Urban Planning

Gain the skills, knowledge and qualification to enter planning and related professions with our four-year integrated masters degree.

Towns and cities across the world face huge challenges from housing and overpopulation to climate change and pressures on infrastructure. Urban planning is about understanding these challenges and managing change to make better, more just and sustainable places.

This course will give you practical, real-world skills, while developing your knowledge and understanding. You'll learn how to interpret, analyse and understand urban spaces and how they can be enhanced for the benefit of society as a whole.

Because the MPlan is a four-year, professionally accredited integrated masters, it will enable you to hone your professional skills.

The course will prepare you for a diverse range of planning and planning-related careers in the public and private sectors. You'll develop the confidence and industry awareness needed for roles in development management, infrastructure planning, policy making, property development, housing and regeneration, environmental sustainability and urban design, heritage and conservation.

A key feature of this course is the emphasis on making a positive difference to the world, and taking an interdisciplinary, critical and global perspective to create more fair, just and sustainable places.

Linking academic theory to practical examples will form a key part of your learning experience. You’ll have the opportunity to get out of the classroom and explore planning in practice with site visits and school-funded field trips, in the UK and internationally. You'll have the chance to meet and question planning industry professionals about live projects.

You’ll also benefit from our close connections with policy makers and practitioners from across the sector. We invite urban planning expert guest speakers and alumni to share their own experiences and insights on topics that you will be learning about as part of your modules.

You may also have the opportunity to gain valuable work experience as part of an industry placement year, for example in public authorities and private consultancies.

You’ll be taught by experts who are world-leading researchers in planning. In the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), 95% of the school’s planning research and its impact was rated world leading or internationally excellent.

This MPlan course is accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) - this means that you will fully meet the educational requirements of chartered membership on completion of the course.

Accreditation

This integrated programme is recognised by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) as an accredited qualification, allowing those who complete the programme to progress via the licentiate pathway towards chartered membership of the RTPI. By completing an accredited programme you will benefit from full eligibility to become a chartered planning professional – opening up a wide range of future career opportunities.

This programme is also accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Institute of Town Planners, India.

Why study this course?

• 3rd for construction, surveying and planning - Guardian University Guide 2026

• 3rd for town and country planning and landscape design - Complete University Guide 2026

• 3rd in the Russell Group for learning opportunities in the subject of planning (urban, rural and regional) - National Student Survey (NSS) 2025

• We cover field trip costs - Fieldwork should be open to everyone - that's why we’ll cover the cost of travel, accommodation and food for all field classes. You’ll be free to focus on exploring new environments and developing new skills, without worrying about extra expenses.