Champaign County Greenways and Trails Committee Records, 2004 | University of Illinois Archives

In 1913, Charles Robinson, the first Professor of Civic Design, began to offer courses in Civic Design in the Department of Horticulture.¹ In 1929 the Trustees authorized the establishment of curricula offering options in City Planning leading to Bachelor of Science degree in the Department of Civil Engineering and the Department of Landscape Architecture. Since the enrollment in the City Planning Option in the Department of Landscape Architecture had been small, the Trustees in 1940 approved the withdrawal of this option until such time as the demand would call for its reinstatement.³ By 1945 there was sufficient demand for the study of City Planning that the Trustees approved the establishment of the degree of Master of Science in City Planning in the Department of Landscape Architecture.⁴ In 1953, the name of the Department of Landscape Architecture was changed to the Department of City Planning and Landscape Architecture.⁵ In 1964, the Trustees authorized another change of name from the Department of City Planning and Landscape Architecture to the Department of Urban Planning and Landscape Architecture.⁶ In 1965, they became separate departments.⁷ In 1970, the department merged with the Bureau of Community Planning to form the Department of Urban and Regional Planning.⁸

Established in 1934, the Bureau of Community Planning was a research and extension unit in the area of municipal planning.⁹ It conducted research in city and metropolitan regional development and cooperates with municipal official.¹⁰ The Bureau published land use study findings and sponsored conferences. In 1970, the Bureau merged with the Urban Planning Department and became the Bureau of Urban and Regional Planning Research, an administrative unit of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning.¹¹

1. Catalogs and Registers, 1913-14, p. 406 and 412. Before this time, the Catalogs and Registers make no mention of a professorship or courses in civic design.

2. Board of Trustees Transactions, 34th Report, December 12, 1929, p. 462.

3. Board of Trustees Transactions, 40th Report, June 28, 1940, p. 970.

4. Board of Trustees Transactions, 43rd Report, October 18, 1945, p. 87.

5. Undergraduate Study Catalog, 1953-54, p. 129.

6. Board of Trustees Transactions, 47th Report, November 23, 1963, p. 907.

7. Board of Trustees Transactions, 53rd Report, April 23, 1965, p. 499.

8. Board of Trustees Transactions, 55th Report, April 15, 1970, p. 887.

9. Board of Trustees Transactions, 36th Report, May 22, 1934, p. 568.

10. Ibid.

11. Board of Trustees Transactions, 55th Report, April 15, 1970, p. 887.