BSc in Spatial Planning and Design
Groningen, Netherlands
BSc
DURATION
3 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
01 May 2027*
EARLIEST START DATE
01 Sep 2027
TUITION FEES
EUR 14,000 / per year **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* Dutch, EU/EEA and non-EU/EEA students
** non-EU/EEA | EU/EEA: € 2695/year
Fast-track counseling
By contacting the school, you'll get access to free priority counselling for any study and application questions.
Key Summary
About: The BSc in Spatial Planning and Design (Technische planologie) trains students to blend analytical thinking with creative design for urban and rural environments. Courses cover physical and institutional design, water management, infrastructure, environmental planning, spatial computer programs, decision-making and academic research. You’ll use virtual realities, go on field excursions, choose electives, and complete a research project tied to the faculty’s TRACE themes.
Career Outcomes: Graduates enter national and international roles. Career opportunities include policy advisor or policymaker; consultant; project developer; postgraduate researcher or teacher. The program supports career preparation for planning, urban design, water management and sustainable mobility practice.
If you have a special interest in the living environment, and you aspire to combine analytical thinking with creative design, then Spatial Planning and Design is the field for you.
What effects will climate change have on our future cities and rural areas? How can you develop sustainable strategies and designs for new and existing urban systems? How do you deal with a complex built environment and related spatial planning and design processes? Planners are asked to translate spatial transformations into new opportunities to enhance the quality of life.
The Bachelor's degree program in Spatial Planning and Design (in Dutch: Technische planologie) revolves around physical design and institutional design. The courses relate to spatial planning and design, water management, infrastructure and environmental planning, spatial computer programs, complex decision-making, and academic research.
During the program, you will work in virtual realities, but also go on excursions to see spatial projects in real life. In addition, there will be opportunities to develop your personal interests via the elective course units. Finally, you complete your Bachelor's degree with a research project. And if you aspire to learn more, excellent students can take part in a more in-depth program at the Honours College, which has a wider range of topics.
Research
Spatial Planning and Design is based on research. Not only are you educated to become a researcher, but lecturers also use their own research and others to keep the education as recent and relevant as possible. The education you receive is therefore partly based on the research being done at the faculty right now!
The research at the faculty consists of several themes that are summarized in the research program: TRACE (TRansformations, Communities and Environments). You will see these themes in your education.
The Bachelor's degree program in Spatial Planning and Design is unique within the Netherlands. It covers a wide range of topics and gives students the opportunity to explore their own fields of interest within physical and institutional design. This degree program gives you the opportunity to learn from internationally renowned and highly trained teachers.
Job prospects
The degree program's interdisciplinary curriculum offers students the opportunity to work in different fields in practice or research. The Netherlands is an international leader on planning topics such as water management and sustainable mobility, and an established expert thanks to its long-standing planning history.
The degree program offers knowledge that is both locally embedded and globally relevant. Graduates of this degree program are highly qualified for both the national and international labour market.
During the program at the University of Groningen, we offer support for your career preparation.
Job examples
- Policy advisor or policymaker in the public sector In spatial planning, environmental planning, mobility and transportation, water management, or design
- Consultant For large or small consultancy agencies: GIS, spatial planning or engineering companies.
- Project developer For real estate companies
- Postgraduate researcher or teacher At spatial academic planning institutes
Year 1
Courses
- Power of Design (SD) (5 EC)
- Urbanism and Planning (SP) (10 EC)
- Economic Geography (10 EC)
- Statistics 1 (5 EC)
- Introduction to Academic Research (5 EC)
- Spatial Design Atelier (SD) (10 EC)
- Geographic Information Systems (10 EC)
- Spatial Design Standards and Conditions (SD) (5 EC)
Year 2
Courses
- Mobility and Infrastructure Planning (10 EC)
- Qualitative Research Methods (5 EC)
- Urbanism Atelier (SD) (5 EC)
- Water and Planning (10 EC)
- Governance Dynamics (SP) (5 EC)
- Physical Geography (5 EC)
- Statistics 2 (5 EC)
- Landscapes (5 EC)
- Philosophy of Social Sciences (5 EC)
- Quantitative Research Methods (5 EC)
Year 3
Courses
- Minor or Optional Modules (30 EC)
- Environment and Engineering (5 EC)
- Planning Dynamics (5 EC)
- Bachelor's Project (15 EC)
- Environment and Planning (5 EC)
Study abroad
- Study abroad is optional
- For an average of 16 weeks
- Maximum of 30 EC
Every year dozens students of the Faculty of Spatial Sciences go on exchange with a foreign university to take electives and/or write their thesis. The faculty has exchange arrangements with universities in Europe, New-Zealand and the USA.