Inside Building and Urban Design in Development MSc

The Building and Urban Design in Development MSc immerses students in the theory and practice of imagining and building just cities and communities.

Watch Study MSc Building & Urban Design in Development on YouTube.

Explore the degree

Learn more and apply
A man speaks into a megaphone whilst leading students on a guided walk

Learn more and apply

Learn more about the degree, the modules and make your application on the UCL Graduate Prospectus.

Alumni experiences
Students in a round table discussion

Alumni experiences

Explore our alumni’s career trajectories after graduation.

Overseas practice engagements
Students and the local community engaging with a map drawn on the ground

Overseas practice engagements

Each year, our students engage in fieldwork as part of an overseas practice engagement.

UK practice engagements
Laia Garcia Fernandez leading the Urban Design Otherwise Walking Tour in London

UK practice engagements

Building and Urban Design in Development MSc students engage in an urban design exercise with a local stakeholder in the UK.

Explore student work
Student completing work on an overseas practice engagement

Explore student work

We have published dissertations, blogs and videos from our students.

Staff profiles
Giovanna Astolfo speaking into a microphone, standing next to other DPU Programme Leads

Staff profiles

Explore the profiles of the academic team who may be teaching you next year.

Module highlights

Urban Intervention Studio
Photo of students working together and looking at an urban model

Urban Intervention Studio

Starting from the concerns of local communities, the Urban Intervention Studio is a transdisciplinary practice module running in term one of the Building and Urban Design in Development MSc.

Critical Urbanism Studio 1: Learning from informality
Picture of buildings in Iquitos

Critical Urbanism Studio 1: Learning from informality

This module aims at reflecting on informal urbanism not as the ultimate frontier of design experimentation but rather as a set of conditions that offers its own solutions.

Critical Urbanism Studio 2: Designing Investigative Strategies for Contested Spaces
Students working on an urban model

Critical Urbanism Studio 2: Designing Investigative Strategies for Contested Spaces

In this module students are exposed to the concept of design as a critically resistant and activist endeavour.

Events and workshops

Urban Design Otherwise
Urban design otherwise logo graphic

Urban Design Otherwise

Urban Design Otherwise offers a space to think together how to enact and foster emancipatory spatial practices.