The regeneration and development of cities provides the focus for this MSc. We provide you with a range of intellectual and professional skills or practice in urban regeneration and development in both public and private sectors, including local authorities and central government bodies, local regeneration partnerships, regeneration consultancies and private developers.
Informal enquiries, prior to applications, are welcomed. Please contact: Iain Deas (Programme Director) | Tel: +44(0)161 306 6689 | Email: [email protected]
You will gain:
An overseas field visit is an optional part of the programme if students choose to undertake the relevant optional course unit: International Planning (Field Visit). The cost of the visit is partly covered by the course fee but there is a student contribution towards the cost of the trip, depending on the venue. Recent fieldtrip locations have included Barcelona, Amsterdam, Belfast, Dublin and Toronto.
Fieldcourses may be scheduled at any point during the twelve-month period of the degree programme and this may include time during University vacations. Successful applicants are expected to be available to attend. Countries to be visited may change their immigration and visa regulations at short notice. The School cannot guarantee that where visas are required for the field course, they will be granted. The School will ensure that, in the unlikely event that a visa is refused, affected students are not academically disadvantaged.
The programme also includes a module that introduces students to the excitement of working within a professional, `real world' context on a 'live' consultancy project. Working with industrial partners, students will be asked to complete a piece of work on an area of planning, urban regeneration, or environmental management - depending on their chosen specialism - to a standard that is expected and demanded in the planning, environmental management or development professions. This core module is highly regarded by employers and students alike.
Part-time Study
Part-time students complete the full-time programme over 27 months. There are no evening or weekend course units available on the part-time programme, therefore if you are considering taking a programme on a part-time basis, you should discuss the requirements with the Programme Director and seek approval from your employer to have the relevant time off. Timetabling information is normally available from late August from the Programme Administrator and you will have the opportunity to discuss course unit choices during induction week with the Programme Director.
Assessment methods are largely individually-based, but may also involve some elements of group-working and submission. Overall, you are continuously assessed via a range of methods, including essays and report writing, topic papers and critical reviews, project portfolios and assessed workshop presentations.
A 15,000-word dissertation on an approved topic is discussed and chosen at the beginning of the second semester and a suitable supervisor allocated. Initial work focuses upon an overview of the chosen topic, a literature review and the design of the methodology to be adopted. During the latter part of Semester 2 and over the summer you undertake the necessary research and analysis, culminating in the writing of your dissertation.
The Arthur Lewis Building provides excellent resources including analytical laboratories, studio facilities, workshops, seminar rooms, an on-site cafe and dedicated computer clusters including GIS facilities.
Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service. Email: [email protected]
Tackling skills deficiencies in the field, identified by various papers and reviews, and by the Academy for Sustainable Communities (2007) and the Audit Commission (2008), our course meets the needs of a job market in central and local government, regeneration partnerships, consultancies and non-governmental organisations. It can lead to a professional career as a chartered surveyor or (with an appropriate undergraduate degree) planning professional.
The course fulfils the criteria for full dual accreditation from both the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Accreditation from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is under the Planning and Development (P&D) specialism.
This MSc engages with a great challenge facing urban professionals: the decay of cities and their planned renaissance. It will equip you with the ability to critically analyse complex urban issues, the boldness to address those issues in a creative, strategic manner and the confidence to propose appropriate implementation plans.
You will acquire the latest knowledge of the social, economic and spatial issues involved in regenerating urban areas and you will gain a case-based, multidisciplinary experience of real urban regeneration schemes. The programme provides a platform for informed reflection on the latest theory and practice and will develop your creative thinking and problem-solving abilities.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits in total.
The programme consists of six core modules (90 credits), two optional modules (30 credits) and a research dissertation (60 credits).
A Postgraduate Diploma, six core modules (90 credits), two optional modules (30 credits, full-time nine months, is offered.
A Postgraduate Certificate, four core modules (60 credits), full-time six months, is also available.
Core modules
Optional modules
You can choose optional modules from across UCL which may include the following specialisms:
Dissertation/report
In order to develop your research skills and critical thinking you will undertake an independent research project which culminates in a dissertation of 10,000 words.
Teaching and learning
The programme is delivered through individual and group project work, lectures, tutorials, seminars and workshops. You will participate for free in a field trip to mainland Europe and several site visits in the UK. You will be assessed through essays, individual and group projects, presentations, reports, an unseen written examination and the dissertation.
We make every effort to bundle teaching for the core modules on two days per week so that students studying on a flexible basis can attend lectures one day per week. However, due to timetabling and venue availability restrictions no guarantee can be given that we will be able to offer this every year. There is also no guarantee that the electives you may wish to choose will be offered on the same day as the rest of your classes. Your coursework may require you to dedicate more than one slot per week to fieldwork or study.
Fieldwork
A field trip will take place in the Reading Week of term two.
There are no additional costs involved in the field trip.
Graduates have been very successful in finding jobs in a wide variety of public, private and third sector organisations in the UK and around the world. Your career following graduation may include employment in a diverse range of areas like planning, real estate, regeneration and economic development consultancies; national and regional regeneration, housing and economic development agencies; local authorities; specific regeneration and local economic development programmes as well as voluntary and community sector organisations and NGOs. You may also wish to continue with further research for a PhD degree.
Recent career destinations for this degree
Employability
The programme will equip you with up-to-date knowledge, creative skills and a unique way of thinking about the built environment in an integrated manner. A diverse range of employers readily appreciate these attributes and often make direct requests for recommendations.
The Bartlett School of Planning has been at the forefront of planning research and teaching in the UK and internationally since 1914. The programme, one of the oldest in The Bartlett, is delivered by globally distinguished academics.
You will be engaged with practitioners, alumni and academic guests through seminars, site visits and workshops in the UK and overseas. Upon graduation you will join both the UCL alumni network and the Urban Regeneration MSc network.
Following graduation you will also be eligible to apply for membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Institute of Economic Development (IED) and, depending on your elective modules, the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).
Whether you are a recent graduate in a related subject or you are a professional working in the field, this innovative course will investigate the latest issues and developments in housing, regeneration and urban management. It is delivered in a vibrant city where investment and large-scale developments will offer scope to apply your knowledge and hone your skills on real-life projects.
You will develop expertise in leadership and management, community engagement and spatial planning, and you will learn to appraise and implement policy while keeping a critical eye on the contemporary housing and regeneration field. Taught through interactive seminars, your learning will benefit from the input of leading practitioners working in partnership with planners and urban designers.
You will be entitled to free student membership of the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Chartered Institute of Housing, ensuring you will benefit from career guidance and networking opportunities from the moment you join the course.
You will be guided by staff with extensive hands-on experience in industry. Our Built Environment research team have contracts with the UK government and governments across Europe, as well as links with local authorities, social enterprises and leading housing companies, ensuring your learning remains current and up to date.
Research Excellence Framework 2014
Research Excellence Framework 2014: our University's results for the Architecture, Built Environment and Planning unit, which it entered for the first time, were impressive with 37% of its research being rated world leading or internationally excellent.
You will be able to progress your career with local authorities, development agencies, housing associations, voluntary sector organisations or enterprise partnerships. Our graduates have held senior management positions in local councils and for some of the country’s top housing companies, leading complex regeneration and development projects.
The Urban Design MArch is a design-oriented and project-based programme, with a strong research component, which aims to enhance the quality of our cities by bringing innovative design into a new relationship with the latest theoretical research on the special structure of urban form.
The programme aims to bridge the gap between architecture and urbanism, and has a strong emphasis on physical design and radical experimentation, combined with rigorous analysis and state-of-the-art theories and methodologies. Students explore design decisions at both a strategic level and the more detailed level of urban regeneration.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme consists of four core modules (105 credits) and an urban design final project (75 credits).
A Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits, full-time nine months) is offered.
Core modules
Optional modules
Research project/design project
The programme culminates with students undertaking a major design project, the 'Urban Design Final Project' in combination with an individual written submission, the 'Design Thesis Report'.
Teaching and learning
The programme is delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops, case-study presentations, site visits and field trips. As a project-orientated programme, all theoretical research work and experimental design exploration culminates in physical design propositions for specific design projects. Assessment is through design portfolio, essays, oral presentations and a written design report.
Fieldwork
There is one field trip (optional) annually as part of the programme.
The maximum cost to the student is £500
Further information on modules and degree structure is available on the department website: Urban Design MArch
UCL Bartlett graduates have been very successful in gaining subsequent employment. At present there is a growing demand for our Master's graduates from a wide range of both public and private employers. Graduates of the programme have gone on to work principally in the field of urban design, architecture and urban regeneration.
Recent career destinations for this degree
Employability
Study at the UCL Bartlett is enriched by the vibrant community of specialist consultants, partners and research associates who provide valuable contact with industry and academia. Many of our staff are themselves in practice. Our students benefit from the most advanced and broad suite of facilities available in any such faculty in the EU. This combination of networks, knowledge and technical expertise makes our graduates some of the most sought after in the world. Some choose to continue with academic research and others go on to roles in architecture, urban design and the built environment.
The UCL Bartlett is the UK's largest multidisciplinary built environment faculty, bringing together scientific and professional specialisms required to research, understand, design, construct and operate the buildings and urban environments of the future.
Located in London, we are at the heart of a large cluster of creative architects and engineering firms, next to the UK's seat of government and finance and with all the resources of a world city to hand.
APPLY BY 3 MAY 2018!
As events and transformations of the recent decades have forcefully shown, the urban question permeates all major social, economic and political developments of today. The two-year Master’s programme in Urban Studies critically engages with the wide-ranging manifestation of contemporary urbanity. What shapes have the processes of urbanisation assumed today? How are urban spaces produced?
The programme foregrounds the unitary perspective of the city as a physical space, a social space and a space of design. It combines rigorous academic research with intensive fieldwork. The programme is situated at the trans-disciplinary crossroad of urban studies, urbanism and urban planning, architecture theory, sociology, urban ethnography and geography. Our students have academic backgrounds in architecture, social sciences or humanities. Integrating critical interrogation and experimental practice, the programme has a triple focus on social uses, spatial programmes and urban forms.
The form of assignments includes term-long research studios, intensive workshops, lectures, seminars and field trips. The distinctive mark of the Urban Studies programme is its reliance on theoretically-informed action in the field. We take students’ efforts seriously: the programme engages ‘real’ actors and create opportunities for public presentation, discussion and publication of the best works.
The Master’s programme is fully in English and has a strong international orientation. We cooperate with a network of partner institutions in Europe, and we are connected to regional partners in Finland, the Baltic countries and Russia. The curriculum includes a number of workshops and lecture courses by international scholars, architects, urban planners and activists.
The education prepares students to engage with urban issues at the intersection between design practice, political practice and theoretical knowledge (urban design, urban and spatial planning, state and municipal policy making, public expertise, community advocacy, social activism, academic and practice-based research). Our graduates work in public administrations, urbanism-focused NGOs, architecture design offices, private consultancies and advocacy organisations. The programme also prepares graduates for further study at the PhD level.
Knowledge and skills
The broad themes of the first three semesters are: 1) key concepts in urban studies, urban history; 2) urban scenarios and urban agenda setting; and 3) urban regeneration, the logic of urban interventions. The fourth semester is reserved for the Master’s Thesis project and Master Studio.
Structure of the Curriculum
Pedagogically, the curriculum consists of:
In many courses, Urban Studies students work in collaboration with students of architecture and urban landscapes. The student groups are small, and there are more contact hours per credit than in most comparable programmes.
In an increasingly urbanised world, there is growing international demand for urban design graduates. This course will equip you with the knowledge and skills you need to participate in this rapidly expanding profession. Urban design involves shaping the physical setting for life in cities. The pace of urban change, and the challenge of making cities efficient, sustainable and meaningful, demands creative solutions to design and management. The Urban Design courses at Westminster provide a coherent approach to issues that face our cities, combining structured academic study with live design projects, allowing you to develop practical skills, a theoretical understanding and an informed approach to sustainable urban development.
Our Urban Design course is one of the largest and longest established in the UK. It enjoys an excellent reputation and our graduates are highly respected in the profession. Our students are from a variety of professions and backgrounds, including architecture, landscape architecture and planning, from the UK, Europe, and across the globe. They range from recent graduates seeking to expand their skill base before commencing their career or those considering a shift from an allied profession, to established professionals seeking to specialise or develop a more informed critical approach. Our central London location allows you to interact with a huge variety of practitioners and organisations, as well as drawing on the city’s huge range of resources; you will be at the heart of the debate over the future of cities.
The course places a strong emphasis on design, practical outputs and a multidisciplinary approach. While focusing on UK examples, the lessons from the courses are applicable to a wide range of international and economic contexts. This flexible and student-centred approach is highly valued by former graduates and their employers. The course is delivered by staff with many years' experience in practice, education, training, research, and consultancy in the UK and overseas. Outputs from the course combine into a portfolio demonstrating your ability to deal with the complexities of urban design in a practical and informed manner.
The following modules are indicative of what you study on this course.
Core modules
Optional modules
Graduates of this course typically find employment as urban designers in private consultancy or local authorities. Many find the course useful when developing careers in architecture, planning or landscape architecture.
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:
The MSc in Sustainable Urbanism has been designed to bring together urban sustainability theory, policy and design in a ground-breaking programme which is not offered anywhere else in the UK. It is intended for those interested in a career in built environment related professions with a focus on urban sustainability/sustainable development and takes a multidisciplinary approach.
This MSc offers urban professionals a theoretical understanding of the range of disciplines that together contribute to the delivery of sustainable urbanism, and explores the conceptual and technical skills necessary to create sustainable urban environments. The programme includes an integral field trip which offers students the opportunity to observe and consider sustainability in practice.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme consists of six core modules (90 credits), optional modules (30 credits) and a research project (60 credits).
A Postgraduate Diploma, six core modules (90 credits), two elective modules (30 credits), full-time nine months is offered.
Core modules
Optional modules
Options may include the following:
Dissertation/report
All MSc students undertake an independent research project which culminates in either a dissertation of 10,000-words or project work equivalent.
Teaching and learning
The programme is delivered through theoretical discussions, focused case study methods and hands-on project work. It includes an integral field trip to an overseas location, including site visits, field exercises and guest lectures. Assessment is through individual and group work, essays, examination, skills-based practical work, and the personal project.
Further information on modules and degree structure is available on the department website: Sustainable Urbanism MSc
Graduate students from The Bartlett School of Planning have been very successful in gaining subsequent employment. At present there is a growing demand for our Master's graduates from a wide range of both public and private employers around the world. While a main source of employment remains in local government and central government planning and in planning-related consultancy (Arup, Aecom, BioRegional, WWF, Future of London, etc), graduates are also employed in the housing and transport sectors; planning, urban regeneration and environmental agencies; public and private utility companies; urban design consultancy (various planning, engineering and architecture firms); and teaching and research.
Employability
This programme is ideal for those who have no relevant work experience and want to forge a planning career right through to those who have extensive relevant work experience but want to consolidate their skills and knowledge. Students are taught by a range of theorists and sustainable urbanism practitioners including Bill Dunster (founder of ZEDfactory Ltd), Professor Yvonne Rydin, Dr Catalina Turcu and Professor Matthew Carmona.
The UCL Bartlett School of Planning has a strong history of teaching and research, and has been at the forefront of planning research and teaching for almost 100 years. It is one of the foremost planning schools in the United Kingdom, and students are taught by a range of top theorists and practitioners working in the field of sustainable urbanism.
This MSc programme is fully accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). It is also accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) if taken as a specialist year following an accredited three-year undergraduate planning degree.
This course is aimed at built environment professionals and others with a relevant background who wish to gain an in-depth understanding of planning and sustainable development, whether to improve career prospects in their country or enter international practice. Through the course you will examine the growing problems of sustainable development facing cities, regions and communities in a rapidly urbanising world, subject to growing climate change and other environmental, economic and social pressures and risks.
Based in London, you will have access to internationally recognised experience of spatial planning for sustainable development, and explore contemporary theories, public policy thinking and good practice in planning in both the developed and developing worlds. The University of Westminster is the UK's first Habitat Partner University. We work with UN-HABITAT and like-minded institutions to promote the socially and environmentally sustainable development of towns, cities and regions, in accordance with the UN Millennium Development Goals.
This course addresses the growing problems of sustainable development facing cities and communities in a rapidly urbanising world. It explores contemporary theories, public policy thinking and good practice in planning that spans both developed and developing world contexts, and offers you the opportunity to explore one area of specialism in a related field in some depth.
There are two Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)-accredited pathways through the course. The Spatial Planning Pathway has a strong urban design component and an emphasis on the development planning process. The Urban Resilience Pathway provides a sustainable development-focused route with a core emphasis on climate change mitigation and adaptation planning. Both pathways cover all these aspects to some degree.
The following modules are indicative of what you will study on this course. Other modules with course-related learning outcomes may be taken subject to timetabling constraints and the agreement of the Course and Module Leaders.
Core modules – both pathways
Core module for Spatial Planning Pathway
Core module for Urban Resilience Pathway
Optional modules
The course is fully accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) as a "combined planning programme".
Students on the course are most likely to be working in a relevant built environment or sustainable development-related profession. Overseas students may be receiving a government bursary. Graduates from the course may secure promotion within their existing or a new related area of work, or move onto more responsible positions within 18 months of completing their studies. This may include management posts or the responsibility for project or policy development. It is expected that graduates will enhance their potential to be considered for development positions outside their home country.
Graduates from this course can expect to find employment as planners or urban designers, urban regeneration or environmental management specialists in private consultancy, local and national government, and non-governmental sectors in their own country or internationally, including international development agencies.
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.
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