BA (Hons) in Urban Design, Planning and Development
| Program start date | Application deadline |
| 2024-09-01 | - |
| 2025-09-01 | - |
Program Overview
This BA (Hons) from Oxford Brookes University combines urban design, planning, and development, equipping students to address societal challenges through innovative solutions. With a strong emphasis on real-world application through live projects, the program prepares graduates for careers in these fields. The coursework is entirely coursework-based, incorporating a variety of assessment methods such as essays, design work, and presentations. The program is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and The Royal Town Planning Institute.
Program Outline
Degree Overview:
This BA (Hons) in Urban Design, Planning and Development at Oxford Brookes University equips students to address the challenges of today's society by creating cities for the future. It focuses on developing creative and innovative ideas for urban design, planning, and development. The program emphasizes real-world application through live projects from day one, allowing students to experience professional practices and gain valuable feedback from clients. The program incorporates project-based modules to understand the impact of designs on the real world. Students master planning techniques and learn how to analyze proposals' environmental, social, and economic sustainability. By graduation, students will have worked for at least five different clients through live projects, developing a range of skills, including filmmaking. A strong theoretical foundation is provided through the research background of the teaching staff. The program helps students develop a portfolio that showcases their work and experience, which can impress future employers.
:
- Practical Live Projects: Students gain hands-on experience with real-world assignments, building a track record of working with clients and developing practical skills.
- Digital Portfolio: Students create an online portfolio showcasing their projects and client work, a valuable tool for impressing future employers.
- Visiting Speakers: Students benefit from guest speakers with expertise in various fields, such as open space design, ecology, and sustainable mobility.
- Free Language Courses: Free language courses are available to full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students on many courses, and can be taken as a credit on some courses.
Outline:
Course Structure:
The curriculum is designed with real-world applications, progressing from understanding the principles of open space design to addressing the challenges of planning a global city.
Modules:
Year 1:
- Cities in Historical Contexts: Introduces the concept of the city and its evolution over time, considering broader economic, political, social, and cultural changes, as well as specific urban land development processes.
- Urban Diversity: People, Society and Space: Explores the contemporary city and its experiences by different social groups, focusing on sources of difference and division, such as income, gender, age, ethnicity, and disability.
- Urban Lab 1: Urban Design and Place Experience: Examines the role of spatial planning, urban design, and urban development in creating better places, exploring contemporary challenges faced by built environment professionals at different scales.
- Sustainability and Development: Explores sustainable development, encompassing environmental, social, and economic aspects. Students examine how infrastructure and resource use affect the sustainability of England's built and natural environment.
- Development Processes and Site Delivery: Focuses on the development sector, exploring how it delivers commercial, residential, and mixed-use developments, and meets planning obligations and community infrastructure levy contributions.
- Urban Lab 2: Architecture and Open Space Design: Develops basic planning, design, and development skills, focusing on architectural and small-scale public spaces.
Year 2:
- Mediating Change: Governance, Politics and Social Actors: Analyzes the interrelationships of UK spatial planning and its associated political and governance networks at local, regional, national, and European levels, exploring comparative planning and related systems.
- Plans and Policy Making: Examines the development of policies and plans within specific political contexts at the local level, with a focus on the National Planning Policy Framework, Local Plans, and Neighbourhood Plans.
- Urban Lab 3: Urban Regeneration and Heritage Conservation: Studies current regeneration theory, policy, and practice in an international context, and allows students to devise their regeneration strategies for specific sites.
- Environmental Decision Making: Theory and Practice: Explores theories explaining environmental decision-making by individuals, organizations, and institutions, covering decision-making tools and approaches such as Multi Criteria Analysis, Strategic Environmental Assessment, Sustainability Appraisal, and Environmental Management Systems.
- Urban Development: Economic and Financial Appraisal: Examines economic concepts and planning instruments applied to development processes, specifically appraisal techniques used in land, residential, and property development decision-making in Britain and continental Europe.
- Urban Lab 4: Urban Design Masterplanning: Develops understanding and application of contemporary urban design masterplanning concepts within the context of UK planning and development processes and international best practice.
Year 3:
- Strategic Planning and Policy: Examines the world of strategic planning and policy, exploring how these strategies link to major infrastructure planning, particularly in the UK.
- Research Methods: Provides a foundation in research methodology, covering both quantitative and qualitative research methods, data collection and analysis, research ethics, and critical assessment of research.
- Urban Lab 5: Global City Design, Planning and Development: Explores scenarios in developed and developing world cities, examining tensions such as globalisation versus local identity, property market dynamics versus local housing needs, and the complex balance between social exclusion and inclusion.
- Contemporary Debates in Planning, Design and Development: Examines the latest and most pressing issues in planning, design, and development, allowing students to engage in critical discussions and debates on emerging topics.
- Professional Practice: Blends course knowledge with ethical and professional conduct essential for practice, specifically as outlined by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).
- Research Project: A double module that allows students to conduct their own independent research project on a chosen topic, culminating in a substantial academic report at a publication level.
Assessment:
Assessment is entirely coursework-based, incorporating a variety of methods:
- Essays
- Reflective work (essays, diaries)
- Professional planning
- Urban design reports
- Design work
- Oral presentations Students receive consistent feedback throughout the program to track progress and identify areas for improvement.
Teaching:
- Methods: Teaching methods include lectures, seminars, project-led workshops, site visits and field trips, and presentations.
- Charrettes: Short, focused design work sessions with clients, such as communities or private practice professionals.
- Urban Labs: Provide practical experience through project-led modules that comprise 50% of the course.
- Faculty: The program benefits from the expertise of researchers and professionals in the field.
Careers:
The program prepares graduates for careers in any of the three areas: urban design, planning, or development.
- Potential Career Paths:
- Public sector roles with local authorities
- Private developers and consultancies
- Charities
- NGOs
- Local communities
- Research centres
- Government institutions
- Educational establishments
- Outcomes: Graduates are well-equipped with the skills and experience sought after by employers, enabling them to secure a range of positions both in the UK and internationally.
Other:
- International Study Exchange: Students may have the opportunity to participate in a European or international study exchange during their second year, subject to funding and organization.
- Accreditations: The program is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and The Royal Town Planning Institute.
- Student Society: The program has a vibrant student society that fosters community and engagement, with direct input into the curriculum.
- Portfolio Development: The program emphasizes the development of a digital portfolio to showcase students' work and experience.
- Tuition fees for Home (UK) full time: £9,250
- Tuition fees for International full time: £15,200
- Tuition fees for Home (UK) full time: £9,250
- Tuition fees for International full time: £15,950
- Tuition fees for Home (UK) full time: £9,250
- Tuition fees for International full time: £15,200
- Tuition fees for Home (UK) full time: £9,250
- Tuition fees for International full time: £15,950
