URBAN PLANNING PROFILE
The Urban Planning program offers a Master of Urban Planning and two research degrees, the Masters by Research and a Doctorate.
Urban planning’s terrain is the built environment and the public interest. Urban planners are concerned with the interaction between people, the places they live in and the policies that help make sustainable cities and liveable communities. Urban planners work to positively influence environmental sustainability, economic resilience and social equity in cities.
As planners, we believe that this is a critical pursuit and perhaps never more timely than now as we adapt to global changes that impact our cities. These changes include climate change; a renewed focus on public transport and the form of our cities; deepening inequality that has often been associated with diminished local democracy and the rise of community advocacy; growing concerns for community health and safety; and the emergence of global city regions that require innovations in governance and planning. This is an exciting, urgent and fascinating period for planners.
The program prepares students to step up as leaders to address the world’s urban problems and to maximise opportunities. We do this through a mix of lectures, debate and discussion, seminars, a studio and independent research.
Students are encouraged to:
- Think in a critical and reflective manner
- Respond creatively to the issues they confront
- Understand and manage the complexity inherent in planning problems and processes
- Understand cities in an international comparative context
- Develop research skills
- Develop areas of specialisation
- Work in multi-disciplinary teams
The Master of Urban Planning:
- Introduces students to the operation and debate about planning systems in Australia and internationally
- Provides opportunities to explore the implications of different perspectives on urban planning and practice
- Provides opportunities, through subjects with an applied focus, to learn the way planning decisions impact on real world situations
- Provides a research opportunity so students can follow a supervised and self-directed learning path on a planning issue.
