City and regional planning is an established and need oriented profession that deals with contemporary and emerging problems and challenges of the society. It thrives for context-specific solutions depending on the geographical settings and nature of the problems within it. Like other countries on the planet earth need for city and regional planning in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is at its utmost. This largest gulf country has already been experiencing the adverse effects of global climate change reflecting in sudden and horrendous floods in Jeddah, Riyadh, Tabuk, etc. This not only concerns the city planners but also presents the need of sustainable city planning in the development process. KSA is a host of large number of foreign labors which makes it socially and culturally more diversified and functionally dynamic. Therefore, diversified needs of this society make the planning and development process more challenging and critical. Moreover, large cities of the kingdom such as Dammam, Riyadh, Jeddah, Jubail, etc. have been expanding at an unprecedented rate that needs sustainable planning and development. With the increasing need of services and infrastructure facilities, such as housing, transportation, industries, etc. in the kingdom the need of city and regional planning is strongly felt than ever.
City and Regional Planning is a discipline which is concerned with the forces that generate social development, locational change, and economic growth, and with understanding the ways in which resources can best be used. The KFUPM program in City and Regional Planning at the College of Environmental Design aims to educate future planners to guide the development of the social, economic, natural and built environments in order to improve the quality of life for people. Since its establishment in 1988, the City and Regional Planning Department has successfully provided the Saudi Arabian government as well as private sector with many top-quality City Planners.
