1928

• The first in the country departments of urban planning were established at the Leningrad Institute of Civil Engineers and Moscow Institute of Civil Engineers and Moscow Architecture Institute.

1941-1946

• In 1941, the Leningrad Department of Urban Planning was closed down. In 1946, it was reinstituted as the Department of Urban Landscaping and City Planning.

1950-s

• Transition to industrial housing and organization of urban areas by neighborhoods in the late 1950s resulted in major changes in the trends in architectural and urban planning. New approaches to the organization of city spaces and corresponding to those design methods were formulated and implemented at the department. As before, course and graduation design projects were created on the basis of actual city planning practices. In the late 1950s, the Department participated in the development of the system of resettlement of Leningrad citizens targeted at limiting the growth of city population and territory through creation of satellite towns. 

1960-s – 1970s

• In 1962-1980, the Head of the Department was a talented city planner A.I. Naumov, a practitioner working in parallel at the Lenproject Institute #1 Shop in charge of all current town planning works and the development of a new city plan adopted in 1966. The active design activity of the Department Head provided for the development of real city planning issues in the course and graduation students’ design projects and postgraduate students’ dissertations, and involved the Department in essential city development matters.

1980-s

• In 1980 – 1988, the head of the Department was A.I. Kuznetsov. He invited practicing specialists: Leningrad Chief Architect G.N. Buldakov, Deputy Chief Architect of the Leningrad Region Yu.N. Kutepov, Chief Architect of the Lengyprogor Institute L.K. Vertousov and directors of several major design institutes to teach at the department. This strengthened the ties between the Department and urban planning and development practices of that period. 

1990-s

• The 1990s were far from easy for the Department. Quite a few of the experienced teachers passed away. However, V.I. Smirnov, then the Department Head, not only managed to maintain the department but engaged in teaching prominent practicing architects. Besides urban planning, students were working on architectural educational design projects based already on computer technologies supported by the Computer Center of the Architectural Faculty. 

2000-s

• Since the early 2000s, by the initiative of the former dean of the Architectural Faculty V.A. Nefedov, the Department started training Bachelors of Architecture. In mid-2000s, the department got its new name of the Department of Urban Planning and Urban Environment Design. Since that time, the major areas of study, i.e., urban planning of white lands, urban reconstruction of developed territories, and landscape design, were complemented by the city environmental design embracing detailed development of such environment. Since end of the decade, two-level education system became obligatory. The Department developed training curricula for five-year Bachelor’s degree and two-year Master’s degree programs.

2010-s

• Since September 2012, the department got back its name of the Department of Urban Planning, while the city environmental design was transferred to another department. In 2013, the first Masters of Architecture graduated from the Department. The department graduates are specialists of broad expertise: during the training courses they master both the architectural design of particular buildings and constructions and urban planning and redevelopment of areas of various scale.