MSc/Dip Spatial Planning

Spatial planning is the management of space and development to create places that meet the needs of society, the economy and the environment.

About the course

The MSc Spatial Planning provides:

• an integrated programme, with all modules linked by common principles
• a programme dealing with real places and the role of planning in place-making
• a spatial perspective on planning systems and cultures
• lecture- and seminar-based modules, project work, site visits and the preparation of a 10,000 word dissertation

The degree looks at how people, places and the environment interact and change, and the ways this might be influenced. The focus is on UK practices. They’re considered within a European and global context, and approached through critical analysis and evaluation.

The degree includes both core modules, providing an introduction to key knowledge, and specialist modules, allowing you to tailor your studies to your interests.

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Who should apply?

Graduates who wish to make a career in planning, related fields (such as housing, urban regeneration, transport planning or urban design), or teaching and/or research.

Accreditation

The MSc Spatial Planning is fully accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

The degree is a ‘fast-track conversion course’. Graduates are eligible for entry routes to both professional bodies after completing our programme, regardless of subject background.

Further information on accreditation and routes to membership can be obtained from the RTPI and RICS websites.

Why choose The Bartlett?

We offer:

• a programme that draws on UCL's position as a leading research-led university
• an opportunity to acquire a broad range of skills and knowledge, while setting foot on the path towards specialisation
• a principle- and theory-driven programme giving both conceptual understanding and the skills needed to tackle practical problems

More information

• For key information, including how to apply, visit the UCL Graduate Prospectus
• Browse the sections below for more detailed course information,

Structure

The diagram below shows the structure of the one-year full-time MSc programme. The programme can also be taken flexibly over two to five years in which case students would normally complete the modules marked PT 1 before moving on to the modules marked PT 2.

The MSc Spatial Planning comprises 120 credits of taught modules and 60 credits of dissertation. It runs over a year full-time, and two years part-time (though the programme can be studied over a period of up to five years in modular mode) with most classes timetabled in the first and second terms. A research support module runs in Term 3, which is scheduled to coincide with the early stages of the production of an MSc Dissertation. 

For students studying part-time, we are usually able to timetable classes so that it is possible to have to attend the university only one day per week during the three teaching terms.  This enables students to complete the course on a ‘day release’ basis from their employment, although obviously considerable further study in their own time is also required.

Further details of these modules can be found on our postgraduate modules page.

Compulsory Modules

BPLN0037 Spatial Planning: Concepts and Context
Credits: 15
Assessment: Examination
Term 1

BPLN0042 Urban Design: Place Making
Credits: 15
Assessment: Coursework
Term 1

BPLN0043 From Strategic Vision to Urban Plan
Credits: 15
Assessment: Coursework
Term 2

BPLN0002 Pillars of Planning 
Credits: 30
Assessment: Coursework
Terms 1 and 2

BPLN0047 Spatial Planning: Critical Practice
Credits: 15
Assessment: Coursework
Term 2

Dissertation

BPLN0039 Dissertation in Planning
Credits: 60
Assessment: Dissertation
Term 3 and summer

Optional Modules

A choice of one of the following pairs:

BPLN0063 / BPLN0065 Urban Regeneration Specialism
Credits: 30
Assessment: Coursework
Terms 1 and 2

BPLN0044 / BPLN0045 Planning for Housing Specialism
Credits: 30
Assessment: Coursework
Terms 1 and 2

BPLN0024 / BPLN0027 Infrastructure Projects Specialism
Credits: 30
Assessment: Coursework
Terms 1 and 2

BPLN0056 / BPLN0057 Urban Design Specialism
Credits: 30
Assessment: Coursework
Terms 1 and 2

CASA001 / CASA008 Smart Cities
Credits: 30
Assessment: Coursework
Terms 1 and 2

BPLN0102 + BPLN0049 OR / BENVGPLL + BEPLN0054 Governance for Sustainability and Inclusion
Credits: 30
Assessment: Coursework
Terms 1 and 2

Field trips

All students joining the MSc Spatial Planning will participate in two field trips. In Term 1, there is a short overnight field trip to a British city outside London. In Term 2, there is a week-long field trip to a European city outside the UK, for example Copenhagen or Delft/Amsterdam. The trips will cover a range of spatial planning themes, linking directly to the Master's programme. Part-time students will need to be available to attend the trips during their first year of study.

Content

Further details of these modules can be found on our postgraduate modules page.

Compulsory Modules

BPLN0037 Spatial Planning: Concepts and Context examines the evolution of the planning system in the UK. Particular reference is made to spatial planning policy and spatial plan development, ranging from European to national, regional, local and community practices. This will be contextualised with reference to current statutory rules, regulations and procedures governing plan-making processes and development control decisions.

BPLN0042 Urban Design: Place Making provides an introduction to urban design through lectures and a series of projects. The module aims to illustrate the potential of design as a creative, problem-solving process and the potential of planning as a 'positive' discipline able to exert a powerful and valuable influence on the overall shape and character of the built and natural environment.

BPLN0043 From Strategic Vision to Urban Plan aims to provide students with the competence, confidence and skills required to develop urban plans and spatial knowledge which critically engage with planning as a peopled, political and technical process. In groups, students will work collaboratively with existing London’s neighbourhood forums and use planning and spatial knowledge to support the forums' progress towards the creation of a neighbourhood plan.

BPLN0002 Pillars of Planning explores the key concepts and theories underlying the study and management of cities and society through the integrated study of urban economics, sociology, politics, urban governance and environmental management. It looks at the use of social science concepts as analytical and conceptual frameworks for the understanding of issues and policy. The focus is on the integration of social science knowledge to develop confidence in the selection and use of appropriate concepts.

BPLN0047 Spatial Planning: Critical Practice is delivered through a mixture of lectures and small group seminars and aims to develop students’ understanding of key debates and theories relevant to ‘planning practice’.  The course is structured around key questions and dilemmas facing UK planners and considers the field as a professional, peopled process.

Dissertation Module

BPLN0039 MSc Spatial Planning Dissertation is a record of original work (approximately 10,000 words) linked to UK spatial planning. Submission of a dissertation is required by the end of year 1 (full-time) or the end of year 2 (modular/flexible).

Specialisms

Further details of these modules can be found on our postgraduate modules page.

URBAN REGENERATION is concerned with innovation, urban and regional economic development and regeneration. These issues are analysed in the context of development economics, the new space economy, the agglomeration of innovative high-technology industries, the concepts of the innovative and creative milieu and emerging forms of urban governance. It comprises two modules:

• BPLN0065 Urban Problems and Problematics focuses on the theoretical framework for the understanding of the spatial and socio-economic dynamics of contemporary cities.
• BPLN0063 Case Studies in Preparing Regeneration Projects is a structured project in which students are invited to apply the theory and develop their own strategies for the regeneration of a locality.

URBAN DESIGN is divided into two parts reflecting the two primary means through which planners engage in urban design - first as members of a collaborative design team, who advise on design proposals, and second as policy and guideline writers:

• BPLN0056 Urban Design: Layout, Density and Typology examines the design process through analysis, critique and the generation of alternatives for site-specific design projects.
• BPLN0057 Urban Design: Guidance, Incentive and Control addresses the process of design guidance writing and implementation through a group project.

PLANNING FOR HOUSING examines the context for and process of residential development in the UK and is divided into lecture-based and project-based components and comprises two modules:

• BPLN0044 Planning for Housing: Process begins by looking at the drivers of residential development including the demographics of growth. It considers who provides housing and the evolution of the UK policy context, then looks at the residential development process from strategic and development planning, land acquisition to development viability.
• BPLN0045 Planning for Housing: Project challenges students to apply their knowledge of development drivers, actors and practices to real-life housing development opportunities in London. Working in small groups, they will co-ordinate the completion of a comprehensive feasibility study and housing development brief for a specific site.

INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING, APPRAISAL AND DEVELOPMENT consists of two modules:

• BPLN0024 Infrastructures as Agents of Change defines the overarching characteristics of infrastructure projects, programmes and plans of various kinds and examines their roles as agents of change.
• BPLN0027 Critical issues in Infrastructure Funding, Financing and Investment provides an opportunity for in-depth reading, critical reflection and discussion around key themes and debates in the planning, appraisal and delivery of infrastructure projects.

GOVERNANCE FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND INCLUSION consists of a variation of three modules:

• BPLN0102 Governance for Sustainability and Inclusion provides students with an understanding of how broader governance processes for the urban scale can deliver more sustainable and inclusive outcomes, including an appreciation of the role of different policy instruments and policy integration. The module also aims to develop critical awareness of the politics and governance mechanisms shaping more sustainable and inclusive cities, through a theoretically-informed exploration of issues and debates surrounding environmental and urban policy at local, national and international scales. The module explores the substantive yet contested role of public participation to explore the opportunities and challenges of more inclusive forms of policy-making and the implications for sustainability.
• BPLN0049 Participatory Urban Planning Project introduces students to the tools available to engage communities and the ways participation can work in practice alongside the challenges and failures of participatory practice.  The module considers a range of techniques and contexts for participation through workshop style discussions. These are critically framed by consideration of the role and place of the built environment professional in relation to participation practice. 
• BPLN0054 Governance for Urban Sustainability: Project aims to provide students with an understanding of the complexities of developing and implementing policies, projects and initiatives for urban sustainability in specific contexts through deploying different governance approaches and policy instruments.

Smart Cities Theory and Practice consists of two modules. Both modules are run by the Centre for Applied Spatial Analysis as part of their MSc Smart Cities and Urban Analytics:

• CASA001 Urban Systems Theory will provide you a comprehensive introduction to a theory and science of cities. Many different perspectives developed by urban researchers, systems theorists, complexity theorists, urban planners, geographers and transport engineers will be considered, such as spatial interactions and transport models, urban economic theories, scaling laws and the central place theory for systems of cities, growth, migration, etc., to name a few.
• CASA008 Smart Cities: Context, Policy and Government will provide you a perspective of smart cities from the viewpoint of technology. It will provide a context for the development of smart cities through a history of computing, networks and communications, of applications of smart technologies, ranging from science parks and technopoles to transport based on ICT.

Historic Cities consists of two modules:

• BPLN0067 Planning Discourses for Urban Development in Historic Cities and Neighbourhoods aims to develop the students’ ability to gain knowledge of the dynamics of changing discourses when planning for urban development in historic urban settings, and to foster critical reflection about the varied dimensions at play in the management of historic cities, the varied agents and actors with overlapping interests in historic urban settings, and the evolution of seminal concepts in planning for conservation discourse(s).
• BPLN0068 Planning Practices for Urban Development in Historic Cities and Neighbourhoods aims to develop the students’ ability to critically chose, adapt and apply different methods and methodologies in assessing the significance of heritage assets on an area basis, and the understanding of strengths and limitations of particular methods and methodologies.

 

Staff

Programme Director

Dr Ben Clifford
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Staff teaching on the programme currently include

Elena Besussi
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Professor Matthew Carmona
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Dr Elisabete Cidre
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Dr Claire Colomb
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Professor Harry Dimitriou
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Professor Nick Gallent
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Dr Nikos Karadimitriou
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Professor Janice Morphet
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Dr Claudio de Magalhães
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Dr Stephen Marshall
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Dr Jung Won Sonn
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Professor John Tomaney
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Dr Jo Williams
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Dr Filipa Wunderlich
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Careers and employability

Graduate students from the Bartlett School of Planning have been very successful in gaining subsequent employment. There is growing demand for our Masters' graduates from a wide range of both public and private employers. While the main source of employment remains in local government and central government planning and in planning-related consultancy, graduates are also employed in the following areas:

• housing and transport sectors
• planning, urban regeneration and environmental agencies
• public and private utility companies
• teaching and research
• public policy

Destination statistics for 2011 showed that 94% of those graduating from the School that year were in employment or further study within six months of leaving us.

Still can't find what you're looking for? Get in touch with Programme Director Dr Ben Clifford, Admissions Tutor Dr Qiulin Ke or Programme Administrator Nina Jasilek.