Urban Planning and Development with a Professional Placement Year

Overview and aims of the Programme

What could be more exciting than the challenge and responsibility of shaping the places in which we live, work, and play?
Accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), this programme focuses on the social, economic and environmental challenges of creating better places in which to live.
Planning impacts our everyday reality in so many ways, influencing the homes in which we live and the quality and availability of opportunities which can support our health, wealth and well-being. It can affect our public and community spaces and our professional and leisure spaces, as well as how we travel and move between them. You will examine how and why places, such as cities, towns, and the countryside, change and how they can be improved through planning practice and research.

This programme opens a wide range of exciting career opportunities in planning, development and surveying. Graduates have an excellent track record securing employment in these sectors as well as transport, economic development, environment policy, housing and urban regeneration.
With modules that involve practitioners, you will also have the opportunity to understand how your learning applies to the real world and consider the ways in which you can develop your professional profile and employability.
Increasing competitiveness in the graduate job market makes professional and practical experience invaluable in helping you to kickstart your career. The professional placement year allows you to put your lecture-based learning and skills into practice in a private or public sector organisation. It’s also an opportunity to build your professional profile, develop your network and identify your professional ambition

Distinctive Features of the Programme

• The opportunity to study in a School ranked 7th for Town and Country Planning and Landscape (The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020) and consistently highly rated for its research excellence.

• Strong relationships and links with policy institutions in the UK, Europe and globally.

• Taught by internationally respected and research-active staff.

• Excellent relationships and links with planning institutions, especially in Wales.

• Engagement with experts from professional practice who assist in the delivery of several modules.

• Access to a laboratory with high-quality printing facilities, GIS (Geographic Information System) and Edina digimap mapping facilities.

• A year-long professional work placement in the third year. The placement may be paid or unpaid.

• An optional International field study visit (previous destinations have included Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Tanzania) to explore issues in real world case studies and to practically apply taught skills.