This MA course will give you the knowledge, understanding and skills necessary to practise professionally as a spatial planner. It is designed to meet the growing employer needs for staff who can investigate changes in the natural and built environments, manage the challenges of climate change through sustainable development, and debate and critically reflect upon the knowledge and values underpinning current approaches to land use development. Completion of the MA course is the first step to become a full member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).
The course will support your personal and professional development. You will be able to work in the interdisciplinary and cross-sector environment of urban and regional development, in a variety of private, public and community contexts, and apply your knowledge to practise in specialist areas of planning. The course builds on the University's experience of delivering postgraduate courses in town planning for more than 60 years.
The course explores the current context and content of spatial planning. It does so from a UK and European perspective, and also investigates underlying theoretical debates.
If you want to gain a greater understanding of spatial planning, but do not want to study for a full Masters course, we also offer an Urban and Regional Planning Postgraduate Diploma and an Urban and Regional Planning Postgraduate Certificate. Scroll to the bottom of this page to find out more about these courses.
For the award of the MA students need to pass modules totalling 180 credits. MA students take all core modules and choose one specialist option module.
The following modules are indicative of what you will study on this course.
Core modules
Optional modules
On successful completion of the MA course students can become licentiates of the RTPI. After two years' experience in practice, they may make a submission for their Assessment of Professional Competence and, if successful, are then entitled to full RTPI membership.
Visiting lectures are given by a wide range of external practitioners. The teaching team has extensive links with planning institutions including the RTPI and the Town and Country Planning Association. The course includes part-time students working in planning-related positions in private and public sectors.
Most of the students on the course are already in planning or planning-related posts. Full-time students graduating from the course as qualified planners will normally be offered planning positions in the public or private sector on graduation.
Examples of companies that have recruited our graduates include:
Fully accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), this programme is designed to develop students as reflective practitioners in the planning profession and related disciplines in the built environment, and can be studied either full- or part-time.
The use of land and space is a hotly contested issue of fundamental importance to creating healthy communities and maintaining a good quality of life for local residents. Planners play a critical role in mediating between competing interests and building the foundations for equitable growth, sustainable environments and livable communities.
Fully accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), this programme is designed to develop students as reflective practitioners in the planning profession and related disciplines in the built environment, and can be studied either full-or part-time. It is ideal for those who wish to gain a professional qualification that will enable them to pursue and build a career in spatial planning and related areas of regeneration, economic development, housing and transport.
The structure enables students to combine the core modules and material in spatial planning with a specialist focus in fields such as urban regeneration, community based planning, economic development and urban resilience.
As a Birmingham postgraduate student you are part of an academic community and will learn from both academics and place-based specialist practitioners. From the outset you will be encouraged to become an independent and self-motivated learner, and we want you to be challenged and to think for yourself.
As a student you will be exposed to a variety of learning and teaching methods including lectures, small group teaching sessions, seminars, student-led workshops and tutorials. The teaching emphasis is on participative approaches to learning that enable students to reflect critically on important current debates in the practice and principles of spatial planning in diverse urban regions. To provide a “real world” feel for the programme there are a number of planning practitioners who directly input into the programme and we make good use of Birmingham and the wider West Midlands as part of our overall “learning laboratory”.
Studying with us you will enjoy a favourable staff–student ratio and full tutorial support. The department is centrally located on the campus close to the library, and provides access to photocopying and computer facilities. You will have access to a comprehensive support system throughout your time at Birmingham that will assist and encourage you, including personal tutors and welfare tutors who can help with both academic and welfare issues.
As well as having access to professional journals and magazines within the department, students can also use the University’s main library and the increasingly large variety of learning materials and library research services (eg, e-journals and WebCT) via the internet.
This programme is ideal for those who wish to gain a professional qualification that will enable them to pursue and build a career in spatial planning and related areas of regeneration, economic development, housing and transport.
Now more than ever, more emphasis has been placed on the environmental management and planning of our cities. Graduates must acquire knowledge to solve problems and reshape the quality and performance of cities around the world.
Gain access to a wide range of career pathways in the natural and built environments with a Master of Sustainable Environments and Planning at Bond. Graduates will receive theoretical and practical skills to undertake environmental management, and urban and regional developments.
The Master of Sustainable Environments and Planning is delivered in intensive mode. Intensive mode delivery is a compact and time efficient way to complete a postgraduate qualification with minimal impact on professional and personal lifestyles. Each subject is delivered over two weekends during the semester. There are two sets of three-day sessions per subject, generally scheduled Thursday to Saturday (approximately six to eight contact hours per day) with a break of four or five weeks between session one and session two of each subject.
Participants will receive 40 hours of combined lectures, discussion groups, case studies and workshops during contact hours. International students are required to be on campus every week.
The program is also professionally recognised by some of Australia’s leading professional bodies. This allows graduates to differentiate themselves within the industry.
The Master of Sustainable Environments and Planning program focuses on Environmental Management as well as Urban Design & Planning. The Environmental Management component provides an in-depth examination of environmental management, including field work. The content is globally focused, providing qualifications that are in demand worldwide. Students may apply for a postgraduate industry internship in the final semester of the program. This includes the option of being involved in a client based environmental management capstone project or research dissertation. The Urban Design and Planning curriculum equips graduates with the theoretical and practical skills required to undertake the design, appraisal and management of urban and regional developments. With this qualification, professionals from a built environment background will be able to undertake urban planning and development at a professional level.
View the Master of Sustainable Environments and Planning - Program Structure and Sequencing
The structure of the Master of Sustainable Environments and Planning comprises both theoretical and practical subjects. This program is designed in close consultation with prominent industry professional boards to ensure the integrity and contemporary relevance of the degree.
This program enables you to exit after four (4) subjects with a graduate certificate, after eight (8) subjects with a graduate diploma or complete 12 subjects for a master’s degree.
Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Environments and Planning (4)
You must complete four (4) of the following subjects:
Graduate Diploma in Sustainable Environments and Planning (8)
If you have obtained a cognate undergraduate degree and seek accreditation by the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) you must complete the following eight (8) subjects:
If you are not seeking accreditation from PIA you may complete eight (8) subjects from the following:
Master of Sustainable Environments and Planning (12)
To complete a Master of Sustainable Environments and Planning, you must complete all of the following subjects:
Electives (2)
Students choose any two electives from the FSD list of postgraduate subjects.
This MSc will provide you with a broad education in international planning and a specialism in urban design, enabling you to acquire the knowledge and critical understanding to make a significant contribution to the management and design control processes of cities.
We live in a rapidly urbanising world. Over 50 percent of the world’s population now lives in cities and this trend predicted to increase over the next 30 years.
The most rapid growth has been within cities in Asia and the Global South and these cities now face critical urban problems and challenges related to over-crowding, congestion, pollution and environmental damage, poor and failing infrastructure, sharpening inequalities in wealth, health and well-being, and issues associated with privatised governance and non-democratic control. Increasingly, national governments and municipal authorities are turning to professionals and practitioners in urban planning and design to help understand, tackle and address these major problems and challenges.
Urban planning and design is fascinating and tackles the challenges of change in a rapidly urbanising world. Our MSc International Planning and Urban Design explores the major problems and dilemmas of global cities within the context of planning and urban design and presents potential solutions through planning and design interventions. There is strong emphasis upon theoretical, methodological and empirical ways of understanding these problems as well as developing the practical and professional skills and competencies necessary to develop and achieve solution.
You will be provided with a broad education in international planning and a specialism in urban design, enabling you to acquire the knowledge and critical understanding to make a significant contribution to the management and design control processes of cities, helping you shape your future career in professional practice.
The course is aimed at those wanting a career in the planning or urban design sector or policy environment (for instance, in the public and private sectors, Third Sector or non-governmental organisations) working on urban problems and solutions in an international context. It is also aimed at those wanting to move onto further academic research in planning and urban design.
Distinctive features
You will be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops, computer lab and studio work where relevant.
Lectures take a range of forms but generally provide a broad structure for each subject, introduce key concepts, and convey relevant up-to-date information. In seminars you’ll have the opportunity to discuss particular themes or topics, to consolidate and get feedback on your individual learning and to develop skills in oral presentation. In computer lab you will have the opportunity to learn various planning and research methods such as mapping, spatial analysis and statistics depending on the modules you take.
Studio work gives you the opportunity to learn various urban design skills such as site planning, street and neighbourhood level design, preparation and presentation of design boards and the use of urban design software.
You will practise and develop intellectual and presentational skills by participating in diverse learning activities, such as, small-group discussions, debates, oral presentations, independent research tasks and written assignments. You will also enhance your team-working skills.
After the completion of the programme, you will be able to work in a wide range of planning and urban design careers, including jobs in public, private and Third Sector organisations. It can involve policy-making (for instance, on urban and regional planning, urban design, sustainable urban development, housing, transport), consultancy on local and international development, project management, as well as further studies towards an academic career in planning and urban design studies.
This professionally accredited postgraduate programme has been carefully designed as a 'fast-track' conversion course for graduates of any discipline who wish to make a career in planning or in related fields. It aims to broaden students' appreciation of planning and urban theory whilst providing them with the necessary skills to engage in critical and creative problem-solving.
Students analyse the definition of, and solutions to, urban and regional planning problems and the nature of existing planning systems and practices. Emphasis is placed on the importance of a spatial and comparative perspective to planning and the need for integrated solutions to planning problems and the achievement of sustainable development.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme consists of five core modules (90 credits), one specialism with two modules (30 credits), and a research dissertation (60 credits).
A Postgraduate Diploma, five core modules (90 credits), two optional modules from the list of possible specialisms available (30 credits), full-time nine months, is offered.
Core modules
Optional modules
Students choose two linked modules from the following to form a specialist study area:
Dissertation/report
All MSc students undertake an independent research project, closely related to the specialist option chosen and linked to UK spatial planning. The project culminates in a dissertation of 10,000 words.
Teaching and learning
The programme is delivered through individual and group project work, skills-based practical and IT work, lectures, tutorials and seminars. A short field course based in a European city outside the UK will take place in the second term. Assessment is through individual and group work, essays, examination, skills-based practical work, and the dissertation.
Fieldwork
Students undertake two field trips (if studying on a part-time basis, both in the first year); one two-day trip in November to a British city and one five-day trip in February to a continental European city to learn about planning policies and issues in different contexts.
The cost of the field trip (flights and accommodation) is included in the programme fee.
Further information on modules and degree structure is available on the department website: Spatial Planning MSc
There are a number of sources of funding available specifically for students in The Bartlett School of Planning.
For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.
Graduates have been very successful in gaining subsequent employment, including core public and private sector planning careers (such as local government and local, national and international consultancies), as well as the housing and transport sectors; planning, urban regeneration and environmental agencies; public and private utility companies; think tanks and public policy organisations; environmental campaign groups; and teaching and research.
Employability
The programme equips graduates with a wide range of skills beneficial to employability including planning specific skills (an appreciation of policy-making and implementation, of spatial analysis, basic principles of urban design, social research and plan-making and decision-making processes) as well as more generic skills (group work, independent research, communication skills including presentation and writing, and problem solving skills).
Careers data is taken from the ‘Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education’ survey undertaken by HESA looking at the destinations of UK and EU students in the 2013–2015 graduating cohorts six months after graduation.
UCL's Bartlett School of Planning (BSP) has a strong history of teaching and research. It has been at the forefront of planning research and teaching for 100 years and is one of the foremost planning schools in the United Kingdom, with an international reputation. Based in the heart of London there is much for students to learn from being at the cutting-edge of policy-relevant critical debate, empirical study and research-led teaching. The staff profile is multidisciplinary and teaching staff are actively involved in shaping the theories and debates covered in their teaching. Our annual public lectures attract pre-eminent speakers from around the world and our student body has a broad, international profile.
Although situated within global and European contexts, the focus for the programme is primarily the UK, and particularly London. London is a complex setting that provides the natural and most accessible laboratory for BSP students. An emphasis on understanding the social and physical world will lead to a greater appreciation of how action or intervention shapes place. But at the same time, there is a concern with ethical issues as a framework for planned intervention.
This MSc programme is fully accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Accreditation:
The programme is fully accredited by both the RTPI and RICS. Students successfully completing the MSc in Spatial Planning are eligible for licentiate membership of either or both bodies, regardless of the subject focus of their undergraduate degree.
Planning guides the future development and use of land. It is about where development should happen, where it should not and how it affects the quality of our surroundings. Urban and regional planning strives to design and deliver equitable, inclusive and sustainable communities where people can live, work and enjoy their leisure time. This involves promoting and facilitating development while
protecting and enhancing the natural and built environment.
Our Urban and Regional Planning degree is designed to equip you with the knowledge and practical skills needed to work as a professional planner. You will develop the ability to ask the right questions and find creative solutions to the challenges facing communities and the built environment.
The MSc gives full exemption from all the educational requirements of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).
The MSc in Urban & Regional Planning is available full-time and part-time at Heriot-Watt's Edinburgh campus, or via flexible online Independent Distance Learning (IDL). Study via IDL is ideal for students in employment or with other commitments, providing flexible study options that fit around work or family. IDL students graduate with the same degree as students who undertake the programme on campus.
If your first language is not English, or your first degree was not taught in English, we’ll need to see evidence of your English language ability. The minimum requirement for English language is IELTS 6.5 or equivalent.
We offer a range of English language courses: http://www.hw.ac.uk/study/english.htm
This highly regarded programme will prepare you for a career in urban planning and development, where you may be required to shape and consider development proposals and devise or interpret plans and policies, negotiate and regulate development schemes, undertake community consultations, develop evidence and present reports to clients and decision makers. In line with our academic strengths in planning and development and real estate markets and investment, this Master’s programme will develop your specialist knowledge and skills in planning and development and equip you for a career in the private or public sector. The MSc Spatial Planning and Development is accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
The programme focuses on planning as it engages with economic and property development processes at all levels, from the site, neighbourhood, local, national and international. You will be able to concentrate on particular aspects of development planning to suit your interests and career aspirations (e.g. strategic, economic, environment, regeneration or countryside) and you will have the opportunity to undertake in-depth study, within a framework that emphasises integration, as well as apply your learning to another country through the European field study.
Programme
The MSc Spatial Planning and Development is recognised in the UK and more widely, to be one of the foremost planning programmes which develops both spatial planning competencies but also market aware planners who are well prepared for the orchestration and negotiation of development schemes. The programme has strong appeal for future employers in the private and public sectors because of the blend of analytical rigour and practical application. Many graduates of this programme, and its forerunners, have progressed to senior positions in the real estate and planning sector.
Real Estate & Planning
Our School is the largest in the UK for teaching and research in real estate and planning. Established in 1968 at the University of Reading, we are the only major UK real estate and planning centre to be located within a business school. Being part of the Henley Business School reflects our close and longstanding collaborative relationship with industry.
We enjoy a worldwide reputation for excellence in both teaching and research and we are consistently highly ranked in all major league tables. We undertake internationally recognised, leading edge research into real estate, planning and land and we offer a comprehensive range of undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses, all of which are accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Our planning courses are also fully accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute.
Our programmes are held in high regard by leading employers, many of whom come to us each year to recruit our graduates. We are proud of our outstanding employment record, with more than 95% of our students entering graduate level jobs within 6 months of leaving us.
Henley Business School:
Module descriptions are correct for modules taught in the academic year 2017/18. Optional module listings are indicative, and may be subject to change.
Compulsory Modules
Optional modules
from a range which may include:
Our graduates tell us that the programme has led to excellent and prestigious employment opportunities, helped in part by developing their commercial awareness as well as other key skills.
The MSc Spatial Planning and Development programme is a leader of its type and students benefit from its strong connections to industry and across the profession generally. Many successful graduates have been highly sought after by both private and public sector employers, including planning consultancies, development companies, local planning authorities and large multidisciplinary property firms.
Reading has an excellent reputation with the planning profession in both the private and public sectors. Our postgraduates tend to be sought after by employers and many find employment before graduating.
Our alumni association, The Reading Real Estate Foundation, organise career development and recruitment events for our students throughout the year. These include an evening lectures series with key industry speakers, an annual Careers Fair and our highly successful Mentoring Programme which pairs students with professionals in the industry.
We have a professional Careers Development Advisor, [email protected], who helps our students with every aspect of the career development process, including identifying work placement, internships and permanent career opportunities.
In the public sector there are varied options at the local, regional and national levels: government offices and departments, regional agencies and local planning authorities. The range and diversity of jobs and careers offered under the mantle of 'planning' is really very wide and stimulating. We will be happy to advise you in finding work experience and talk to you about your employment options during your time with us.
The MSc Spatial Planning and Development is accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
The first graduate program of its kind in the United States, the two-year Master of Science in Design and Urban Ecologies explores the urban complex and its interconnections with political, social, economic, and environmental systems. Using world cities like New York as a laboratory and working in transdisciplinary teams, students design processes for urban transformation alongside and with — not for — the communities most affected by these processes.
Bringing together the academic strengths of Parsons and other schools and colleges of The New School, this studio-based program trains graduates to become agents of change, working with the communities and institutions that shape urban ecosystems. Guided by internationally recognized urbanists, designers, and activists, students confront urgent problems facing cities and develop new research methodologies, design frameworks, and critical practices, using the city as an urban laboratory.
The 60-credit Master of Science in Design and Urban Ecologies program radically reframes the study of cities and urban design methodologies. By combining research, fieldwork, and participatory action, students gain a broad understanding of the complex forces that influence urban growth and development. In accordance with The New School’s historic commitment to social justice and design, students develop and implement innovative strategic projects that bring about real, transformative urban change.
This studio-driven program is part of Parsons' School of Design Strategies (SDS), and shares a 12-credit core curriculum with the 36-credit, research-based MA Theories of Urban Practice program. Explore our blog to see what students, faculty, and alumni are doing in NYC and around the world.
You can request more information here: http://www.newschool.edu/m/parsons-urban?utm_source=find_a_masters&utm_medium=hyperlink_listing&utm_campaign=pm_parsons_grad&utm_term=design_urban_ecologies
Focus areas include community organizing, the solidarity economy, food systems, public space, housing, infrastructure, public transportation, nonprofit management, cultural development, environmental equity, and socially engaged art and technology. Graduates are prepared for careers in urban design; urban and regional planning; public and urban policy; social, cultural, and environmental enterprises; community organizing; research; nonprofit management; teaching; government administration; municipal and regional development; and consulting. The program also provides a foundation for those who wish to pursue doctoral studies at top universities around the world.
Graduates are prepared for careers in urban design; urban and regional planning; public and urban policy; social, cultural, and environmental enterprises; community organizing; research; nonprofit management; teaching; government administration; municipal and regional development; and consulting. The program also provides a foundation for those who wish to pursue doctoral studies at top universities around the world.
You can request more information on future opportunities here: http://www.newschool.edu/m/parsons-urban?utm_source=find_a_masters&utm_medium=hyperlink_listing&utm_campaign=pm_parsons_grad&utm_term=design_urban_ecologies
The MSc Regional and Urban Planning Studies is a unique planning programme as it is based on the economics, geography and the politics of land-use planning, drawing on LSE’s strength in interdisciplinary teaching.
The programme has a long tradition in training both people seeking careers in urban and regional planning policy and mid-career professionals. It attracts students from all over the world including North and South America, Asia and Europe.
The MSc aims to provide a common understanding of the various influences affecting the planning process, and to teach a set of research skills that will help planners in practice. These skills include urban and regional economic analysis, the evaluation of environmental and regional policies and the study of institutional and political factors that impact city and regional development.
We provide strong professional linkages through our very active alumni network and links to the Association of European Planning Schools. This programme benefits from a partnership agreement with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), thus conferring professional recognition upon graduation.
Our graduates typically go on to careers in planning consultancies, local and regional government, real estate and property development, and community advocacy organisations.
Further information on graduate destinations for this programme
The Graduate Diploma of Sustainable Environments and Planning provides two specialisations: Environmental Management or Urban Design and Planning. The Environmental Management specialisation provides an in-depth examination of environmental management, including field work. The content is globally focused, providing qualifications that are in demand worldwide. Students specialising in Environmental Management may apply for a postgraduate industry internship in the final semester of the program. This includes the option of being involved in a client based environmental management capstone project or research dissertation. The Urban Design and Planning curriculum equips graduates with the theoretical and practical skills required to undertake the design, appraisal and management of urban and regional developments. With this qualification, professionals from a built environment background will be able to undertake urban planning and development at a professional level.
Intensive Mode Delivery is a compact and time efficient way to complete a postgraduate qualification with minimal impact on professional and personal lifestyles. Each subject is delivered over two weekends during the semester. There are two sets of three day sevssions per subject, scheduled Thursday to Saturday (approximately six to eight contact hours per day) with a break of four or five weeks between session one and session two of each subject.
Participants will receive 40 hours of combined lectures, discussion groups, case studies and workshops during contact hours. International students are required to be on campus every week.
The majority of the world’s population now lives in urban areas, with urban management, sustainability and climate change becoming fundamental challenges for the government, private and community sectors in Australia and around the world. Professionals working within the natural and built environments must possess comprehensive knowledge and skills in the areas of economics, entrepreneurship, development, policy, science, sustainable practices and technology.
View the Graduate Diploma of Sustainable Environments and Planning - Program Structure and Sequencing.
If you have obtained a cognate undergraduate degree and seek accreditation by the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) you must complete the following eight subjects:
If you are not seeking accreditation from PIA you may complete eight subjects from the following:
Spatial planners are fascinated by on-going and future changes in cities and regions and take on the role as managers of those spatial transformations - think of: regenerating shopping districts or old industrial sites; designating water retention areas; shaping urban mobility concepts for the future. Related challenges vary in scale, from individual property to European policy making.
The Master's in Spatial Planning has the subtitle ‘managing smart cities and regions’. This reflects the challenges of current and future urban societies, at a time that ambitions for a ‘New Urban Agenda’ for the 21st century are formulated, with policies and strategies to create more sustainable and equitable urban spaces.
You can choose a specialisation that best reflects your passion for spatial planning:
Find out more on our website: http://www.ru.nl/masters/spatial
If you are interested in developing a different understanding of planning and forms of practices and you want to create socially, environmentally, economically just places, come study our Master's in Spatial Planning!
