In 1966, Taiwan had confronted fast-growing urbanization and the problems accompanied. As a novice in coping with urbanization, the authority sought the United Nations (UN) for help, requesting specialists in urban planning for suggestions. The Urban Housing and Development Committee (UHDC) under the Council for International Economic Development Cooperation (CIEDC) was thus established in support of the advisory team from the UN.
In the following year, Dr. Yi-Kwei Chou, the chief consultant of CIEDC, visited the United States to investigate the education in urban planning and urban development. Dr. Chou realized that urban planning was in fact a comprehensive discipline in social science; it involved social changes, political understanding, economic development, substantial infrastructure, environmental quality, and the evolution of civic life structure and values. Based on his findings, in August 1968, Dr. Chou founded the Graduate Institute of Urban Planning under the College of Law and Business of National Chung Hsing University (NCHU). It was the predecessor of the Graduate Institute of Urban Planning (GIUP) of National Taipei University (NTPU) and was the very first graduate institute in Taiwan for cultivating talents in urban planning.
After Dr. Chou retired in August 1972, Dr. Jui-Lin Li (1972-1975), Dr. Wan-Chiao Hsin (1975-1981), Dr. Chung-Hsin Yang (1981-1985), Dr. Chao-Yi Hsieh (1985-1990), Dr. Shu-Li Huang (1990-1994), Dr. Wan-Chiao Hsin (1994-1997), Dr. Hsueh-Tao Chien (1997-2000), Dr. Tsu-Lung Chou (2000-2005), Dr. Chen-Chia Lin (2005-2008), Dr. Jyh-Fa Tsai (2011-2017), Dr. Wen-I Lin (2017-2020), and Dr. Jung-Ying Chang (2020-present) served as the director of the institute in subsequence. The institute was restructured in 2000 and the Graduate Institute of Urban Planning (GIUP) of National Taipei University was thus established ever since. For more than 50 years, with all the faculty members’ and students’ efforts and endeavors, the GIUP has established herself as one of the academic and research flagship institutes in urban and rural development and environmental planning and management in Taiwan.