Sustainable urban development - from learning to practice: an investigation of higher education models in urban planning, development and management

The Urban Design and Education Programme (UDEP) was recently established in the UNESCO International Centre for Engineering Education (UICEE) at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, in collaboration with the Victoria State Governments Department of Infrastructure. This programme recognises the importance of research into the models and practices in urban planning, development and management in both academia and professional practice, in order to determine the effectiveness and best practice in achieving sustainable development. The paramount objective of this research and development is to devise and implement the best model, which can be recommended for wide application in higher education institutions on an international basis. A research project, including the project's stages and adopted research methodology is presented and discussed in this paper. Expected project outcomes, as well as long-term project ambitions are indicated in the paper.