This innovative one-year masters is run jointly by the Department of Urban Studies and Planning and the School of Architecture. The course will prepare students for a career in the planning and urban design professions and includes opportunities to learn about development and design issues faced in the Global South.
Students will learn about the factors that shape cities and rural areas, and gain a deeper knowledge of a selected specialist aspect of planning. The course will develop their research, policy making and design skills, and their understanding of how to apply research to public policy making and evaluation.
The course draws on leading teaching and research at the University, combining the urban design expertise of the School of Architecture and the international planning expertise of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning. This interdisciplinary approach enables students to develop a distinctive approach to urban design and development that is ideally suited to the challenge of managing rapid urban growth and change.
Driven by innovation in both research and teaching, the course will help students learn the principles, techniques and skills required to harness new and emerging technologies for design visualisation. The department integrates virtual and augmented reality into learning and teaching in order to fully prepare students for a career in urban design in the 21st century. These technologies will allow students to create immersive visualisations of designs, viewed through virtual reality headsets, to accurately simulate solutions for real life planning issues.
This course does not require students to have a previous design background. The program has students from planning, geography and architecture on the course, but also engineers, economists and graphic designers. The department takes on students with a broader range of skills and experience. The course is international in outlook and welcomes students from around the world.
This MA is intended to provide the core skills and knowledge required for a career in urban design. This includes basic training in the main software packages, including CAAD, Photoshop and Illustrator. Working across Architecture and Planning allows students to develop a distinctive approach to urban design and development which is ideally suited to the challenge of managing rapid urban growth and change. The department offers an ‘integrated’ approach to urban development that is increasingly required by leading consultants and city authorities around the world. The course also includes a strong real estate dimension in order to ensure that urban design training takes account of the economics of development.
The course is recognised as a Specialist Planning Programme and partially accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute. This means that the course is accredited by the RTPI but once students have graduated they will need to complete further spatial study and/or gain requisite professional experience before they can become a chartered planner.
| Level | Masters |
| Discipline | Arts and Humanities |
| Duration | 12 months |
| Intakes | Jan, Sep |
| Application Fees | GBP 0 |
| Tuition Fees | GBP 20100 |
| Campus | Main |
| Language proficiency (minimum) | |
| IELTS | 6.5 |
|---|---|
| TOEFL | 88 |
| PTE | 61 |
| Duolingo | Not Required / Waiver |
| Exam proficiency (minimum) | |
| SAT | Not Required / Waiver |
|---|---|
| ACT | Not Required / Waiver |
| GRE | Not Required / Waiver |
| GMAT | Not Required / Waiver |
Minimum GPA - 73%
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