Today, more than half of the world's population lives in cities and metropolises. According to the data in the United Nations' newly published World Urbanization Probabilities report, while 34% of the world's population lived in urban areas in 1960, this rate has reached 54% as of 2014. It is estimated that the total population living in cities will reach 66% in 2050. As the rate of urbanization continues to increase, ensuring that cities are livable places for people comes to the forefront as an inevitable task. In this context, the sustainable use of natural resources, the protection of cultural resources, the improvement of the quality of life in settlements, the creation of healthy environments and the sustainability of this environment are gaining importance.
The aim of the Urban and Regional Planning department is to be a productive, respected, innovative, competitive and pioneering department at national and international levels in the fields of education, training, research and application. In this context, it is aimed to determine policies for creating spaces and environments that meet the needs of the society in all kinds of settlements from the national level to the local scale, in line with the principle of public benefit by ensuring the protection of natural and cultural resources, and to train individuals who will plan livable spaces, who can think inquisitively, think analytically, have professional ethics and also have an aesthetic perspective.