This Association has functioned since 2000 as an electronic network of urban and regional planning schools in Anglo-phone Africa. In 2001 it became the 9th planning school association in the world, and became a member of the Global Planning Education Association Network (GPEAN). It has now grown to 26 member universities, but has never been able to meet due to the constraints of travel costs.
However, using a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, channelled through the African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town, it was able to have its inaugural meeting in October 2008, in Cape Town. The meeting was organized as a three-day workshop on planning education in Africa, with the aim of considering the extent to which current curricula prepared students for 21st century issues in Africa.
21 papers were prepared and presented, and plans were made for a second meeting and follow-up workshop in 2010.
MESSAGES OF CONGRATULATIONS ON THE INAUGURAL MEETING OF AAPS:
Congratulations on the successful gathering of African planning educators. This is a momentous event.
Bruce Stiftel, FAICP, Professor and Director
City and Regional Planning Program
College of Architecture
Georgia Institute of Technology
Please extend our congratulations to the members of the AAPS. It is wonderful that there is an active organization working on behalf of planning education in Africa . I was part of the ACSP assistance to the Latin American Planning School Association many years ago and know it takes much dedication and effort on everyone’s part.
I also extend a welcome to all AAPS to visit our web page www.planning.calpoly.edu is examine a department whose programs are very professional education based and uses a lot of learning by doing and community linked studio courses.
Regards,
Bill Siembieda, Department Head
City and Regional Planning
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
Congratulations on the Association! That’s wonderful news. I’ve heard bits and pieces over the years through Jorgen, Nnkya and Fred, but it’s good to know that the Association is now reality.
Warm regards,
Bent Flyvbjerg
Congratulations!
You are putting in some hard work.
Best
Nihal
Nihal Perera, PhD
Associate Professor of Urban Planning
Director CapAsia
Ball State University
Muncie, IN, USA
The inaugural meeting of AAPS development is a major milestone,
Keith Pezzoli, Ph.D.
University of California @ San Diego
Urban Studies and Planning Program, 0517
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093-0517
This is wonderful news. I hope you’ll add some materials onto the GPEIG site and share some of the highlights of the meeting with everyone here. Our hope is to get more interaction with other associations of planning schools elsewhere, and this information would be a good start in case we want to do future joint meetings, such as AESOP and ACSP have done, for example.
Kind regards,
Smita
Smita Srinivas
Assistant Professor, Columbia University, Urban Planning program
Director, Technological Change Lab (TCLab)
Congratulations! Hard and enthusiastic work, I am sure.
Hope we can meet soon.
Best wishes,
Ana Fernandes (ANPUR) Brazil
Congrats are in order.
APSA will be having EXCO meeting in Ahmedabad on Dec 9, 2008 in preparation for next Congress.
Lik Meng (APSA President)
Great news and great work….it appears to be a very successful event..congrats!!
David Amborski (President ACUPP)
Congratulations! That’s great news! I look forward to your continued success.
Mike Hibbard (ACSP)
Congratulations!. Long live to the African Association of Schools of Planning.
Carlos
Prof. Carlos Vainer
IPPUR / UFRJ
Instituto de Pesquisa e Planejamento Urbano e Regional
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Delighted to hear that your first regional conference was a splendid success. Hope you will continue that.
Kind regards
Ali Memon (ANZAPS) New Zealand
Hi Vanessa,
congratulations from the far north!
wishing you and the network continued success
Peter Ache (AESOP president)
Dear colleague
I am pleased with the success of this meeting of African schools of urban planning. I hope that this first step will be followed by others to share our experiences and joint actions. I would like to draw your attention that 10 formations of urban planning in Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and West Africa French speaking have not been approached by your African network.
Hoping greater collaboration and exchange; please accept, Madam,my best regards.
Moncef BEN SLIMANE
APERAU Afrique/Moyent-orientMoncef BEN SLIMANE
responsable de l’unité de recherche
“conceptions et usages de l’espace urbain”
Ecole Nationale d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme
Rue el Kods. Sidi Bou Said.
2026.Tunis-TUNISIE
And a request from the University of Namibia for AAPS to help set up a new planning school which could then join us.
