and urban design.

Planning for the Challenges of the 21st Century

The recognition comes at a time when urban planning is more important than ever. Population growth, rapid urbanization, international migration, transportation congestion, the housing crisis, climate change, and the need to create more resilient, accessible and equitable cities require professionals who are able to see the bigger picture and connect social, environmental, economic and technological needs.

For this reason, the program focuses on far more than the physical design of cities. It combines theoretical and practical core studies with fields such as physical planning, climate change, socioeconomic issues, housing and transportation.

The two-year master’s program is offered in both a research track with a thesis and a non-thesis track. Its central goal is to train planners who understand not only where to build, but also how planning decisions affect society, the environment and the urban economy.

A Milestone for the Department and Bar-Ilan University

The program’s permanent recognition is the result of a professional review process and reflects recognition of the curriculum, training and core academic content offered by the program.

It is a significant achievement for the Department of Environment, Planning and Sustainability, the Faculty of Social Sciences and Bar-Ilan University as a whole — and above all, for our students, who have chosen a profession in which the decisions made today may shape the way all of us live for decades to come.