Course description

MSc Global Urban Development and Planning will improve your understanding of global urban development issues, particularly relating to cities of the global South.

Cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America struggle with growth, and urban communities in the developing world are increasingly faced with problems relating to poverty, informality and inequality, climate change, insecurity and lack of social cohesion.

The course will also suit development professionals seeking to acquire new expertise in dealing with urban issues, and social development specialists working in the voluntary, private or public sector.

Aims

You will:

focus on sustainable and equitable urban development planning in the global South;

participate in cutting-edge conceptual debates in global urban development theory and practice;

gain the skills to gather, organise and employ evidence and information from a wide variety of sources.

Special features

Benefit from small-group teaching, close staff-student relationships, and guided one-to-one supervision.

Develop practical skills in project studios with drawing facilities, model-making workshops, and specialist design and spatial analysis software.

Enjoy fieldwork opportunities in the UK and abroad, exploring real-life issues on one-day trips, site visits, and overseas residential visits to locations including Manchester, London, Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Toronto, Amsterdam, Belfast and Dublin.

Have the flexibility to mix discipline units or specialise, and choose from a wide range of optional course units.

Study in Manchester, a city where planning has been taught for more than 50 years, and urban development and environmental impacts are on your doorstep.

Teaching and learning

Part-time students complete the full-time programme over 27 months.  There are no evening or weekend course units available on the part-time programme, therefore if you are considering taking a programme on a part-time basis, you should discuss the requirements with the Programme Director first and seek approval from your employer to have the relevant time off. Timetabling information is normally available from late August from the Programme Administrator and you will have the opportunity to discuss course unit choices during Welcome Week with the Programme Directors.

Coursework and assessment

You will be required to pass a total of eight course units totalling 120 credits of postgraduate study, and undertake a dissertation of 12,000 -15,000 words which provides a further 60 credits.

You must also complete four core course units compulsory for all students, and four optional course units.

Most courses are assessed by essays, class presentations and examinations or a combination of these (depending on the course units selected).