University of Birmingham - College of Life and Environmental Sciences
MSc in Sustainable Urban Planning and Design
Birmingham, United Kingdom
MSc
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
GBP 28,080 / per year **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for international students | 28 August 2026 - for home students
** for international full-time | £14,040 - for international part-time | £11,250 - for UK full-time | £5,625 - for UK part-time
Key Summary
About: You'll critically analyze challenges faced by urban areas in designing sustainable, inclusive, healthy environments, evaluating mitigation strategies and policies. The MSc combines traditional planning competence with interdisciplinary perspectives, a unique 'Sustainable Places' studio, and practitioner-led opportunities to build practical research and design skills for city planning, urban design, spatial planning, resilience, and environmental planning.
Career Outcomes: Graduates move into planning practice, urban design, real estate, construction, consultancy, policymaking, business and industry. You could work as an urban planner, urban designer, policy analyst, environmental or sustainability consultant, infrastructure or development planner, or placemaking and community engagement officer, urban governance, regeneration.
Critically analyse the challenges faced by urban areas in designing sustainable, inclusive, and healthy urban environments, evaluating the effectiveness of various mitigation strategies and policies.
High-quality planning and design are at the heart of transforming our cities to meet our future needs. Students taking this programme will be at the cutting edge of this transition toward a more sustainable and healthy planet.
Cities are the engines of our economies, societies and cultures, where the majority of the population live, work and play. To make a more sustainable world, we need to make more sustainable cities.
High-quality planning and design are essential, and the next generation of professionals working in the field needs to be able to tackle the sustainability challenges facing cities today and in the future.
This course is aimed at people who want to make a difference to the world they live in, learning about international best practice, while building practical skills in research and design to tackle complex problems.
- Combining a grounding in traditional planning competence with interdisciplinary perspectives to tackle sustainability challenges.
- A unique ‘Sustainable Places’ studio module building design skills and hands-on approaches
- Opportunities to work with practitioners to explore planning theories in real-world contexts.
You will study six core modules, plus one optional module and a dissertation of 12,000 words.
The modules listed below are an indication only and may be subject to change. Occasionally, it may be necessary to make changes to modules, for example, to ensure they remain current and relevant.
The following must be taken:
- Dissertation for Urban Planning and Design
- Introduction to Spatial Planning
- Sustainable Places Studio
- Sustainable Cities
You must choose two 20-credit modules from the following list:
- Advances in Water Science and River Management
- Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
- Green Infrastructure and Health
- Quantitative Research Methods
- Urbanity and well-being
- Top 100 in the World for Geography (QS World University Rankings 2025)
- 17th in the UK for Geography (QS World University Rankings 2025)
To help you afford your studies, we’ve put more than £33 million into student support and scholarships. We also offer a range of advice on searching for funding and managing your finances.
Scholarships for international students
At Birmingham, we believe in removing all barriers to education, so all of our talented students can achieve their full potential. As an international student, you can take advantage of our wide range of University-run scholarships as well as the many scholarships and bursaries from external funding organisations.
Graduates from our planning programmes go on to careers linked to planning practice, urban design, real estate, construction and allied professions. The programme is also valued by employers in wider fields such as consultancy, policymaking, business and industry.
Wednesday 18 March - 14:00 - 18:00
The programme is taught through a mixture of traditional lectures, group seminars, studio sessions, fieldwork and opportunities for original research.
- Two 20-credit modules in each of Semesters 1 and 2
- A 40-credit studio module takes place in Semesters 1 and 2
- A 60-credit project module which runs across the whole year
Semester 1
There are two core planning modules in semester 1, which introduce spatial planning and explore themes around sustainable cities. These modules run in parallel to the first half of the studio module, which runs across Semesters 1 & 2.
Semester 2
In Semester 2, you will choose two module options which build knowledge in different areas of sustainable urban planning, for example, green infrastructure, hydrological processes, big data and wellbeing. You will also take the second half of the compulsory studio module Sustainable Places.
Semester 3
During the summer period, you will undertake an independent dissertation project (60 credits) working closely with your supervisor to produce an original piece of research.