- UCT will ensure that its advocacy, practices and working will guarantee that human rights are exercised without discrimination of any kind, be it race, religion, caste, creed, colour, political, sex, language, national or social origin, property, birth or other status such as disability, age, marital and family status, sexual orientation and gender identity, health status, place of residence, economic and social situation.
- Uphold the Constitution in letter and spirit.
- UCT conceptualises urban centres as local spaces to encourage public, semi-public and private discussions, and discourses on transformative urban projects in the concerned Metropolitan Region. It is a space to inform, engage, interact and support social groups, citizens’ committees, communities, students, professionals, business people, individuals, governmental agencies and organisations in urban planning and public policy.
- The guiding principles towards achieving excellence in urban planning and design of cities that will be promoted through UCT, its working and its centres are as follows:
To encourage, promote and advocate community-based participatory planning models;
To advocate appropriate, affordable and sustainable models in planning and design of cities such as for, but not limited to, promoting walkability, public transport, affordable housing, sanitation infrastructure, waste management, heritage and conservation;
Understand informal and advocate best practice through the lens of creating inclusive, equitable and efficient cities;
Protect and conserve the tangible and intangible heritage;
Advocate transparency, efficiency and accountability in governance structures;
To actively promote excellence in post-professional training and capacity building within institutions, agencies and organizations etc.;
- To create an archive and a point of dissemination for research material, maps, monographs, surveys, seminal works, publications etc. in physical and digital formats, accessible to all.