Urban Studies and Planning MPlan(UG)

Core modules:

The Making of Urban Places

This module will introduce you to cities and urbanisation, from the very first settlements to contemporary metropolises, using examples throughout history from across the world. The module focuses on thinking about the role of cities within societies and civilisations throughout history, and how planning ideas and practice have developed in response. It explores the histories of urbanisation, from the earliest urban settlements to the megacities of the twentieth century, looking at how various forces have shaped cities, and the outcomes of urbanisation for cities and their populations. It highlights influential ideas which have changed our thinking about cities, looks at how urban governments and planners have sought to respond to the challenges of urbanisation, and discusses critical debates around these. The module takes a global focus, drawing on different cases and examples from around the world.

20 credits

Development, Planning and the State

The module provides an introduction to spatial planning in theory and practice, exploring arguments for and against spatial planning and the rationale for state intervention into land and property development. You will cover key debates on the purposes of planning, the historical development of planning as a state activity and the current structure of national, regional and local government. A core function of the module is to introduce key aspects of the English planning system and key debates about its role and purpose, with reference to a range of international comparators. The module builds on these foundations to explore how spatial planning responds to a number of major societal challenges.

20 credits

Cities, People and Urban Design

Exploring and gaining an understanding of place, space and urban design at the outset of your studies will provide you with the foundation needed to interpret, analyse and practically understand cities - focusing on the city of Sheffield, its communities and its people.  The module explores the fundamentals of urban design and its role in the analysis and design of space. You are introduced to some of the theories, techniques and data that planners use in their efforts to understand and create better places for people. The module will support you to develop your skills of analysis and help to equip you with applied skills to explore, make sense of, and develop spatial data/foundational drawing skills. You will be able to learn how to assess the physical, social, economic and environmental qualities of urban places as well as how to interpret and represent these spatially. You will also be able to learn the fundamentals of visual/graphical communication via professional software and posters. Teaching draws on practical examples via lectures, studio workshops, computer workshops, context-based study and site visits to gain a basic understanding and appreciation of cities and develop skills in the applied analysis of urban spaces and their design.

20 credits

Planning and the Environment

This module introduces you to the foundational relationships between planning and the environment, with a focus on how planners have understood, engaged with, and shaped environmental issues over time. It explores the historical development of environmental thought in planning, tracing how ideas about nature, urban growth, and human-environment relations have influenced planning practices from the 19th century to the present. You will be able to engage with key moments in planning history—such as the rise of garden cities, post-war reconstruction, environmental justice movements, and the emergence of sustainable development—as a way of understanding how environmental concerns have evolved in planning theory and practice.

Through lectures that combine lecturer input with discussion and practical exercises, the module introduces you to core principles of environmental planning, including land use planning for environmental protection, the precautionary principle, environmental assessment, and the integration of ecological knowledge into spatial decision-making. These principles are explored not only as technical tools but also as the product of specific historical and political contexts.

The module also focuses on contemporary challenges facing planners in the context of climate change, biodiversity loss, resource depletion, and socio-environmental inequalities. You will get to examine how planning is responding to these challenges through strategies aimed at achieving sustainability, promoting climate resilience, and advancing environmental justice. Through this, you learn how planning tools are used to reduce carbon emissions, plan for climate adaptation, and design resilient urban and regional systems.

UK and international case studies are used throughout the module to show how environmental planning principles are applied in practice, and how different governance contexts shape environmental outcomes. You will also be encouraged to reflect critically on the limits of planning in addressing environmental problems, and to consider the ethical and political dimensions of planning for the environment.

By the end of the module, you will be able to have developed a foundational understanding of the histories, concepts, and practices that underpin environmental planning. Through this, you will be equipped with key analytical tools to understand how planning can both contribute to and help address some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time.

20 credits

Contemporary Urban Challenges

This module addresses the range of challenges contained within the Sustainable Development Goals for cities attempting to transition towards sustainable urban development. You will be introduced to key sustainability challenges and the planning, and urban professional responses to these, in a range of specific cities. You will be able to conduct your own research on a particular sustainability challenge in a selected case study, evaluate relevant responses, and draw out wider lessons for planning and transitions towards sustainable spatial development.

Lectures will introduce you to a set of global urban challenges. Within these sessions, each challenge will be addressed through a mix of lecturer input and discussion and exercises. Lectures will cover the scope and nature of challenges, a critical look at appropriate policy responses, and how these are interacting within the context of particular case-study cities in the global South and North. During seminars, you will get to work in groups, each of which will work together on a single case study. The seminars will lead you through a process of research on your case study. You will identify and learn how to critically engage with academic, policy and media sources covering: the nature of the challenge, how it relates to the SDGs, and proposed policy and spatial planning responses in the chosen city. Seminars will also introduce you to core study skills, including note taking, summarising findings from academic and policy sources, communicating with policy makers and other officials, and writing policy briefs.

This module aims to help you to develop an understanding of the challenges of sustainable urban development; an understanding of the role of planning and wider urban professions in meeting these challenges; and skills in critical reading and evaluation of research materials.

20 credits

Urban and Regional Economics

This module explores uneven spatial economic development at urban, regional, national and global scales. It enables you to understand how market forces and policy interventions influence economic outcomes, helping you to make informed decisions in urban and regional planning. By examining state-market relations and economic cycles, you will gain critical insights into strategies for promoting sustainable, inclusive, and balanced development in different spatial contexts.  The module introduces key concepts and analytical tools employed by economists, and applies them to explore economic problems and investigate the role and scope for public policy interventions. It draws on ideas from mainstream economics and a variety of political and institutional economic perspectives. There is a central focus throughout the module on state-market relations and a focus on the spatial implications of political economic issues related to global development and uneven spatial development at a variety of scales (i.e., north-south divide in the UK, intra-urban inequalities at the scale of the city or the neighbourhood).

20 credits

Core modules:

Urban Design and Place-Making

Gaining an enhanced ability to understand the sequential stages of placemaking and urban design processes and their interface with planning, policy and development are crucial for any contemporary planning professional - representing core competencies in practice. The overall aim of the module is to enhance your understanding and critical appreciation of the contemporary context of urban design thought, policy and practice - focusing particularly on the role of place-making in cities. The module, through an enhanced and applied understanding of the language and techniques of urban design will explore and evaluate the contribution of design to effective place-making. The module will equip you with enhanced skills to analyse, appraise and design for urban contexts supported by professional software and drawing techniques. You will also develop awareness of the sequential stages of the design process, and develop the ability to deliver a comprehensive design/placemaking proposal supported by enhanced graphical skills for effective communication. Teaching will draw on practical examples  via studio workshops, lectures, context-based study and student-led site visits to develop enhanced skills in the analysis and design of urban space.

20 credits

Urban Analytics

This module will serve as an introduction to quantitative and spatial analytical methods, with a specific focus on understanding, interpreting and presenting secondary data in urban contexts. It will expose students to a variety of substantive issues surrounding the use of data in practice and enhance their understanding of methods used in real world policy settings. Students will access and use a range of different datasets, covering demographics, property, and land use and will analyse them using both spatial and aspatial methods. They will be required to demonstrate competence in accessing, analysing and presenting such data using both aspatial and spatial methods in order to gain a deeper understanding of key issues facing urban settings.

20 credits

Planning, Viability and Development

This module explores the real estate development process and the various influences on the viability of successful development projects. It examines the structure of real estate markets, the roles and objectives of the various stakeholders involved in real estate development, the main aspects of real estate development appraisal and the ways which planning, risk and design influence profitability. Students will work towards recommending a development proposal that offers the greatest likelihood of a successful outcome and in doing so, learn to balance the competing demands of planning, viability and real estate development.

20 credits

City makers

Drawing on cities from different contexts, this module provides an introduction to the administrative, economic and socio-political contexts in which city making takes place, as well as the role that different groups and interests play in mediating and affecting urban transformation. In doing so, the module will explore questions around the agency of built environment professionals  and how the relationships between stakeholders, development projects, finance, activists, and trade-offs in agendas impact the ability of planners and other built environment professionals to pursue the public interest.

20 credits

Sustainable Cities

This module aims to help you understand current agendas and approaches to environmental and infrastructure planning in the context of sustainability transitions. The module considers the role of urban planning and design in climate change mitigation and adaptation, including a focus on green and blue infrastructure. You will have the opportunity to learn from a variety of interventions, including, circumstances permitted, through an international field class. Integrating knowledge and skills from across the first two years of your studies, you will develop a master-plan that responds to the urban challenges posed by urban environmental change.

20 credits

Optional modules:

Urban Theory

At the heart of every discipline lie the ideas, concepts and frameworks that help its students and researchers to make sense of its object of study. In planning, geography and urban studies there are numerous perspectives, concepts and key thinkers who have shaped the development of these disciplines. This course introduces you to a series of key concepts and thinkers and helps them to make sense of urban life as a result.

Urban Theory aims to develop your imaginative engagement with the nature of urban life and human settlement. Urban theory refers to writing and thinking devoted to 'seeing' and understanding urban life. Concepts and ideas are critical to how we engage with the key features and problems of the urban world, shape the process of conducting research and help us to make sense of and understand many of the key challenges in cities today. Theory is therefore critical to our understanding of how cities work in practice and how we understand and view urban life subsequently informs the development of cities and efforts to make them more socially just, sustainable and better places to live. Urban Theory introduces a range of ideas and key concepts in urban studies with a view to understanding how cities have developed and how they 'work' in broad terms. The module considers a range of thinkers, concepts and perspectives. The aims of the module are:

1. To introduce and extend your knowledge of different ways of seeing city life. This includes a wide range of perspectives, thinkers and concepts relating to urban social and political life, the economies of cities, the range of communities and groups living in cities and, their built and natural environments

2. To provide you with an armoury of critical ideas and concepts that will deepen their understanding of the fundamental power relations, inequalities and divisions that characterise cities and which structure localities, particularly in relation to questions of class, race and gender.

20 credits

Territory, Power and Policy

The module introduces you to contemporary debates within political geography. You will develop a detailed understanding of political processes at a variety of spatial scales, from the international, national to the local, from collective politics to individual political behaviour. You will explore questions of power, efficacy and conflict with an emphasis on the spatial and place-specific aspects of politics in relation to issues including: geopolitics and international relations; the state and territoriality; the politics of nationalism and citizenship; civic activism; and individual political participation.

20 credits

Who Gets What? Social Justice and the Environment

Environmental issues continue to be a key area of contemporary public concern and current political debate. They raise fundamental questions about the relationship between society and environment, and the politics and equity of that relationship. This module provides a geographical introduction to these issues and debates with examples from a range of scales from the global to the local. It also considers the role of stakeholders and how they benefit or are disadvantaged by policy that seeks to address issues to do with the environment-society relationship. The module then develops these core ideas through inter-related sections covering debates focused on different empirical themes.

Particular skills will be achieved including: policy analysis, ethical awareness, positive mindset, global awareness and self-awareness.

20 credits

Core modules:

Future Cities

This module will introduce students to conceptual and policy debates that frame possible urban futures.  It will develop students' understanding of the emerging contemporary practices and challenges that are transforming cities, such as smart cities, fantasy urban planning, eco-cities, cities and technology and cities and the super rich.  It will also expose students to a range of case studies that present urban issues and processes from both the Global North and the Global South.

20 credits

Planning Theory

Drawing on insights from theoretical debates in planning and policy studies, this module explores the assumptions underlying spatial planning practice and the challenges confronting practitioners. The module asks the fundamental question: why do societies do planning? Firstly, you will be able to  explore the values underpinning planning to understand why we plan, the nature of the challenges planning seeks to address and the dilemmas and conflicts these generate for planning practice. The module introduces concepts of equity, justice, democracy, the public interest, and power to understand how we might evaluate planning systems and how they influence place and people. Secondly, you will be supported to understand diverse theoretical approaches that planning has taken to address these dilemmas and conflicts. The module explores how these theoretical approaches inform planning practice, and how they might suggest alternatives to current ways of doing planning. Lectures will employ real-world cases and dilemmas faced by individual practitioners in their day-to- day work. In seminars you will get to participate in discussions based on a range of source materials. Lectures and seminar discussion will enable you to understand the concepts underlying ways of doing planning, assess their implications for place and people, and suggest alternatives that better respond to societal and environmental challenges.

20 credits

Plan making and development

This is an applied project module that provides a thorough grounding in the processes of strategic planning, drawing together and integrating skills developed through Levels 1-3.

20 credits

Planning Law

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 following module explores the role 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. 



The module will also explore examples where contemporary policy is shaped by legal decisions and the scope for flexibility in working within established legal frameworks. 

Overall the module will provide students with a thorough understanding of the procedures for controlling development through planning. 

20 credits

Housing and Urban Inequalities

The aims of this module are to build on substantive knowledge, theory and skills about housing. Emphasis is placed on policy, practice, strategy analysis and understanding the links between housing, planning, social policies and outcomes at national, regional and local levels. The module further aims to: increase understanding of contemporary issues and debates in housing and housing policy and strategies; understand the causes and manifestations of problems, dilemmas and conflicts in housing systems and policy processes; and to develop abilities to synthesise and apply knowledge by understanding and critically assessing potential policy approaches to addressing housing problems.

20 credits

Urban Infrastructures and Place-Making

Infrastructure is a core component of cities, enabling economic, social and environmental elements of urban life to circulate and be drawn together or separated. In this module, you will learn about the importance of infrastructure to cities. The focus will be global, with an emphasis on understanding the politics of infrastructure development, how infrastructure projects can exacerbate or address inequalities, and the role of planners in envisioning, delivering and managing infrastructure. The module will start with a wide definition of infrastructures, which will include physical transport, energy, and water networks, but also focus on social and more localised infrastructures and their impacts on urban communities. 

The module will enable you to critically appraise technical approaches to infrastructure as well as developing knowledge of their social bases and cultural meanings. Through the module you will be able to develop knowledge of the ways in which planning deals with infrastructure and examine alternative means of conceiving and delivering infrastructure through planning policies and decisions.

Through a series of case studies, you will have opportunities to engage with a range of infrastructure projects and programmes enabling you to understand how they came about, the underlying planning processes that shaped them, their outcomes and who wins and loses from them.

20 credits

Core modules:

Participatory Planning

This applied module introduces students to the theory and practice of participatory planning and builds on students' prior learning about the social purposes of planning and the need for effective, inclusive participatory processes as a fundamental basis for good planning and creation of more sustainable and equitable places. Focusing on selected localities, this module will involve students working in small groups to collate evidence on the history and current situation of the locality and generate ideas for its future development which draw on an understanding of its assets, issues and challenges. Having received relevant training, students will then be required to prepare and deliver a 'Planning for Real (PfR) session to local A-level Geography students to elicit their views on the area's development with the school students briefed to undertake particular roles within this. Through a learning-by-doing approach, the module challenges students to apply their existing knowledge of planning and place-making whilst developing new skills in participatory practice.

30 credits

Critical Perspectives in Planning (outgoing Exchange only)

Planning does not stand still. Social, economic, environmental and political change leads to what seems like a constant process of planning reform. Planning in the future will not be the same as it is in the present. The module therefore provides students with the knowledge, skills and understanding to interpret contemporary policy changes and respond to future challenges and opportunities, such as climate change. To do this, the module combines theoretical thinking with detailed analysis of unfolding changes in policy and practice across planning. The module is underpinned by the involvement of visiting speaker practitioners from a range of organisations and by interactive discussion and debate in lectures, problem-solving workshops and seminars. Overall the module is intended to equip students with the up-to-date knowledge and skills needed to pursue successful careers in planning. 

15 credits

Professional Practice and Research

This module explores social research methods and how they are used in professional practice in planning. The module will support you - through a range of lectures, small group seminars and individual meetings - to develop your skills and knowledge in relation to research on the theoretical, practical and ethical dimensions of planning. The module will enable you to explore the kinds of research that underpin knowledge, theory and practice on a topic that matches your interests and supports your future career. The teaching sessions cover the range of research methods that might be used, and their relative strengths and potential limitations. 

If you are going to take the Planning Research Project module in the spring semester, this module will be used to support the selection of the Planning Research Project you will undertake, helping you to define your topic, develop your research approach and methods.  The assessment for the module will be a research proposal for your chosen project.

If you have chosen to take the Planning in Europe route and will study abroad in the spring semester, you will take an alternative assessment where you reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the research in your topic area and present a proposal for future research.

15 credits

There are two streams of optional modules, Planning in the UK and Planning in Europe.

The following are optional modules for Planning in the UK:

Planning Research Project

In this module you will undertake an individual research project on a topic you develop in the Autumn semester module Professional Practice and Research. You will be supported through the process by a range of group seminars and individual meetings with academic staff, this will include group seminars that will offer opportunities to share and get feedback on your ideas. The module will give you the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the role of research in relation to theoretical and practical dimensions of planning, and allow you to deepen your knowledge of a particular field or issue in  planning. It will also support you to develop a range of research, analytical, presentation and writing employability skills that will be useful in your future career.

30 credits

Health, Wellbeing and the City

This module explores the urban environment as a determinant of health and well-being and examines how planning and urban design can contribute to improvements in health. Beginning with an exploration of the historic relationship between planning and public health, the module focuses on how urban environments support or undermines health in relation to mental health, ageing, obesity, air quality and noise pollution. The module also introduces the notion of health impact assessment and further reflects on the contribution of planning to environmental justice and the reduction of inequalities in health.

15 credits

The Urban Climate Emergency (PGT)

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 will 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. This unit will explore the drivers of climate change and their implications for urban systems, critically considering how urban professionals can respond to these challenges in ways that promote just and sustainable transitions.

15 credits

Urban Regeneration (PGT)

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.

15 credits

Urban Heritage and Conservation

This module aims to introduce the theories and practices of urban heritage conservation in a global context, and equip students 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. Students will develop their own heritage project to critically apply the knowledge and skills to a real world case.

15 credits

Advanced Spatial Analysis

This unit is aimed at students who already have a good degree of knowledge in GIS. The module aims to develop in students a high degree of competence in relation to advanced spatial analysis, understanding spatial approaches to problem solving, and the theories and precepts which underlie software applications in GIS. The module is taught in a series of inter-related computer workshops focusing on real-world data and problem scenarios. The assessment for this module is based on a multiple choice exam and a 2,000 word advanced methods report.

15 credits

Immersive and Inclusive Urban Design

The module with the use of virtual and augmented reality investigates opportunities for new democratic models of design and development, aided by an understanding of practices that are transforming growth of cities; such as cognitive cities, smart cities, immersive data visualisation and responsive technologies. The module engages with new and innovative areas of inclusive design and industry practice; and focuses on the uses and limits of technology in the development of urban design responses to contemporary urban challenges. This specialist module will provide students with the opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge of key 2D, 3D and immersive technology (Virtual reality and augmented reality) design software packages which are increasingly required to visually communicate development proposals and ideas within the urban design and planning professions. The module will equip students with a critical appreciation of the strengths and weaknesses of a variety of design software packages enabling the effective selection and utilisation of appropriate software in order to perform a range of different urban design tasks.

15 credits

Urban Informality

The overall aim of this module is to critically examine urban informality, with a particular but not exclusive focus on cities of the Global South. It explores theoretical understandings of urban informality, and looks at how it affects ways of living, such as land use, housing and basic services, working lives and politics. Using a broad range of material to bring the topic to life, including non-conventional sources - such as fiction, poetry, photography, and other media - the module helps students develop learning and research on this topic.

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.

In this module, you will learn how to describe the key characteristics of living, working, and governing informally, and related spatial, economic, cultural, environmental, political, social and historical and temporal factors, with focus on cities of the Global South and North. You will also learn how to analyse and explain these characteristics, with reference to a range of academic and non-academic sources. You will recognise and evaluate different real-world urban planning responses; demonstrate theoretical and practical knowledge on informality in relation to a selected city; develop group work and presentation skills and express complex issues orally and in writing.

15 credits

Cities of Diversity

Acknowledging diversity within cities is increasingly regarded as central to successful planning, urban development and city making and is a very hotly debated issue currently, particularly with #MeToo, tensions in the post-Brexit context and the aftermath of Trump! But what do we mean by diversity and what theories exist to help us understand it? This module will focus on various aspects of diversity in the form of differing social identities (such as age, ethnicity, sexuality, disability and gender - including focusing on masculinity within cities) but also critically explore the ways in which diversity is understood by policy makers and city managers. The module will focus on cities in both the global South and North and consider the significance of migration in relation to diversity in both contexts. The module will rely on a critical engagement with literature from the discipline of geography, planning, urban studies and development studies.

15 credits

The Planning in Europe Stream involves studying abroad during the spring semester. You are also required to take the following module:

Planning in Europe

This 60credit module enables students to study for semester 2 in either UvA Amsterdam; Aalborg, Denmark; or Milan, Italy under the UK Governments Turing Programme. The module is taken in a planning department at an overseas university which offers professional courses. The module consists of practical work under the supervision of staff at the host university and it is assessed at the host institution and grades converted/verified by the University of Sheffield. The aims of the module are to develop an extensive understanding of the process of developing sites, the nature of professional work and the importance of interdisciplinary working, within a particular European context and its culture of planning and development decision-making.

60 credits