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:
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.
In an increasingly urbanised world, there is growing international demand for urban design graduates. These courses 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 programme 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 will 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 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.
The Urban Development Planning MSc explores international practices in urban development policy, planning and management that address contemporary spatial, socio-economic and political transformations in cities of the Global South.
This MSc aims to equip participants to work effectively as development practitioners in urban contexts through a deeper understanding of the processes that generate urban change. The programme aims to enhance their diagnostic and strategic capacities to respond to such change within the framework of socially just urban governance.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme consists of three core modules (90 credits), either one or two optional modules (30 credits) and a dissertation (60 credits).
A Postgraduate Diploma, three core modules (90 credits), one optional module (30 credits), full-time nine months, is offered.
Core modules
Optional modules
Please note, not all optional modules may be available.
Dissertation/report
All MSc students submit a 10,000-word report on a topic related to the main themes of the programme. The topic can be chosen to enhance career development or for its inherent interest.
Teaching and learning
The programme is delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars, group work, workshops and field trips. Field trips so far have taken place in Egypt, Ghana, India, Thailand, and Tanzania. Student performance is assessed through essays, coursework, team project reports, written examinations, the overseas field trip and a 10,000-word dissertation.
This MSc is widely recognised by international organisations and agencies (such as UN agencies and the World Bank) and bilateral aid organisations from different countries. Graduate destinations range from UK-based organisations in the public, private and community sectors to governmental, inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations which operate in a development capacity in the South. Graduates have also been employed by international NGOs and aid and development agencies. Some graduates return to their home countries and engage in the practice, teaching or research of urban development practice; other graduates have successfully sought employment in international development organisations away from their own countries.
Recent career destinations for this degree
Employability
The programme aims to help students:
This programme argues that planning is key to dealing with urban problems and opportunities presented by rapid urbanisation in the Global South, but that its potential cannot be harnessed without a critical understanding of the processes that generate urban change in specific contexts.
The programme seeks to equip students with the capacity to develop critical diagnoses of urban issues, as a basis for developing propositional responses within the framework of socially, spatially and environmentally just urban governance.
The programme promotes a deeper understanding of community-led and partnership-based urban development planning. Students also benefit from the Development Planning Unit's longstanding and geographically exhaustive alumni and partner network.
This Master's programme has a unique focus on urban design as a creative planning tool and the interface between urban design and city planning. It offers a comprehensive understanding and exposure to urban design theory and practice, and also the complexity of its interface with the city planning field.
The programme equips students theoretically and practically, engaging academically and in practice with urban design and related fields of knowledge. Students will learn how to think critically, creatively and in analytical ways across the different city scales, from strategic to local, and across urban design, city planning, place-making, real estate and sustainability arenas.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme consists of eight compulsory modules (120 credits), and a research dissertation or major research project (60 credits).
A Postgraduate Diploma, eight modules (120 credits) full-time nine months and part-time 2-5 years, is offered.
A Postgraduate Certificate, four core modules (60 credits), full-time nine months is offered.
Core modules
Dissertation/research project
MSc students have the choice between a 10,000-word dissertation or 8,000-word final major research project in planning; the dissertation being by nature a rather more analytical exercise and the project a rather more propositional one.
Teaching and learning
The programme is delivered through a combination of individual and group project work, skills-based practical and IT work, lectures (including some by visiting practitioners), tutorials, student presentations, seminars, field trips and direct practitioner involvement. Student performance is assessed through individual and group work, essays, examinations, project work, other skills-based practical work, and a dissertation or final research project report.
Graduate students from the Bartlett School of Planning have been very successful in gaining subsequent employment. There is growing demand for our Master's graduates from a wide range of both public and private employers. On completion of this programme the majority of graduates will work in either the public or private consultancy sectors. A minority will continue in higher degree studies and research.
Employability
The Urban Design and City Planning MSc is an opportunity for students seeking to further their professional careers to specialise in urban design and, within that broad arena, to engage deeply with both the theoretical debates and practice methodologies, with particular research agendas of direct relevance to the future of their professional practice.
The Bartlett School of Planning has a strong history of teaching and research at all levels. The school has been at the forefront of planning research and teaching for more than 100 years and is one of the foremost planning schools in the United Kingdom, with an international reputation.
This programme is fully accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
The Bartlett School of Planning is situated in the heart of London, which offers unique opportunities to study the complexities of contemporary urban design and planning processes, and engage with practitioners, alumni and academic guests through seminars, site visits and workshops.
The International Planning MSc provides a strong international and comparative focus on planning, urban theory and practice. The scope of the programme primarily encompasses Europe, North America, Australia, South Africa and the Far East, and increasingly China and South-East Asia.
Students develop an appreciation of planning approaches and systems, alongside an understanding of planning as a culturally specific, context-dependent activity taking different forms in different countries and regions. The programme aims to provide students with a broad range of skills and knowledge in planning and urban theory in a global context while offering them the opportunity to develop a specialisation.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme consists of six core modules (90 credits), one specialism with two modules (30 credits), a research dissertation (60 credits), and a field trip (not credit bearing).
A Postgraduate Diploma, six 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 which culminates in a dissertation of 10,000 words.
Teaching and learning
The programme is delivered through a combination of individual and group project work, skills-based practical and IT work, traditional lectures, tutorials and seminars, field trips and direct practitioner involvement. Student performance is assessed through individual and group work, essays, examination, and skills-based practical work.
Fieldwork
There is a field study trip in Reading Week in term two (which is part of assessed module BENVGPLG. (View the video of 2015/16 cohort's trip to Barcelona.)
Further information on modules and degree structure is available on the department website: International Planning MSc
International Planning graduates have been very successful in gaining subsequent employment in various sectors. At present, there is a growing demand for our graduates from a wide range of both public and private employers in the UK and abroad. They are employed in both local and central government internationally, in global planning-related consultancies, as well as in a wide range of other related sectors, such as housing, transport and urban regeneration, as well as in public and private utility companies, teaching and research.
Recent career destinations for this degree
Employability
Recent graduates of the MSc in International Planning have gone on to work in a variety of international contexts and roles including leading London-based planning, design and architecture consultancies; UK-based local authorities and government offices; overseas government offices and ministries; overseas private sector consultancies in planning, design, construction and development; non-for-profit organisations and charities worldwide; academic research and teaching.
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 has a strong history of teaching and research. The school has been at the forefront of planning research and teaching for nearly 100 years and is one of the foremost planning schools in the United Kingdom, with an international reputation.
This MSc programme is fully accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Based in the heart of London there is much for students to learn from being at the forefront 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.
The Research Excellence Framework, or REF, is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. The 2014 REF was carried out by the UK's higher education funding bodies, and the results used to allocate research funding from 2015/16.
The following REF score was awarded to the department: Bartlett School of Planning
81% rated 4* (‘world-leading’) or 3* (‘internationally excellent’)
Learn more about the scope of UCL's research, and browse case studies, on our Research Impact website.
This new MSc brings a cross-disciplinary focus to transport and urban planning which is unique, aiming to foster “smart solutions” to the current critical challenges of transitioning to sustainable travel behaviours and sustainable cities in the UK and internationally. The programme draws on the latest thinking and debates in transport, urban planning and mega infrastructure project development.
The aim of the MSc is to enable students to work effectively as transport and planning practitioners, moving beyond the ‘disciplinary silos’ usually found in academia and practice. A key feature of the MSc is its integrative design across disciplines, developing a range of different theories and perspectives, with modules linked by common principles.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme consists of six core modules (90 credits), two optional modules (30 credits) and a dissertation/report (60 credits).
A Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits, full-time nine months) is offered.
Core modules
Optional modules
Choose two from a list which may include the following:
Dissertation/report
All students undertake an independent research project which culminates in a dissertation in transport and city planning of 10,000 words.
Teaching and learning
The programme is delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars, project work, and site visits. Assessment is through examinations, essays, group/individual projects and presentation, and a dissertation.
Further information on modules and degree structure is available on the department website: Transport and City Planning MSc
The programme is attractive to candidates who wish to work across disciplines, and at the strategic policy development levels, with urban planning, geography, transport planning or engineering graduates, or wider specialists, who see their future work in transport planning as part of the design of sustainable cities. 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 postgraduates from a wide range of both private and public employers, within the transport planning or urban planning professions, or the nexus of strategy development and implementation.
Employability
This programme will equip students with the skills needed to work effectively as transport and planning practitioners in urban contexts in the public or third sector, for example in consultancy, central government, Transport for London (TfL), Greater London Authority (GLA), metropolitan authorities, local authorities, international investment banks, quangos and lobby groups. Potential employers also include international consultancies; we have close links and have worked with many of these companies such as Halcrow, CH2M and Arup.
The UCL Bartlett is the UK's largest multidisciplinary Faculty of the Built Environment, bringing together scientific and professional specialisms required to research, understand, design, construct and operate the buildings and urban environments of the future.
There is a strong focus on transport and city planning in research activities at the UCL Bartlett. Current activities include: VIBAT (Visioning and Backcasting for Transport), SINTROPHER (innovative public transport options in peripheral regions), SYNAPTIC (the seamless travel journey), the OMEGA centre (the planning and delivery of major infrastructure projects) and we work with various project sponsors such as Transport for London, the Asian Development Bank and European Investment Bank.
The MSc has Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) accreditation as a ‘specialist’ four-year programme. Candidates can also apply to become members of the Transport Planning Society (TPS), Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT), or related organisations, on subscription.
This course provides a specialist understanding of the relationship between urban design and planning by focusing on issues that are of international significance.
The course is fully accredited by the RTPI and will provide you with the core knowledge and competencies needed to become a chartered planner and specialise in urban design and international planning.
Informal enquiries, prior to applications, are welcomed. Please contact: Dr Phil Black (Programme Director) | Tel: +44(0)161 275 2815 | Email: [email protected]
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. Countries to be visited may change their immigration and visa regulations at short notice. The School of Environment, Education and Development cannot guarantee that where visas are required for the field course, they will be granted but will ensure that, in the unlikely event that a visa is refused, affected students are not academically disadvantaged.
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 individual-based, but may also involve some elements of group work and submission. You are continually assessed via a range of methods including essays, portfolios, presentations, and topic papers. You will be required to submit a dissertation of approximately 15,000 words that can focus on crucial planning debates in an international context, urban design debates or a combination. Alternatively, students may submit a Design Study supported by a report of 10,000 words.
All fees for entry will be subject to yearly review and incremental rises per annum are also likely over the duration of courses lasting more than a year for UK/EU students (fees are typically fixed for International students, for the course duration at the year of entry). For general fees information please visit: postgraduate fees . Always contact the department if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.
Self-funded international applicants for this course will be required to pay a deposit of £1000 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. This deposit will only be refunded if immigration permission is refused. We will notify you about how and when to make this payment.
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]
This course has been specifically designed to equip you for professional practice in urban design and planning in a fast moving international market. Oportunities will arise in both the private and public sectors across global consultancies, development companies, government departments and agencies, and third sector organisations.
A number of professional practitioners are engaged in teaching on this course making for a theoretically informed, practice-orientated approach to teaching and learning. Our overseas fieldtrip provides an opportunity for you to gain knowledge and experience of urban design and planning in practice in an international setting.
The course is fully accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute.
You will gain:
