Masters in Architecture & Urban Environment Abroad

Gain an appreciation of the historical and theoretical dimensions of urbanism and design and extend your core skills in the design and formulation of urban projects.. You will develop leadership and expertise with a strong emphasis on sustainability, quantification and implementation.

The University of Sydney's Urban Design program recognises that urban designers work at the nexus of aesthetic, economic, political and technical fields, and prepares you for professional practice in this exciting, multifaceted and increasingly valuable field.

The Urban Design program was one of the first in Australasia and has built an excellent reputation, producing skilled graduates who work around the world in design, management and teaching roles.

It continues to develop leadership and expertise in urban design and urbanism, with a strong emphasis on sustainability, quantification and implementation. At its core are studio projects that address emerging design issues, and supporting units are available to cover essential morphological, ecological, cultural and other dimensions of urbanism.

At the Master level you may choose to complete the core Master of Urban Design course, or combine it with one of two available streams: urban design and planning or heritage studies.

The Urban Design program at the University of Sydney is the only professional training program in Urban Design to offer you enriched specialisations, giving you additional training and expanding the scope of your employment opportunities.

Expanded methods for the planning professional

The Master of Urban Planning and Design integrates policy and design approaches as central methods for addressing the challenges facing planners in the twenty-first-century city. This approach provides future planners with the ability to actively engage with a range of stakeholders in flexible ways and improve planning processes.

Real-world projects in research settings

The course is interdisciplinary and collaborative with a focus on project studios that unpack the impacts of urban growth and transformation as we move through this century. Projects are themed around central planning issues including the Compact City, the Ecological City, planning metropolitan growth areas, and the Inclusive City.

Each semester, you will explore and develop solutions to key planning and design challenges in real-world settings. Projects work across a range of spatial settings, allowing a broad exploration of issues, and development of skills and knowledge required by planning professionals and appropriate to graduate study. You will learn to employ conceptual tools, analytical methods and visualisation techniques that provide a broad understanding of and the ability to engage with the urban realm.

Upon completion, graduates can engage critically in the discourse around the planning, design and development of the city, integrating practical and specialised knowledge and skills that can be applied in traditional and emerging planning roles.

Multi-disciplinary participants

Students from a range of disciplines and backgrounds work together with Australian and internationally experienced academics and practitioners committed to multi-disciplinary research, as well as practical work, that can develop new modes of professional intervention.

The course is open to applicants from diverse backgrounds including architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, economics and geography.

Graduates may seek employment in government departments and agencies and in planning practices in Australia and around the world.

This Urban Design master's prepares you to contribute towards an improvement in the quality of the built environment.

We've structured the course around three main urban projects. Each explores key contemporary issues in urban design:

• urban regeneration
• housing
• public space and engagement

Theoretical and practical lectures, seminars and workshops underpin these projects. The course is primarily studio based. There is an emphasis on independent learning. You're encouraged to cultivate a studio atmosphere within your year group. You'll learn from each other's diverse disciplinary backgrounds. 

This innovative one-year masters is run jointly by the Department of Urban Studies and Planning and the School of Architecture. The course will prepare you for a career in the planning and urban design professions and includes opportunities to learn about development and design issues faced in the Global South.

You'll learn about the factors that shape cities and rural areas, and gain a deeper knowledge of a selected specialist aspect of planning. The course will develop your research, policy making and design skills, and your understanding of how to apply research to public policy making and evaluation.

The Urban and Regional Studies Institute is an interdisciplinary degree program oriented toward examining and understanding the broad range of problems and challenges associated with the nation’s cities and regional areas. There are many career opportunities in community development, urban/regional planning, local government, and local government management. This national award-winning program includes classroom, research, and field experience. In addition to formal course work, students are encouraged to undertake independent study, become involved in community service projects, participate in field studies, and accept internships in local agencies.

Urban design is the discipline of the design and management of our ever-changing cities driven by urbanization, global economics, and advancing technologies.

The Master of Urban Design program is offered in an one-year curriculum with a central focus on urban design at all scales - from the regional district to the neighbourhood block. The post-professional course of study integrates design studios with courses in urban design history and theory, economics, and public policy. Within the intensive structure, there are opportunities to orchestrate personal interests in the discipline through selection of electives and research topics.  

The challenging program is founded on combining academia with the contemporary profession. Each year, the program explores an urban design theme through community partnerships with regional organizations. In the design studios, students collaborate with faculty, stakeholders, and professionals on real-world projects for possible future applications.

The M.S. in Architecture, Urban Design (MSAUD) post-professional program focuses on the intersection of urban forms, applied technology, climate resilience, ecosystems, and socio-cultural aspects of cities. In the advanced design studios, you’ll learn how to be an agent of change by responding to critical issues within the global context of 21st-century urbanism.

The MSAUD is a program at the forefront of urban design research focused on issues of urbanization through the exploration of social, cultural, technological, and environmental domains. The program focuses on four main areas to project scenarios for FUTURE CITIES and URBAN INNOVATION:

• Interscalar forms of urbanization
• Climate Resilience
• Applied Urban Technology
• Socio-cultural aspects of Cities

Gain a global perspective on urbanism through the study of iconic New York City and diverse urban metropolitan regions around the world. The MSAUD builds on your existing professional degree in architecture, landscape or urban design. While studying in New York City, you’ll connect with organizations, institutions, stakeholders, and the larger community throughout the metropolitan area. You’ll also develop a global perspective on urbanism through international travel and project work. Recent sites have included Paris, Naples, Milan, and Shanghai.

This course-based program requires the completion of 30 units in graduate-level course work, including 24 units of required, core courses and 6 units of optional graduate-level course work in PLAN courses. The core courses include a research project that is to be completed as a capstone course. Students must maintain standards acceptable to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research to remain in the program.

The professionally accredited M.U.P. program prepares students for careers in planning practice. Such careers involve public service at all levels of government, in private consulting practice, in the nonprofit sector, and in a wide variety of organizations in need of planning services. The program also prepares students for advanced work leading to the Ph.D. degree and a career in teaching and research.