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Creating Sustainable Urban Growth 

MSc City Planning and Design

QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY

3RD IN THE UK FOR CONSTRUCTION, SURVEYING AND PLANNING

GUARDIAN UNIVERSITY GUIDE 2025

In an increasingly urbanised world, cities represent both the greatest social, environmental and economic challenges and opportunities for planners and urban designers alike to create more sustainable environments and just societies. 

MSc City Planning and Design at Queen's University develops planning research, urban analysis and design skills before allowing you to decide whether to complete an urban design thesis or dissertation. Both of these options can be completed as work-based studies in partnership with external organisations with opportunities for summer placements

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Applications for 2025 entry are now open

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MASTERS IN CITY PLANNING AND DESIGN 

This course is unique having been driven by engagement with practice rather than adhering to traditional academic subject areas. The core skills that urban designers and planners need have been clearly defined and form the basis for the course.

The members of staff responsible for delivering the MSc are from a variety of professional and research backgrounds. Staff expertise includes international development, sustainable development, development economics and planning policy and practice. Each member will give a different perspective within the course, such that both theoretical and applied elements will be fully developed and a rounded high-level education will result.

Course Details

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Why City Planning and Design?

MSc City Planning and Design allows you to develop real-world project management skills through the completion of live design projects for local authority and community sector clients. You will also acquire urban and data analysis skills that you can use to develop strategic regeneration policies and design solutions. The course content gives theoretical and practical coverage across a wide variety of topics.
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Career Opportunities

There are fantastic opportunities to work with planning and urban design both locally and globally. Belfast is a city that is developing rapidly and this reflects a wider confidence in urban regeneration and development at a national level. Many recent graduates are working in planning authorities and consultancies throughout the UK and Ireland with others working in the related fields of housing, natural and built heritage and renewable energy.
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World-Class Facilities

As well as benefiting from a modern and exciting campus environment, as part of the Planning Department, you will have devoted studio space along with several shared workshop facilities with 3D printers, plotters, laser cutters and traditional model-making equipment. In joining the larger School of the Natural and Built Environment in 2016, Planning students also have access to GIS labs.
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Why Choose Queen's

Top 170 in the world for graduate prospects

(QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022)
World-class university

‘One of the world’s most beautiful universities’ (Huffington Post), Queen’s is the 9th oldest university in the UK, established in 1845 with over 170 years of teaching excellence.

The UK's Best Value Student Destination

Northern Ireland has the lowest student living costs in the UK (Save the Student National Student Money Survey 2023)

Employment potential

Queen's offers opportunities for work placements, industry-led programmes and ground breaking research projects. 91% of Queen’s graduates are in employment or further study 15 months after graduation (HESA Graduate Outcomes, 2021/22).

State-of-the-art facilities

Be taught by world-leading researchers and experts in their field in state-of-the-art facilities. 19 Queen’s subjects in the top 200 in the world (QS World Rankings by subject 2024)

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