Urban and Regional Planning MSc

This module provides you with an introduction to state-led planning and the key principles that underpin how spatial planning systems seek to shape the built environment. You are guided to consider the administrative, legal and political contexts in which planning decisions are made and the role of different groups in shaping land-use development. The module will help you understand how spatial planning systems are constructed and the ways planning policies are made and implemented. This knowledge is core not only to the profession, but to topics explored and skills developed in the second semester. The module uses practical scenarios, which draw on real world documents and materials, to explore planning and development as contested activities with significant outcomes for people and place, with workshops providing you with space to debate, explore and analyse scenarios.

The aim of this module is to support the development of your initial knowledge and understanding of planning and urban development. You will have opportunities to critically explore the role of spatial ideas and key planning concepts in policy and practice. You will be able to develop your critical skills and understanding of different contexts and environments relevant to planning policy and practice. You will be encouraged to consider urbanisation in a range of contexts and examine how spatial planning seeks to respond to key economic, environmental and social challenges.

The module is structured to first explore explore contemporary processes and patterns of global urbanisation, investigate the main economic, environmental and social processes that determine spatial development, and the major challenges that arise. It then leads you to examine how urban planning seeks to respond to these social, economic and environmental challenges, with critical analysis of some important contemporary urban planning ideas and instruments. You will be taught through a detailed lecture programme, supplemented by interactive sessions to support furthering of your knowledge. You will be assessed through the preparation of a briefing paper, taking on the role of a city planner. This will support the development of your skills in writing  in a professional manner and communicating critical evaluation to a range of important stakeholders in city planning and development.

In this module your will explore the inter-relationships between theoretical debates within planning and everyday practice. An awareness of theoretical debates is crucial to understanding the assumptions implicit in spatial planning practice and the challenges confronting practitioners. You will tackle questions regarding the nature of spatial planning and the arguments and ideological basis for planning in different contexts. You will address the key conceptual challenges that shape the activity of planning, including how to achieve equitable and just planning outcomes, the role of technical knowledge and the knowledge held by communities, and how we might envision alternatives to current modes of planning. A distinctive strand of the module is the focus on the ethical dilemmas faced by planning practitioners, and evaluation of the frameworks that are used to shape approaches to acting ethically. We place particular emphasis on the dilemmas faced by individual practitioners in conducting their day-to-day work and in learning from cases that reveal the ideological tensions and conceptual challenges underpinning the planning project. You will be taught through a detailed lecture programme combined with interactive sessions which will support you in developing your critical skills in applying the approaches and theories discussed to real-world cases.

This module provides you with an introduction to the plan making process, focusing on the principles, methods and techniques underpinning plan preparation. The module starts with an introduction to the history and theory of plan making. It then explores the various phases and elements of plan making including but not limited to concept design, evidence development, participation, techniques and analysis, strategy development, financing, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. You will develop practical skills in applying this knowledge in an applied manner to develop a site specific area action plan for a case study urban site. In doing so, the module will support you to develop both foundational knowledge of plan making and applied skills relevant to planning practice, including groupwork, presentation skills and report writing.

Real estate development involves multiple interconnected stages, including site identification, market and planning appraisal, design development, financial analysis and risk assessment. Developers must make informed decisions at each stage, drawing on evidence about markets, planning policy, design quality and financial feasibility. Planning plays a particularly influential role in shaping development outcomes: it establishes the framework for decision-making, can promote sustainable and inclusive places, and ensures development contributes positively to the built environment. At the same time, planning can impose constraints that affect project scope, viability and design choices. Examining the development process will enhance your ability to analyse complex problems, understand the relationships between planning, design and profitability, and develop practical decision-making skills relevant to planning and development practice.

This module introduces the core principles of planning and the development process - the interaction between planning policy, market conditions, design decisions and financial viability - and examines how these factors shape real-world development outcomes. You will explore how developers evaluate opportunities, how feasibility is assessed, and how planning constraints and design considerations influence the deliverability of schemes.

You will work towards producing an assessment of the development potential and feasibility of a real site, drawing on market research, planning appraisal, financial analysis (including residual valuation), sustainability considerations and risk evaluation. The module therefore includes coverage of: the structure of development markets and key stakeholder objectives; planning policy and regulatory frameworks shaping development; development appraisal techniques and spreadsheet modelling; and the influence of planning, design and risk on viability and development outcomes.

This module introduces you to the fundamentals of urban design and allows you to explore how this discipline intersects with planning through evaluation of urban design masterplans and design/planning policy. You are introduced to the vocabulary of urban design as part of the development process. Through this, you will be able to learn about the key physical components of the spatial environment, the role of urban design in shaping the built environment, and core principles in interpreting and appraising urban design processes and practices. The module focuses on the development of your design evaluation skills, enabling you to explore, make sense of and evaluate planning and design policy, including design codes, masterplans and strategic development frameworks. Teaching is based on a range of methods, drawing on practical examples, lectures, workshops and external speakers/practitioners to help you to develop skills in the evaluation of spaces, their design and the use of planning, development/design policy.

Climate change is one of the most significant and urgent challenges of the 21st century. Cities generate over 70% of the world's CO2 and consume 60% of global energy, they therefore play an important part in mitigating the extent of climate change and in adapting to the effects of the climate crisis and its impacts on societies and the global environment. In this module you will get to explore the drivers of climate change and their implications for urban systems. The module will help you to develop skills in critically considering how urban professionals can respond to these challenges in ways that promote just and sustainable transitions. Key ideas and concepts will be presented in lectures, with supporting seminars providing space for discussion and debate. You will be supported to develop key employability skills in report writing and presenting clear and evidenced-based arguments.

This module introduces you to a range of enduring housing challenges, the policy responses actioned in different places and at different times, and their relative effectiveness. The module builds your substantive knowledge about the causes and manifestations of housing problems and extends your understanding of the links between housing, planning and social policies and outcomes at national, regional and local levels. It develops your expertise and skills in critically evaluating policies, grounded in a knowledge of relevant theories, concepts, and empirical research. The module encourages you to consider the range of actors involved in addressing housing challenges, developing your abilities to question the rationales and assumptions underpinning interventions. By the end of the module, you will be able to demonstrate a nuanced awareness of the origins of contemporary housing problems, situated within the relevant geographical and historical context, an ability to evaluate policy approaches oriented to addressing these challenges and suggest new and alternative ways forward.

The module is taught through a combination of lectures and workshops. This includes a policy masterclass, that involves you applying knowledge developed in previous sessions to a housing topic to evaluate causes, consequences and responses from a policy and practice perspective. This activity will provide you with an opportunity to develop research and evaluation skills. The assessment involves you preparing a Green Paper on a contemporary housing issue of your choice.

This module introduces you to key Geographical Information Systems (GIS) principles and techniques, equipping you with practical mapping and spatial analysis skills, across a variety of fields where GIS is becoming an increasingly relevant and embedded tool. The focus is on enabling you to develop an understanding of the potential of GIS and some fundamental GIS skills, and you will be supported through a series of workshops using a range of common software.

Through a series of hands-on workshops using open-source GIS software (QGIS), you will learn how to source, manage and visualise spatial data, design clear and effective maps, and carry out basic and advanced vector and raster analyses that are increasingly in demand in planning, environmental management and wider urban contexts. You will also be able to develop important skills, such as how to digitise the geo-reference paper maps and aerial imagery, apply GIS to a real-world case study (e.g. mapping the motor city), and experiment with simple automated mapping workflows. 

Throughout the module you will develop both technical and communication skills: sourcing and managing spatial data, producing clear and impactful geovisualisations, and writing concise, well-structured reports that interpret and critically reflect on your analysis.

These skills link directly to GIS and qualitative analysis work in other modules and provide a foundation for dissertation projects and industry applications. Assessment is through an individual written report that combines maps, analysis and reflection on the methods you have used.

The overall aim of this module is to critically examine informality, with a particular but not exclusive focus on cities of the Global South. The module relies on a mixture of lectures, seminars and student-led group work, with the latter focusing on an in-depth case study of a selected city. It explores patterns and causes of informality and discusses the strengths and limitations of a range of theoretical approaches. It also analyses the success of different real-world urban planning responses (understood in broad terms), including government-led, donor-led and community-focused ones, in addressing key urban issues in the context of informality.

The nature of planning activity and its outcomes are underpinned by legal frameworks, procedures and case law decisions. These legal frameworks are intended to ensure clarity and fairness in the exercise of planning powers. They also change over time to reflect changing circumstances and government priorities. The aim of this module is to provide you with a thorough understanding of the procedures for controlling development through planning

More specifically, in this module, you will develop knowledge and understanding of this complex and important area by exploring the roles and underlying values of law and policy in the English planning system within an international context. Core themes include:

- the discretionary basis of UK planning;

- the definition of development;

- the legal process for undertaking planning decisions;, 

- processes of planning appeal;

- the changing status of development plans ;

- the role of enforcement.

You will also be able to learn by exploring examples where contemporary policy is shaped by legal decisions and the scope for flexibility in working within established legal frameworks. You will explore case studies from practice to develop your knowledge and this will also allow you to focus on the development of your written communication skills in a variety of different formats depending on your own career interests.

This module introduces you to the theories and practices of urban heritage conservation in a global context, and aims to equip you with the basic skills to appraise heritage value and propose a planning response for conservation. This is achieved by discussing the evolution of the heritage movement and the shifting of conservation focus in the urban built environment. Critical questions will be debated in class such as how heritage is defined, by who, as well as the implications of conservation practices at different scales. We will look at the contemporary challenges to heritage conservation and the role of heritage in future place-making and sustainability. Using case studies, we will examine the creative conservation practices in the UK and internationally. Drawing on the development o your knowledge and skills developed throughout this module, you will get to develop your own heritage project, critically applying your knowledge and skills to a real world case.

Urban regeneration is common practice in the governance of urban change worldwide. Proponents make positive claims about its impacts on the urban economy, society and landscape, critics point to its negative outcomes. Drawing on Global experiences, we will consider the role of the state and other actors in the formulation and implementation of urban regeneration policy in its multi-scalar governance context, and the extent to which communities are engaged in and benefit from these processes. Through critical review of 'real world' cases, we identify the tensions, vulnerabilities and varied impacts of such approaches and consider alternative governance and policy responses.

This is a core module which allows you to develop and manage an individual research project, building on and extending knowledge gained from your wider programme. The module aims to help you to develop and apply research skills and an appreciation of the issues involved in managing a research project; to develop an understanding of the role of research in relation to theoretical and practical dimensions of the chosen discipline; and to further deepen knowledge in your chosen field of planning, real estate, urban design, development, or related interests.