BSc Urban Planning and Development

This is a three-year full-time degree. Year one modules are compulsory. Years two and three contain compulsory and optional modules. You will need to earn 120 credits a year. Modules are usually worth 20 credits

Year One

Year one places an emphasis on practical and applied projects while introducing the key building blocks of a planning and development degree.

You will take six modules, aimed at developing an understanding of the social, economic, political and natural processes at work in shaping cities, regions and the countryside.

You will be introduced to the analytical and creative skills required in professional practice and benefit from fieldwork and site-based projects to work on ‘live’ planning issues. Experts from professional practice are also engaged in the delivery of many modules.

Although you need to earn 120 credits, year one is an introductory year and the modules do not count towards the grade of your final degree.

Core Modules for Year One

• Society, Diversity and Planning
• Urban Economies
• Property, Urban Development and Regeneration
• Making Knowledge: Evidence and Practice
• Key Issues in Urban Planning
• Designing Places and Plans

Year Two

Year two builds on the core knowledge acquired in the first year and encourages you to apply your skills to a series of practical planning and development issues. There is a continuing emphasis on a mix of assessment types, including project work and assignments that require you to produce professional solutions and outputs.

You are introduced to plans, policies and development management, environmental planning, planning and its operation in market contexts, the operation of local government, spatial analysis, research skills and the essential components of planning law.

In year two you are supported with guidance and advice on the option to undertake a placement year as part of your degree, which is usually undertaken in the third year. This is a highly valuable component of the course and equips you with a wide range of practical skills and professional experience. You can switch to the four-year programme, with approval.

You can also choose to participate in an optional and subsidised field study visit.

Core Modules for Year Two

• Site Planning and Development Valuation
• Developing Research Methods

Optional Modules for Year Two

• Spaces of Production: Economic Geography
• Regulating Development: Planning Law and Policy
• Community Engagement, Mediation and Negotiation Skills
• Sustainable development: Concepts, Practices and Challenges
• Development and the Global South
• Heritage, Regeneration and Inequality
• Landscape, Leisure, and Identity
• Cymdeithas Gyfoes yng Nghymru / Contemporary Society in Wales

Year Three

Your final year is a valuable opportunity to reflect on your learning to date and allows you to start to develop a specialism within a specific sub-field of planning. It serves as an important component of the course in bridging the worlds of practice and academic study.

Emphasis is placed on developing the qualities of a critical, reflective practitioner and encouraging you to think carefully about the nature, instruments and impacts of planning.

Core Modules for Year Three

• Planning Theory and Practice
• Research Project
• Sustainable Transport

Optional Modules for Year Three

• Cities and Social Justice
• Mobilities: Travel, Tourism and Communication
• Infrastructure Development: Swift, Smart and Sustainable?
• Climate Change & Environmental Governance
• Researching Contemporary Issues in Geography and Planning
• Digital Planning
• Politics of Urban Design
• Economy Wleidyddol Cymru: o 'Oes y glo' i 'Oes y clo'

How Will I Be Assessed?

A range of assessment methods are used, including essays, examinations, presentations, portfolios and creative assignments.

We encourage innovation and creativity in the delivery and assessment of teaching and learning, for example, the use of geographical information systems, cartographic tools, digital media and field study visits. You will receive skills training from the presentation of critical thinking through film-based assessments.

Essays and examinations are used not only for assessment purposes but also as a means of developing your capacities to gather, organise, evaluate and deploy relevant information and ideas from a variety of sources in reasoned arguments. Dedicated essay workshops and individual advice enable you to produce your best work, and written feedback on essays feeds forward into future work, enabling you to develop your strengths and address any weaker areas.

The final-year research project provides you with the opportunity to investigate a specific topic of interest to you in-depth and to acquire detailed knowledge about a particular field of study, to use your initiative in the collection and presentation of material and present a clear, cogent argument and draw appropriate conclusions.

What Skills Will I Practise and Develop?

Knowledge & Understanding

On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to:

• Interpret and evaluate the role of the planning system in managing change in the built environment and natural environment in both the short and longer term with reference to the planning policies of central government, local government and other institutions
• Interpret and evaluate the political, legal, institutional and organisational context of planning practice by making recommendations on how organisations may improve effectiveness in addressing an identified planning issue
• Identify, select, and use practical project-based skills, design and financial appraisal skills from an urban design perspective
• Accurately define a practical issue or problem for investigation, study or research and devise a strategy for collecting, assessing, analysing and presenting relevant data and information

Intellectual Skills

On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to interpret and evaluate practical and theoretical understandings with regard to:

• Notions of equality of opportunity, social and cultural diversity, and the sustainable use of natural and human resources
• Individual and collective rights that may be represented through and impacted upon by planning systems and decisions
• The role of government and public participation in a democratic society and in the balancing of individual and collective rights and interests
• ‘subject skills’, including creativity, problem-solving, forecasting, and monitoring
• The protection of personal health and safety at work and the health and safety of others

Professional Practical Skills

On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to demonstrate:

• Practical and theoretical understandings of being a reflective practitioner, identifying the skills and knowledge they are acquiring in the classroom.
• Ability to take responsibility for the development of a self-critical and challenging approach to their own planning practice
• Interpretation and evaluation of the concept of rights and the legal and practical implications of representing these rights in the planning decision-making process

Transferable/Key Skills

• Show key skills in listening, arguing, leadership, advocacy, and problem Identify, select and use key skills to communicate spatial and planning-related information to different audiences by presenting information to colleagues and other professionals
• Take responsibility for engaging successfully in collaborative and multidisciplinary working by working as part of a team, responding appropriately to colleagues’ requests and making clear one’s own demands on colleagues
• Exercise autonomy and judgement for effective self-management by setting and adhering to work priorities, making effective use of time and identifying opportunities for input from colleagues, other professionals and stakeholders
• Exercise responsibility and judgement for managing and presenting information effectively using a range of different media and through the use of information technology
• Evaluate the principles and processes of design for creating high-quality places and enhancing the public realm for the benefit of all in society
• Evaluate different development strategies and the practical application of development finance; assess the implications for generating added value for the community

We are committed to helping you achieve your professional ambitions, and providing you with the skills, curiosity and confidence to make your mark in your chosen field.

There are numerous exciting and varied career opportunities open to graduates of this degree programme, and many occupy key positions in a range of public, private and third-sector organisations. These include national and local governments, business consultancies, sustainable energy centres, environmental agencies, housing strategy companies, construction, surveying

Specific planning career pathways include surveying, design and development, as well as fields such as transport, economic development and urban regeneration. You could practise in local planning authorities, local and national government, neighbourhood planning organisations, transport organisations, private planning consultancies, private developers and environmental organisations in the United Kingdom, mainland Europe and internationally.