We are passionate about sharing with our students the vital role they each have now and as future professionals in promoting a sustainable future for all. We believe that sustainability is not the domain of one discipline or profession. It is the responsibility of all disciplines, professions, organisations and individuals.
That is why on each of our courses within the Belfast School of Architecture and the Built Environment you will learn about the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the contribution you can make now, and as a graduate in the Built Environment.
Read the course details below to find out more.
A new and innovative course, MSc Planning and City Resilience produces leaders in planning for resilient, inclusive and healthy cities.
Discover the role of planning in providing innovative responses and opportunities for creating resilient places that can adapt to the impacts of social (e.g. demographic change), economic (e.g. enhancing city/region competitiveness), environmental (e.g. climate crisis) challenges. You will explore a range of topics that relate to building resilient cities across four cross-cutting themes: sustainable development, social and climate justice, inclusive planning and partnerships, and smart interventions.
The programme is delivered via a combination of lectures, workshops, and seminars alongside local and international field visits that use the city as a laboratory. You will benefit from research-led academic instruction from a multidisciplinary course team. In addition, you will learn from industry experts working in the public, private and NGO sectors and gain experience in how planning enhances city resilience, blending concepts and theories with real world problems and solutions.
As a graduate you will be in possession of an MSc degree recognised by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), enabling you to develop your career as a chartered town planner. Graduates will have excellent career opportunities in planning and development agencies and consultancies, local authorities, regeneration, environmental management, community development, climate change mitigation and other planning related careers.
Become a leader of change in how to collectively co-design, plan and deliver a resilient future that creates sustainable cities and communities.
We know that choosing to study at university is a big decision, and you may not always be able to find the information you need online.
Please contact Ulster University with any queries or questions you might have about:
For any queries regarding getting help with your application, please select Admissions in the drop down below.
For queries related to course content, including modules and placements, please select Course specific information.
We look forward to hearing from you.
In this section
All modules will be delivered through blended learning i.e. via virtual learning environment as well as traditional face-to-face teaching on Ulster University’s Jordanstown campus.
Contact hours vary by module. Timetables are reviewed on an annual basis subject to staff and room resources.
The MSc Planning and City Resilience programme provides an inclusive learning and teaching environment that is informed by cutting-edge research and delivered by a multi-disciplinary course team.
All modules will be delivered via a blended learning approach (i.e. via virtual learning environment, VLE, as well as traditional face-to-face teaching on the Jordanstown campus). Where appropriate, students will obtain the lecture materials prior to class, to allow for more active and collaborative sessions during the weekly time-tabled (face-to-face) seminars/workshops. Ulster University’s dedicated Urban Planning Studio will be used, where possible, to facilitate this student-centred approach, during which students will be immersed in discussions, problem solving and other experiential activities and simulations. The programme will be supplemented with seminars and lectures by visiting academics and practitioners. In Semester Two you will undertake an international field study (one week duration max.). Students undertake a 60-credit research project in semester 3, which has limited direct teaching but has a staff supervisory process to support you.
Class sizes are kept small to ensure that students benefit from one-to-one support and tutorage. In addition, you will be allocated a dedicated Academic Mentor at the beginning of your studies who will provide studies advice and additional developmental support to help ensure you reach your full potential academically throughout the programme.
Modules are all 100% coursework. There are a maximum of two items of assessment in a module. An item may include more than one component, but the overall item will have a single mark. A range of assessment techniques are used to enable students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the course concepts and content, and their practical and transferable skills. These techniques include academic essays and research projects, reports, strategies and practice/policy submissions as well as oral presentations. Where possible, and appropriate, coursework assignments are aligned to a client and/or live project providing real opportunity to contribute to resilience-building policy and practice.
As a student you should expect to be given clear, explicit information and guidance on the assessment and understand how it will be marked. You will also be given timely and relevant individual or group feedback on all work allowing you to identify areas of weakness and feed forward into your learning.
The University employs over 1,000 suitably qualified and experienced academic staff - 59% have PhDs in their subject field and many have professional body recognition.
Courses are taught by staff who are Professors (25%), Readers, Senior Lecturers (20%) or Lecturers (55%).
We require most academic staff to be qualified to teach in higher education: 82% hold either Postgraduate Certificates in Higher Education Practice or higher. Most academic staff (81%) are accredited fellows of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) by Advanced HE - the university sector professional body for teaching and learning. Many academic and technical staff hold other professional body designations related to their subject or scholarly practice.
The profiles of many academic staff can be found on the University’s departmental websites and give a detailed insight into the range of staffing and expertise. The precise staffing for a course will depend on the department(s) involved and the availability and management of staff. This is subject to change annually and is confirmed in the timetable issued at the start of the course.
Occasionally, teaching may be supplemented by suitably qualified part-time staff (usually qualified researchers) and specialist guest lecturers. In these cases, all staff are inducted, mostly through our staff development programme ‘First Steps to Teaching’. In some cases, usually for provision in one of our out-centres, Recognised University Teachers are involved, supported by the University in suitable professional development for teaching.
Figures correct for academic year 2021-2022.
High quality apartment living in Belfast city centre adjacent to the university campus.
Find out more - information about accommodation
At Student Wellbeing we provide many services to help students through their time at Ulster University.
Find out more - information about student wellbeing
The Belfast campus is situated in the artistic and cultural centre of the city, the Cathedral Quarter.
Here is a guide to the subjects studied on this course.
Courses are continually reviewed to take advantage of new teaching approaches and developments in research, industry and the professions. Please be aware that modules may change for your year of entry. The exact modules available and their order may vary depending on course updates, staff availability, timetabling and student demand. Please contact the course team for the most up to date module list.
In this section
Year: 1
Status: C
Interest in resilience is expanding as a direct response to the scale and intensity of contemporary issues facing cities, governments and societies. This module embraces a range of topics that relate to the conceptual and practical issues involved in building resilient cities and identifies a key role for planning in terms of strengthening the ability of society to prepare for, and respond to, anticipated impacts of contemporary social, economic, environmental challenges.
Year: 1
Status: C
This module in international city planning and development has the primary objective of providing students with the knowledge necessary to critically analyse theory and practice in different international contexts. Cities are not globally homogeneous. It is therefore important for future planning practitioners to appreciate both the benefits and limitations of international policy transfer, as well as the social, economic and environmental drivers of city development.
Year: 1
Status: C
This module considers the concept of spatial planning and how it has evolved across the devolved UK and the Republic of Ireland. In particular, the module identifies the contemporary debates surrounding the fluid conceptualisations of spatial planning, and articulates how planning nests within planning practice. The module will provide a learning platform to understand the role and interrelationships between stakeholders in structuring and shaping land use policy and how planning practice sits within a particular legal framework.
Year: 1
Status: C
The relationship between health, well-being and the built environment requires practitioners to consider how planning and design processes influence the places where people live, work and socialise. This module provides students with an understanding of how planning policy and practices can play a crucial role in creating inclusive environments that enhance people's health and well-being, and help to diminish health inequalities.
Year: 1
Status: C
This module introduces the student to the concept of sustainable development, how it has evolved and how it can be delivered and measured. It explores a range of economic, environmental and social challenges to determine how these overlap with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It provides for an appreciation of the policy and actions needed to stimulate government, corporate and individual change to help deliver the wide-ranging SDGs.
Year: 1
Status: C
This module provides students with a broad understanding of research methods and techniques, and how these can be used to investigate a research problem in any context. Students will be provided with the necessary theoretical foundations in statistical research, including the ability to plan research ethically and conduct a literature review. Students will also be able to record, analyse, interpret and present qualitative and quantitative data appropriately.
Status: O
Year: 1
This module is optional
Effective planning processes and co-production practices require meaningful stakeholder engagement that fosters equal and reciprocal relationships, and inspires new ideas to enable communities and cities to become more resilient. Drawing on both theory and practice, this module provides a deeper understanding of civic agency and participatory planning to inform future practitioners of the opportunities, challenges and benefits of inclusive engagement.
Status: O
Year: 1
This module is optional
New models and motivations are emerging to co-design and improve public services that meet changing community needs, deliver well-being outcomes, produce collaborative gain and advance place-based resilience. This module provides students with an understanding of the evolving governance models associated with the (co-)design and (co-)delivery of public services that aim to enhance social, economic and environmental well-being outcomes.
Status: O
Year: 1
This module is optional
This module examines a range of theoretical and practical issues surrounding leadership for successful delivery of regeneration and spatial planning. Understanding, and appreciating, such issues and considering how best to use new knowledge will be essential for spatial planners in terms of enhancing city resilience in an inclusive way. The module is designed to prepare students to better manage their careers in the context of discontinuous change and provide an authentic experience of conflict and change within a planning context.
Status: O
Year: 1
This module is optional
Students completing this module will have in-depth knowledge and understanding of the purpose, processes, principles and skills in the practice of environmental protection and sustainable technologies within the context of the sustainable development agenda. This includes protecting life on land and in water, taking action on climate change, and promoting responsible consumption and production. Students will develop critical skills in strategic planning, policy and intervention to achieve this.
We recognise a range of qualifications for admission to our courses. In addition to the specific entry conditions for this course you must also meet the University’s General Entrance Requirements.
Applicants must:
(a) have gained:
i. a second class honours degree or better from a university of the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, or from a recognised national awarding body, or from an institution of another country which has been recognised as being of an equivalent standard;
or
ii. an equivalent standard (normally 50%) in a Graduate Diploma, Graduate Certificate, Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma or an approved alternative qualification;
and
(b) provide evidence of competence in written and spoken English (GCSE grade C or equivalent).
In exceptional circumstances, as an alternative to (a) (i) or (a) (ii) and/or (b), where an individual has substantial and significant experiential learning, a portfolio of written evidence demonstrating the meeting of graduate qualities (including subject-specific outcomes, as determined by the Course Committee) may be considered as an alternative entrance route. Evidence used to demonstrate graduate qualities may not be used for exemption against modules within the programme.
English language requirements for international applicants
The minimum requirement for this course is Academic IELTS 6.0 with no band score less than 5.5. Trinity ISE: Pass at level III also meets this requirement for Tier 4 visa purposes.
Ulster recognises a number of other English language tests and comparable IELTS equivalent scores.
In this section
Global initiatives, such as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, illustrate the growing need for practitioners – and graduates – with the skills necessary for progressing the resilience agenda. It is anticipated that demand for professional planners will continue to expand, nationally and internationally, due to rapid urbanisation, growing inequalities and the climate crisis. The technical and transferable skills gained through the modules will help prepare students for securing and maintaining employment within this ever changing context.
Accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), the programme will provide a career development opportunity for both current planners (in public and private sector) with aspirations to work in the area of resilience, and those graduates from any undergraduate programme to transfer to the field of planning. The provision of optional modules provides flexibility to accommodate educational preferences and career progression interests/specialism.
Graduates will have excellent career opportunities in planning and development agencies and consultancies, local authorities, regeneration, environmental management, community development, climate change mitigation and other planning related careers.
Opportunities also exist within the Belfast School of Architecture and the Built Environment for graduate to embark on PhD research in a wide range of planning and resilience topics.
£6,720.00
£15,840.00
MSc Planning and City Resilience is accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) as a combined postgraduate programme. Students may be eligible to apply for the RTPI 'Future Planners' Bursary.
It is important to remember that costs associated with accommodation, travel (including car parking charges) and normal living will need to be covered in addition to tuition fees.
Where a course has additional mandatory expenses (in addition to tuition fees) we make every effort to highlight them above. We aim to provide students with the learning materials needed to support their studies. Our libraries are a valuable resource with an extensive collection of books and journals, as well as first-class facilities and IT equipment. Computer suites and free Wi-Fi are also available on each of the campuses.
There are additional fees for graduation ceremonies, examination resits and library fines.
Students choosing a period of paid work placement or study abroad as a part of their course should be aware that there may be additional travel and living costs, as well as tuition fees.
See the tuition fees on our student guide for most up to date costs.
We know that choosing to study at university is a big decision, and you may not always be able to find the information you need online.
Please contact Ulster University with any queries or questions you might have about:
For any queries regarding getting help with your application, please select Admissions in the drop down below.
For queries related to course content, including modules and placements, please select Course specific information.
We look forward to hearing from you.
