Program Overview

Sustainable Urban Planning and Design

The Sustainable Urban Planning and Design program explores how cities can sustain a high quality of life for their citizens without depleting natural resources, demanding extensive urban transformation in highly urbanised societies.

Environment and Planning

Environment and Planning is a key aspect of the program, focusing on how environmental planners work across municipal, city, regional, and national levels to translate sustainability policies into practical plans and scenarios. This involves assessing the contributions of those plans to sustainable urban development and managing collaboration among diverse stakeholders.

The program requires an interdisciplinary approach, combining governance principles from planning theory and political science, futures studies for integrating scenarios and visions into planning. Students learn to apply social and natural science methodologies for qualitative and quantitative assessments of plans and policies, using a systems perspective to analyse complex, multidimensional urban challenges while maintaining a holistic view. Actor-structure theory further equips students to understand how citizens' freedom of action is shaped by cultural, societal, and planning structures.

Program Outcomes

Graduates of the program are prepared for professional roles where they produce planning documents in the form of future visions and scenarios, ensuring these proposals are grounded in scientific analysis and contribute meaningfully to sustainable urban development. They have skills to evaluate and assess policies and plans using both established and newly developed tools and to provide critical feedback to decision-makers. Furthermore, they know how to identify, organise, and coordinate the diverse actors required for successful implementation of sustainable urban strategies, managing collaborative processes and addressing potential conflicts to achieve robust solutions.

Program Details

• Introduction to Sustainable Urban Planning and Design
• Profiles in Urban Planning and Design, Urban and Regional Planning, and Environment and Planning
• Courses in the program
• Entry requirements for admission
• Fees and scholarships available
• Career opportunities after graduation

Admissions

• How to apply to the program
• Entry requirements for admission
• Fees associated with the program
• Scholarships available to students

Program Structure

The program is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of sustainable urban planning and design, including:

• Urban Planning and Design
• Urban and Regional Planning
• Environment and Planning
• Interdisciplinary approaches to planning
• Governance principles and planning theory
• Futures studies and scenario planning
• Social and natural science methodologies
• Systems perspective and holistic view
• Actor-structure theory and its application

Career Opportunities

Graduates of the Sustainable Urban Planning and Design program are equipped to contribute to transformative planning processes, supporting sustainable urban development through innovative, interdisciplinary approaches and effective stakeholder engagement. They can pursue careers in:

• Urban planning and design
• Environmental planning
• Sustainable development
• Policy analysis and evaluation
• Collaborative governance and stakeholder engagement
• Research and academia