UMKC is an urban university, and architecture, urban planning and design is consistent with our vision for our community and region. Kansas City is a great urban laboratory. Few American cities have the planning and design tradition of Kansas City. We think this sets us apart, and places the students within a professional community with unmatched resources, whether one is studying architecture, interior architecture, landscape architecture or urban planning and design

As the United States population continues to grow and is concentrated in metropolitan areas, urban planning and design is becoming a societal imperative. Planners address diverse public issues affecting where people live, work, and play; where they shop and receive health care; how they get from place to place; what our communities look like; and how we use our resources.