Urban Planning Engineering An-Najah National University

Overview

Students in the Urban Planning Engineering program of the An-Najah National University will be able to develop plans and strategies related to the development of the physical and spatial environment, which contribute to achieving the objectives of development plans and meet the requirements of the labor market, and improve the living conditions of the population and the development of Palestinian society to be within affluent societies.

The specific objectives for this program can be summarized as follows:

• Provide students with the foundations and principles that help to improve the spatial, economic and social environment.

• Cover the need of the public sector (municipalities, ministries and concerned institutions) and the private sector (engineering offices and consulting firms) of specialists in the field of urban planning and development.

• Provide students with techniques and skills related to planning in order to facilitate their practice.

• Improve and strengthen the practice of urban planning and development in Palestine.

• Contribute to cover the need of neighboring Arab countries as well as Gulf countries for planners, to follow accelerated urban developments, as well as the face of urban and environmental problems and challenges.

Teaching and Learning

• Lectures, panel discussions, working groups, preparation and presentation of studies and research, homework.

• The use of computer programs and techniques and their applications in the field of urban planning (such as GIS, Remote Sensing, AutoCAD, Visualization, and others).

• Encourage teamwork in most of the projects within the planning studios.

• Encourage the use of electronic libraries (E-libraries) as these type of libraries will be the predominant type in the near future.

• Proving advice and guidance for students by professors (along with discussion and debate within the planning studios) mediated by the means of social communication and location of the university’sZajelwebsite at any time and without having to be in a certain place and time.

• Promote self-learning for students to the content of websites of pictorial and read information that facilitate self-learning process.

• Make use of visual techniques to show the experiences and case studies related to the theoretical and practical courses (the planning studios).

Career Opportunities

The graduates of this program can work in different areas inside and outside Palestine, including: 

• local authorities (municipalities, village councils) and the Joint Service Councils, 

• Relevant ministries (such as Local Government, Planning, Public Works and Housing, Tourism and Antiquities, Transportation, etc.), 

• Governmental institutions (such as the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction, Municipal Development and Lending Fund, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Land Authority, Environment Quality Authority, Industrial Zones Authority, …..), 

• Non-governmental institutions (such as the Palestinian Housing Council, research and study centers, Ammar Real Estate Group, etc.), 

• Engineering offices and consulting companies, &

• International organizations and institutions (World Bank, UNDP, GIZ, USAID, UNRWA, UNHABITAT, and others).