The undergraduate program of Urban Planning was founded in 1999. With 5 years of schooling, an independent professional training program is set up. Department of Urban Planning was founded in July 2000. Urban Planning Department has a good foundation and rapid development as the characteristic discipline of the school. In 2005, urban planning major was approved as a famous professional in Guangzhou University; in 2009, it was approved as the first specialized professional construction program of common higher education colleges in Guangzhou. In 2011, it passed through professional assessment of Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. In 2011, it began to recruit postgraduates in urban and rural planning. In 2011, declaration for the urban and rural planning level-1 discipline was approved.

This subject has distinctive features in research direction and very prominent features in localization, applications and integration. It has fruitful research results in the regional integration and innovation system research in Guangdong, urban planning and settlement planning study, study of urban history and local town’s history in recent times, study of local urban and rural historical and cultural heritage and conservation planning and the application of GIS technology.