City Planning MSc

University of Glasgow

The Masters in City Planning will help you develop a critical understanding of cities. You will explore the positive impact that evidence-based and innovative decision-making can have on human settlements. Cities lie at the heart of the many challenges human societies face today, including climate change, infrastructure delivery, affordable housing, and social inequality. These challenges ensure that professional city planners around the world are in high demand. You will be equipped with the knowledge and skills you need to enter the planning profession and become sustainable place makers of the future.

Why this programme

This programme is accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). It has been developed in close consultation with the relevant professional and policy communities, and is intended to provide an intensive fast-track entry to a professional career in planning.
You will have the opportunity to specialise through a choice of course pathways: Housing, International Planning, Transport, Energy & the Environment, Place & Design, or Digital Cities.
Our students have excellent employment prospects, with alumni working in major international planning consultancies, local and national government, and in the third sector.
Teaching on this programme is research-led and you will be taught by lecturers at the forefront of urban research. We maintained our top 10 position in REF2021 (Research Excellence Framework), and in our Urban Studies and Social Policy division, we advance cutting-edge and critical research agendas led by our 3 research & scholarship clusters.
These are underpinned by ongoing funded national and international staff projects, and our two substantial research centres, which are a fundamental part of this success: the Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE), and the Urban Big Data Centre (UBDC).
Our teaching is strongly engaged in policy and practice. Through our research centres and staff networks we have close links to the Scottish Government, local authorities and other agencies who also contribute to teaching. We also have opportunities to network with professional practice at various points in the year.
This programme is rooted in place-based learning through tackling complex urban sites across Greater Glasgow. Glasgow as a city is an exciting place to study planning. It provides a rich lens to understanding how planning engages with urban issues. Glasgows economic, social and architectural history provides a fascinating dynamic context to study planning.
You will have the opportunity to participate in an optional field trip to London which will provide you with the insight into the complexities of city planning in a world city. Past trips have included visits to The Shard, Kings Cross, Battersea Power Station and a number of grassroots projects that focus on community development.

Career prospects
This programme will help develop your career as a chartered town planner, giving you an understanding of planning frameworks internationally in an increasingly urbanised world.

Career opportunities and pathways
The programme offers a pathway to becoming a chartered town planner. Graduates have gone on to work for major international planning consultancies such as ARUP, WSP and JLL. There are opportunities in the public sector, with graduates going on to work in both local and national government such as Glasgow City Council, Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, and the Scottish Government. Some students also enter the third sector with careers in community development organisations such as Sustrans, a UK-based cycling, walking and wheeling charity.