The School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada (SPA Vijayawada) is a

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

institute in

Vijayawada Vijayawada ( ), formerly known by its colonial name Bezawada, is the second largest city and a major commercial hub in the Andhra Pradesh state of India. The city forms an integral part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is situated on th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, specializing in education and research in the field of

urban planning Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...

and

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

. It is one of the three School of Planning and Architecture (SPAs) established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India (now

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

) in 2008 as an autonomous institute and a fully Centrally Funded Technical Institution (CFTI). It forms part of the league along with the other two SPAs: SPA Bhopal and SPA Delhi.

History

The roots of the institute are with a report made by the Institute of Town Planners, India (ITPI), on the request of the

Ministry of Education (India) The Ministry of Education (MoE) is a ministry of the Government of India, responsible for the implementation of the National Policy on Education. The ministry, headed by Sanya Shresth, is further divided into two departments: the Department ...

regarding the establishment of more SPAs, in addition to the SPA Delhi, established in 1959. Based on this report, the decision was made to establish two schools, in

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...

and

. On 7 July 2008, SPA Vijayawada was established as an autonomous Centrally Funded Technical Institution (CFTI). In 2014, Lok Sabha passed a bill to make all the three SPAs "centre of excellence" on the pattern of IITs and IIMs, now it is a

Institute of national importance In India, an Institution of National Importance (INI) refers to a premier public higher education institution granted special status by an act of the Parliament of India. Such institutions are recognized for their pivotal role in developing high ...

Campus

Initially, the school was operated out of a temporary campus in Acharya Nagarjuna University in

Guntur Guntur (), natively spelt as Gunturu, is a city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district. The city is part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is lo ...

till 2011, before moving to its current campus. In 2011, the foundation stone of the Vijayawada campus was laid by Daggubati Purandeswari, Minister of State for Human Resource Development. The present campus is located at Nidamanuru, on National Highway 5, close to the

Vijayawada Airport Vijayawada Airport , officially known as Vijayawada International Airport, is an international airport serving Vijayawada, the second-largest city of the state of Andhra Pradesh, the under-development capital city of the state, Amaravati a ...

(12.4 km only). Expansion plans include building more hostels to accommodate the growing number of post graduate students, a state-of-the-art sports complex and residential quarters for doctoral students. The Government of Andhra Pradesh is in the process of allotting nearly 60 acres of land, spread over two locations in and around Vijayawada, for the development of the school. Of this, the first 7.2 acres was handed over on 22 February 2010. In January 2012, design for the new campus was adopted as part of an all-India competition and it is proposed to develop it as an eco-friendly campus with state-of-the-art facilities. The proposed campus will comprise academic, co-curricular and residential facilities.

Governance

The school is being run under the supervision and guidance of a board of governors. The board comprises members from

, Department of Higher Education, Andhra Pradesh Government, two representatives of the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

from the fields of architecture and planning, representatives of the
Institute of Town Planners India
Indian Institute of Architects, University Grants Commission, School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi and

All India Council for Technical Education The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is a statutory body, and a national-level council for technical education, under the Department of Higher Education (India), Department of Higher Education. Established in November 1945 firs ...

Academics

Academic programmes

The Institute conducts educational programmes leading to the degree of Bachelor of Architecture (B. Arch.), Bachelor of Planning (B. Plan.) Master of Architecture (M. Arch.), Master of Planning (M. Plan) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD.) in the following areas:

Admission

Admissions to the under graduate programme is through the

Joint Entrance Examination The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) is an engineering entrance assessment conducted for admission to various engineering colleges in India. It comprises two different examinations: the JEE-Main and the JEE-Advanced. The Joint Seat Allocat ...

(JEE) conducted by the National Testing Agency, India. Foreign nationals, non-resident Indians (NRIs) and persons of Indian origin (PIOs) candidates are eligible to apply and should have qualifications from the foreign boards/universities recognized as equivalent by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) to be shortlisted for further evaluations.

Rankings

In 2024, SPA Vijayawada was ranked 16th in architecture by the

National Institutional Ranking Framework National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) is a ranking methodology released annually by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, to rank institutions of higher education in India. The framework was approved by the former Ministr ...

(NIRF).

Student life

The present campus started with two hostels. As the intake has gradually increased, today the school has four hostels. For the first three-year students, a separate hostel has been set up that can house almost 200 — future proof for the substantial increase in intake planned. In addition to these, school has a special quarters which houses visiting students and guest faculties. Two hostels are dedicated for final-year students with over special accommodation. Dedicated mess facilities and round-the-clock canteen facilities are available between the hostels. The common rooms at the hostels have a 20" LCD TV with satellite cable, in addition to the facilities for playing indoor games. It is the scene of action for get-togethers, parties and informal discussions.

References

External links

SPA Vijayawada
{{authority control Universities and colleges in Vijayawada School of Planning and Architecture Educational institutions established in 2008 2008 establishments in Andhra Pradesh