Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of the research is to propose reforms that would help to bridge the gap between theory and practice and produce more effective urban planners. The research on urban planning curricula in the global South is a valuable contribution to the field of urban planning education. It provides a new perspective on the challenges facing urban planning education in these countries and offers a roadmap for improvement.Design/methodology/approachThe research explores and evaluates the urban planning curricula in the global South, with a particular interest in Egypt. The research employs the use of questionnaires with 56 university instructors, analysed thematically, to evaluate the current content of curricula. The results are compared and correlated with a pilot study exploring research interest, government policies and practices of urban planning in Egypt.FindingsThrough comparing the results of the evaluation with the current research interest in urban planning in Egypt, the paper investigates the possibility of improving current educational curricula using comparative network analysis which would establish stronger interdisciplinary connections.Originality/valueThe seeming disconnects between urbanism concepts taught in educational curricula and their relevance in practice and reality is a vital issue in urban studies and planning. Interdisciplinary connections with topics like politics, economies, gender, and others can assist curricula in becoming more relevant to real-world situations. This disconnect is even more apparent in the global South where most educational content is highly derivative from Northern contexts. Though such interdisciplinary aspects are under discussed in educational curricula, they are frequently discussed in academic research.
Reference43 articles.
1. A survey of undergraduate course Syllabi and a Hybrid course on global urban topics;Journal of Planning Education and Research,2006
2. Compatability between architectural education and professional practicein Egypt;Architecture and Planning Journal (APJ),2016
3. The most important skills an urban planner needs in a developing country; the case of Iran;Planning Practice and Research,2017
4. Bhan, G., Srinivas, S. and Watson, V. (Eds). (2018), The Routledge Companion to Planning in the Global South, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, Abingdon.
5. What the student does: teaching for enhanced learning;Higher Education Research and Development,1999