A Brief History of Planning at Queen’s

Community planning has been taught at Queen’s University for almost 80 years. Here are some highlights:

Year Story
1930s Community planning lecture series in the Dept. of Political Economy by Horace Seymour, a founder and past-president of the Town Planning Institute of Canada (TPIC).
1940s Prof. C.A. Curtis’s Housing and Community Planning report for the federal government sets post-war national agenda for expansion of planning.
1950s Civil Engineering Department offers undergraduate planning courses by Dr. Stanley Lash. The Institute of Local Government offers summer courses for municipal officials, led by Dr. Stewart Fyfe.
1960s Planning course offerings expand in Civil Engineering at undergraduate and graduate levels
1970 School of Urban and Regional Planning (SURP) established; 2 year MPL program begins. Stanley Lash is the first director; Professor Robert Mackenzie jointly appointed to SURP and Law faculty.
1971 Mohammad Qadeer FCIP, Godfrey Spragge MCIP and Eric Thrift FCIP join the School’s faculty. Thrift had previously been Winnipeg Metropolitan Planning Director, National Capital Commission General Manager and TPIC president.
1972 Larry Miller is the first MPL graduate. He has a distinguished career in transportation planning.
1973 Gerald Hodge appointed Director. School curriculum changes to the social sciences, regional and metropolitan planning.
1974 SURP moves from Civil Engineering’s Ellis Hall to Mackintosh-Corry Hall, the new social-sciences complex.
1975-80 SURP is the home of Plan Canada, the journal of the Canadian Institute of Planners, edited by Hodge, Qadeer and Spragge.
1979 Hok-Lin Leung FCIP joins the faculty; physical planning quickly returns to the core curriculum.
1984 Pamela Sweet FCIP becomes first SURP alumni (and second woman) elected CIP President.
1984 Andrejs Skaburskis joins the SURP faculty, teaching economics, housing and policy analysis.
1985 Dr. Mohammad Qadeer appointed Director. SURP adopts a national outlook on urban planning with a strong policy orientation and new concentrations in environmental services, social and land-use planning.
1986 First edition of Hodge’s Planning Canadian Communities; later cited as the most influential Canadian book by CIP members.
1987 Sue Hendler appointed to the SURP faculty, developing courses in ethics, gender and environmental issues.
1989 First edition of Leung’s Land Use Planning Made Plain published, later cited as the second most influential Canadian book by CIP members and translated into Chinese.
1989 SURP moves into Robert Sutherland Hall with the School of Policy Studies.
1994 David Gordon joins the faculty after 15 years of practice, bringing skills in community design and urban development.
1995 SURP internship program started to help students obtain paid professional summer experience
1996 Hok-Lin Leung appointed Director. He expands the School’s outreach with the Land ForumChina Projects Office and Ambassadors’ Forum
2000 John Meligrana and John Andrew appointed to the SURP faculty, teaching environmental planning and real estate.
2000 Jackie Bell retires after over 20 years’ service on the School staff
2001 Mohammad Qadeer inducted into the CIP’s College of Fellows
2006 Hok-Lin Leung inducted into the CIP’s College of Fellows
2007 Graham Whitelaw appointed as Queen’s National Scholar at School of Environmental Studies and SURP, strengthening environmental and Indigenous planning.
2008 Gerald Hodge receives the CIP President’s Award for outstanding contribution to the planning profession.
2009 David Gordon MCIP becomes first SURP graduate to be appointed Director of the School. Renewal of SURP faculty and MPL curriculum continues.
2009 Ajay Agarwal and Leela Viswanathan join the SURP faculty, bringing transportation, design and social planning expertise.
2011 Patricia Collins appointed to the SURP faculty, expanding the School’s expertise in healthy communities.
2012  Queen’s Real Estate Roundtable established.
2015 SURP joins the new Department of Geography and Planning in the Faculty of Arts and Science.
2017 SURP moves into renovated space in Mackintosh-Corry Hall to be co-located with other Department of Geography and Planning labs and offices.