Master's Programme in Urban and Regional Planning, 120 ECTS
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Urban and regional planning is constantly challenged by the transformation of society as well as by changes in our knowledge about and understanding of the world. This means that various processes, norms, applications and impacts of planning have to be continuously critically assessed. This multidisciplinary programme is designed for students who wish to deepen their knowledge of the terms and conditions of planning in Sweden and internationally. It is intended both for those who have a recent undergraduate degree and those who have some working experience and would like to get new impulses and insights. The programme is linked to the following research profiles: the Stockholm Urban and Regional Research Environment, and Population Geography, Migration and GIS.
Purpose and learning objectives
The programme includes: – ability to critically and systematically analyse knowledge and to assess complex phenomena, issues and situations, and creatively elaborate optional solutions for ‘real-world’ projects. – ability to identify and formulate issues critically, autonomously and as well as to plan and undertake advanced tasks and the ability to evaluate this work. – ability to report and communicate clearly and to discuss conclusions. – skills required for participation in research and development work or autonomous employment in some other qualified capacity. – ability to identify the personal need for further knowledge and take responsibility for his or her ongoing learning.
Programme content and structure
Compulsory courses: Theoretical Perspectives on Planning, 7.5 credits, Planning Practices in Cities and Regions, 7.5 credits, Advanced Method in Human Geography and Urban and Regional Planning, 15 credits, Master’s Thesis in Urban and Regional Planning, 30 credits.
In the student study plan individual preferences can be met by optional courses at the departments of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Economics, Economic History, Ethnology, History of Religions and Gender Studies, Human Geography, Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Political Science, Sociology, and Statistics. One semester can be spent at a university abroad.
Degree and career options
The two year Master of Science with a main field of study in Urban and Regional Planning will provide students with qualifications which will give an obvious entry point for careers in process management and qualified analytical, development and administrative work in planning at local, regional, national and international level. The programme offers an ideal grounding for students wishing to pursue doctoral studies.
Area of interests: Human, Social and Political Sciences, and Law
Are you interested in human beings and society? How we function individually and together, what drives us, our learning processes, how rules and laws have been established, and how we interact with each other? If that is the case we have a lot to offer. This area of interest covers anything from Pedagogy, Psychology and Gender Studies, to Statistics, Political Science, Law and many other subjects. Their common denominator is the relation between human beings and society, independent analytical thinking and often an international perspective.
Subject
Urban and Regional Planning
Urban and Regional Planning is about shaping and structuring the future of society. Planners affect the structure of cities and urban life, the countryside and regional development, the economic situation and the environment, culture and population from social, economic and ecological perspectives. Planning takes place in the public and private sectors as well as within international organizations, such as EU and the UN.
The problems on which planners work require composite analyses. The need for such an approach increases with the increasing complexity of society. The problems are increasingly concerned with balancing different, sometimes contradictory, interests into functional and sustainable suggestions and proposals. Planning often takes place in the form of project work, where suggestions for plans are prepared in teams where different competences are represented.
Planning thus means determining the future while being aware of the fact that at the same time other possible futures are being prevented. It is therefore important to know how society has developed historically and how it works today within different areas, with regard to natural as well as economic and social conditions. A planner must have a broad general knowledge and the ability to merge information and knowledge from different specialist areas. A planner who is responsible for the planning process needs to have an overall view and an ability to see issues from multiple perspectives. For this purpose, there is ongoing basic and applied research where a number of different planning problems are analysed, ranging from individual suburban environments to international environmental issues.
Urban and regional planning may be studied as a three-year programme in the first cycle and in a two-year Master’s programme, or as single-subject courses. Do you want to have an impact on present and future societies? Then Urban and Regional Planning is the right choice!