160 Best Urban Planning Master's Degree Programs for 2025

As the population of urban areas continues to grow, so do the challenges to secure an inclusive, just and sustainable set of futures. These challenges ask questions related to anthropology, architecture, business studies, economics, geography, history, and sociology. Drawing upon concepts from across these disciplines, the MSc Urban Studies will deliver a better understanding of how cities are confronting these challenges.

The MSc in Green Infrastructure integrates the disciplines of geography, landscape, and environmental planning to offer a comprehensive and pioneering educational experience. This program is the first of its kind, combining the theoretical knowledge, practical application, and evaluative techniques of green infrastructure. It equips students with a robust understanding of the necessity for green infrastructure and the processes involved in transitioning from design to implementation.

The training is organized in a modular way and according to a competency-based approach. The student goes through the different teaching units which constitute the training according to the rhythm that suits him, until the integrated test in which he must demonstrate through a synthesis work the transversal mastery of the skills he has acquired.

Research in this field aims at the actualization of information systems that focus primarily on the “human element” rather than on just sending and receiving information. Students can learn how to skillfully develop information systems, and how to pursue effective processes to ensure performance and safety.

Through education and research in the fields of architectural planning and theory, architectural design, architectural environment and equipment, traditional wooden architecture, and structural engineering in architecture, we cultivate talent who can contribute to the realization of comfortable urban and residential spaces by pursuing harmony between the characteristics of individual architecture and the concepts of urban and community planning. To this end, we welcome the following students. 1.Students who aim to play an active role in businesses such as major construction firms, housing manufacturers, and architecture-related companies, as engineers in architectural structures or architectural environments. 2.Students who aim to play an active role in businesses such as architectural design offices, design ateliers, and the planning department of companies, as an architect or designer. 3.Students who aim to play an active role in a broad range of fields from research and development to education and government, as an architectural specialist.

Master Of River Delta Development (MSc). The Master’s program River Delta Development (MSc) trains students to be facilitators of change for river deltas. Everywhere in the world, urbanization and climate change are encroaching upon these fertile, ecologically valuable regions.

The aim of the master’s degree in Landscape Architecture (MBLandArch) is to provide an up-to-date response to current landscaping problems and to equip graduates with skills in landscape analysis, planning, design, and management while including the new challenges of adopting EU directives, laws and standards that refer either directly or indirectly to the landscape.

Gain the knowledge to design and manage sustainable urban plans & policies, and the skills to drive responsible innovation.

Calling future urban thinkers who are curious about how we can revitalise post-industrial cities! This exciting and unique Master's programme wants to create an educational experience which recognizes and responds critically to issues of cities in different forms and stages of post-industrial transition and educates the next generation of specialists with the 21st-century skills and knowledge needed to address the challenges and opportunities of cities in transition and super diverse societies. It is the ideal program for professionals involved in the design, planning, management or evaluation of the city who want to join a vibrant knowledge and innovation community committed to rethinking more sustainable urban futures. RePIC fosters transformative modes of teaching, research, and learning - responding to post-industrial cities' specific challenges and characteristics.

The Official Master's Degree in Landscaping or Garden Design links traditional Garden Design with very current themes – environmental problems, climate change, sustainability, biodiversity, environmental education, energy saving and new social trends such as ecological awareness. Through various subjects, visits, talks and exercises advised by the teachers throughout the training cycle, the student will be able to develop any scale of garden, private or urban, and will be suitable to work in different sectors of the market.

At this critical moment in our history, Urban Design at the UVA School of Architecture brings together multidisciplinary expertise to address complex spatial challenges through radical concepts and enact our collective capacity to envision more just, livable, and compelling cities for our future.

The Master of Urban Education prepares teachers to meet the educational demands of urban settings. The program emphasizes culturally sound teaching strategies in urban classrooms to foster student success. The coursework is complemented by clinical classroom observation, which allows faculty to provide immediate feedback on the skills that matter most in effective teaching.

The Master of Environmental Studies (MES) Program is a part of a nationally ranked master’s college at Evergreen based on our contribution to the public good in social mobility, research, and promoting public service. The MES degree is an interdisciplinary degree that will prepare you for the complex nature of professional environmental work.

Your future is in your hands. Make the most of it with a Master of Architecture from Wentworth. Our NAAB-accredited. IPAL-approved and STEM-designated program will introduce you to the contemporary challenges of the built environment and give you the skills you need to be a leader in a rapidly evolving profession. Learn by Making, Thinking & Doing Hands-on, experiential learning opportunities, and advanced technical resources will help harness your creativity and apply critical thinking to design projects. Engage with diverse cultures and building traditions—both historical and contemporary—through travel-based learning around the country and across the globe as well as in co-ops with leading firms.

The Masters in Geography program has two tracks: The thesis track (for students interested in conducting independent research; often these students enter a PhD program following the Masters) or the non-thesis track (for students interested in advancing their expertise without conducting independent research; these students typically enter the workforce following their degree).

Our department offers an accredited 3-year Master's degree in Architecture (M. ARCH), developed for students entering with a previously completed bachelor's degree in a program. Applicants with previous degrees in design will be viewed on a case-by-base basis. Years needed to complete the M. ARCH may be reduced from the three-year-plan. Accredited by NAAB, and incorporate coursework in architectural design.

Integrating theoretical and technical competencies, the Master of Architecture program nurtures future professionals through a comprehensive and flexible core curriculum. Students learn to analyze complex environments and propose innovative design solutions to the world's most urgent problems.

The Master of Urban Design (MUD) is an intensive post-professional degree program for individuals who seek a career in urban design practice or for current planning and design professionals who want to enhance and expand their existing practice with urban design knowledge and expertise.

Graduate education in bioregional planning is designed to prepare the student for work within a trans-disciplinary environment providing better alternatives for environmental decisions, policy and implementation. The program is jointly administered by the departments of Environment and Society and Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning. The graduate will be qualified to practice in both private firms and various public sectors, which may include offices of the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management; and various state, county, and community organizations.

The UNLV School of Architecture Master of Architecture Degree Program is a NAAB accredited program that offers prospective students two paths of study to the Master of Architecture (M. Arch.) professional degree; a two-year course of study for students possessing a pre-professional undergraduate degree in architecture and a three to a four-year course of study for students whose academic background is outside of architecture. Master of Architecture Program studies emphasizes the opportunities that the University and Southern Nevada settings have to inform and enrich the study of architecture and prepare students for meaningful careers and lifelong success. Whether through a research-based interdisciplinary study involving academic units across the UNLV campus or design inquiry exploring the unique qualities of Las Vegas, students that enroll in the program will be rewarded with an educational experience that is as unique and dynamic as this place. Centering on critical opportunities for architecture to serve society, the M. Arch. the degree program is organized into three distinct courses of study or concentrations: Building Systems and Sustainability, Hospitality and Entertainment Design, and Education Facilities Research & Design. Each concentration is composed of an interdisciplinary curriculum involving academic programs across the University of Nevada Las Vegas as well as the participation of internationally significant practitioners and researchers. The M. Arch. the degree program is thematically structured to emphasize comprehensive building design during the first year of study and concentration-focused research and design during the second year of study. Concurrent to both years, students enroll in concentration-related electives that inform and give breadth to students’ individual efforts in the final year of the program. The School of Architecture is fortunate to offer students a range of research labs and centers that enhance the graduate experience. These include the Downtown Design Center located in downtown Las Vegas, the SimLab emphasizing modes of fabrication, LIME emphasizing virtual realizations, the NEET Lab emphasizing renewable resources, and the Design-Build program which in its inaugural year competed in the 2013 Solar Decathlon.