Urban and regional planning is a dynamic field that requires innovative solutions from committed and thoughtful individuals. Historically, it emerged out of the convergence of two concerns:
• The provision of urban infrastructure.
• The initiation of social reform.
Today, the underlying focus on community well-being continues, urban and regional planning has broadened to include the development, implementation, and evaluation of a wide range of policies. Specifically urban and regional planners, in both developing and developed countries, are concerned with:

• The use of land in the city, in the suburbs, and in rural areas, and particularly with the transition from one use to another.
• Potential adverse impacts of human activities on a limited physical environment and the possible mitigation of those impacts.
• The design of the city and the surrounding region so as to facilitate the activities in which people need and desire to engage.
• Settlement systems and the location of human activities in urban and regional space.
• Identification of social needs and the design and provision of services and facilities to meet those needs.
• The distribution of resources, benefits and costs among people.
• The anticipation of change and its impact on how people do and can live.
• Participation of citizens in planning processes which affect their future.
• The way that choices are made, decisions implemented and actions evaluated, and the means by which those processes can be improved in urban and regional areas.

We view planning as a professional and intellectual endeavor. We are strongly committed not only to the education of the next generation of planning professionals and leaders, but also to augmenting the profession through significant research accomplishments that are disseminated widely to academic and professional audiences. The Department’s faculty, students, and staff therefore engage in activities that simultaneously serve education, research, and public and professional engagement functions.

We emphasize the ecological, economic, social, and institutional aspects of urban and regional development and the theory and practice of planning processes. We teach and conduct research to improve understanding of human settlements and of planning situations and we focus on planning as the achievement of outcomes based on interrelated actions over time and space, not merely on individual policies or administrative decisions. Collaboration and close communication with a wide range of disciplines and professions is thus inherent in our approach. This collaboration is enhanced through faculty appointed in the department whose degrees are in architecture, economics, geography, history, law, political science, regional science, and zoology. We encourage faculty to pursue interdisciplinary research and to make scholarly contributions to both planning and fields closely allied with planning and we encourage and facilitate dual degree programs for students who wish professional qualifications in related fields.

We recognize planning for cities and regions as a process with a design component, in addition to ecological and human behavioral components. As a result, we seek to leverage our location in the College of Fine and Applied Arts to exploit innovative collaborative education, teaching and engagement opportunities with design-oriented disciplines, especially with the Department of Architecture.

We seek to understand human settlement and propose planning solutions at multiple spatial scales and locations—site, neighborhood, city, region, nation, and world. We therefore conduct research all over the world, and we seek a student body that is not just diverse in terms of gender, race and ethnicity, but also in terms of regional and national origin.

Our vision of our identity is based on a set of aspirations that guide our programs and influence the general direction of the Department.
• We are an intellectually exciting, creative, and productive community of students, scholars, and professionals. We engage in close interaction with related units, including not only Architecture, but also Agriculture and Consumer Economics, Civil Engineering, Economics, Education, Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, Finance, Geography, Government and Public Affairs, Human and Community Development, Law, Psychology, Social Work, and Sociology.
• We maintain an active program in neighborhood and community empowerment through community engagement and other professional activities that integrate teaching, research, and service.
• We have a diverse, representative, student body, faculty, and staff interacting with and enhancing each other as individuals.
• We involve the frequent participation of practicing professionals in activities on campus.
• We offer active continuing education opportunities for professional and citizen planners.
• We foster the international exchange of planning ideas and experience through teaching, research, public service, and active roles in international organizations.
• Our programs and research have a strong environmental component, bringing environmental science results to bear on specific planning situations.

Bangladeshi graduated planners to make scope in the field of operations other than BIP, planning professionals are always encouraged to be affiliated by the societies in Earthquake Research, Disaster Management and Mitigation, Environment, Conservation, Rehabilitation, national and international professional bodies very closely related to Urban and Regional Planning.

Migration to other profession
Very frequently, planners with their bachelor degree are undertaking Masters’ Program in different field of Engineering and Development Planning. As the Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning Degree program is designed with interdisciplinary attitude of acquiring knowledge in diverse field of learning and practicing, it is now planners’ choice to migrate, or to be in the same field of operation according to the market demand of working professionals.

Doors are always open to make Masters’ and Doctoral studies in Disaster and Environmental Engineering (CUET, BRAC), Disaster Management (Denmark, Norway, UK), Photogrammetry and Geoinformatics (Germany, USA), Geographical Information System (Sweden, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain), Physical Geography (Canada, USA, Australia), Human Settlements (Belgium, China, UK, Chili), Urban Design (UK), Regional Planning (Germany), Business Administration (USA, Canada, Australia), etc.

From the experiences of last two decades, it is evident that Planners are working in Development Authority (RAJUK, CDA, KDA, RDA, etc), City Corporations (DCC, KCC, CCC, RCC, etc), Municipalities, different United Nations organizations (prominently in UNDP, WHO, UNHABITAT, UNHCR, etc), Donor organizations (GTZ-GIZ, OXFAM, DFID, DANIDA, SIDA, AusAID, UKAID, USAID, etc), implementing organizations (CARE, Caritas, ActionAID, CDMP, etc) and in the main stream of government BCS, Planning Commission, Magistracy, Police Department, etc. Therefore, being a planner by profession and affiliation, it reduces chance to be unemployed. Besides, comparatively planning graduates achieve more scholarship opportunities in Asia, Europe and Australia than other professional fields. Higher studies are supported by ADB, DAAD, VLIR-OUS, MEXT, ERASMUS-MUNDUS, Commonwealth and many other organizations.