Urban Development Planning MSc overseas practice engagements
Each year as part of our practice module, Urban Development Planning MSc students complete a practice engagement project to gain experience of processes of urban change in a fast-changing city context
Developed in partnership with community groups, NGOs, universities and/or local authorities, our practice engagement projects tackle real-life urban challenges, offering students first-hand experience of developing strategies towards transformative, community-centred urban development planning.
As well as producing meaningful outputs for local project partners and communities, the practice engagement project aims to build the capacity of students as reflexive urban development practitioners.
Discover where we’ve worked and the organisations we’ve partnered with in previous years: Cebu, Liverpool, Yogyakarta, Colombo, Dar es Salaam, Bangkok, Istanbul, Mumbai, Accra.
2023-2025 : Cebu, Philippines
After three years disrupted by COVID-19 related restrictions, 2023 saw the Urban Development Planning MSc initiate a new partnership with an alliance of community, civil society and public actors in Metro Cebu. Designed in collaboration with the Fellowship for Organizing Endeavours, Inc. (FORGE), over the years, this learning alliance has seen students work with a number of people’s organisations and public officials across three municipalities to collectively unpack possible pathways towards settlement security for the urban poor.
Explore photos of the Cebu overseas practice engagement on Flickr.
Watch the videos our students created of their work in each municipality in Metro Cebu:
2022: Liverpool, England
Unable to travel internationally due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, 2022 saw the Urban Development Planning MSc develop a one-year partnership with a collection of community-led housing actors in the Liverpool City Region. Designed in partnership with Breaking Ground, students worked with three established community-led initiatives to develop city-level strategies designed to unlock the potential of community-led housing and regeneration in the city.
Explore photos of the Liverpool practice engagement on Flickr.
Watch the videos produced by our students working on each area of study in Liverpool:
2019 to 2021 Yogyakarta, Solo and Surabaya, Indonesia
Between 2019 and 2021, Urban Development Planning MSc students worked in partnership with an alliance of community groups and civil society actors in Yogyakarta, Solo and Surabaya to explore questions related to neighbourhood precarity in secondary Indonesian cities. Designed in collaboration with ArkomJogja, the first year of this partnership began with an exploration of tenure security as an intensely dynamic, variegated and multi-dimensional concept in Yogyakarta.
The second year, reshaped by the advent of COVID-19, saw a pivot in focus towards developing an understanding of the role of community-centred processes in reacting to the inequalities revealed and amplified by the pandemic.
The third year then expanded the focus of the collaboration to two additional Indonesian cities (Solo and Surabaya) with students working remotely to investigate the challenges and opportunities confronting efforts to pilot community-led settlement upgrading at scale.
Watch the videos produced by our groups of students working on each area of study in Yogyakarta:
2018 Colombo, Sri Lanka
In 2018, Urban Development Planning MSc students travelled to Colombo to work on issues relating to settlement upgrading and relocation in the city.
Read about the fieldwork and reports produced by students:
- Blog: Between Upgrading and Resettlement: Fieldwork reflections from locations in Colombo
- Report: Mayura Place: Expanding social justice in upgrading and resettlement in Colombo
- Report: Muyadora Uyana: Relocating quality of life in Colombo, Sri Lanka
Watch the videos created by students:
2014 to 2017 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Between 2014 and 2017, Urban Development Planning MSc students worked with Tanzanian NGO Centre for Community Initiatives (CCI) and members of the Tanzanian Urban Poor Federation in Dar es Salaam. During this time, students focused on issues including land, housing, solid waste management and environmental hazards (e.g. flooding).
Read the reports produced by students:
Watch the videos created by students:
2011 to 2013 Bangkok, Thailand
Between 2011 and 2013 UDP students worked with the Community Organizations Development Institute (CODI), the communities with whom they work and the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR). Over the three years, students focused on the challenges of settlement upgrading and city-scale transformation, using the innovative Baan Mankong Housing Programme as an entry point.
Read about the fieldwork and reports produced by students:
2010 Istanbul, Turkey
In 2010, our Urban Development Planning MSc students travelled to Istanbul to work with local communities to develop strategies capable of promoting the right to the city.
Read about the reports produced by students:
2006 to 2009 Mumbai, India
Between 2006 and 2009 Urban Development Planning MSc students worked with the National Slum Dwellers Federation, Mahila Milan and SPARC (collectively known as The Alliance) in Mumbai, India. During this three year engagement, our students focused on issues ranging from housing upgrading and relocation, to water and sanitation provision.
Read about the fieldwork and reports produced by students:
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2004 to 2005: Accra, Ghana
Between 2004 and 2005 Urban Development Planning MSc students worked with a variety of urban development actors in Accra to explore the potential role of pro-poor public private partnerships as a mechanism to improve housing and infrastructure provision for residents of underserved informal settlements.
Read about the fieldwork and reports produced by students: