MSc in Spatial Planning

Masters Degrees:

Spatial Planning with Environmental Assessment
Spatial Planning with Marine Spatial Planning 
Spatial Planning with Sustainable Urban Design
Spatial Planning with Urban Conservation

Programme Director 
Dumiso Moyo
Town & Regional Planning
d.moyo@dundee.ac.uk

The Spatial Planning programmes are designed to provide the knowledge, skills and understanding required for graduates wishing to enter into professional careers in urban planning and development.

Overview

Why choose spatial planning?

Spatial Planning is concerned with creating sustainable places. Planners achieve this in a number of ways:

• Planners work with building firms and housing organisations to help make available sites addressing the housing needs of local areas. They meet with local communities to learn about their concerns and to discuss ways of tackling issues such as the protection of homes from flood risk. They provide guidance on how to promote quality in the design of places and buildings.
• Planning makes possible investment in sustainable economic development. Through preparing medium and long-term plans, planners ensure that land is available for development within and around our cities and towns. Planners often lead on regeneration projects and work in partnership with engineers to bring forward the infrastructures necessary for schemes reducing transport congestion; providing for long-term energy solutions, etc.
• Climate change is making achieving sustainability increasingly important. Planners, work with the environmental agencies and with conservation interests to ensure that the potential environmental impacts arising from development proposals are first established and then they use planning powers to promote a sustainable balance between social and economic development and the protection of the environment.

Who become planning students? 

Spatial Planning is a multi-disciplinary activity and attracts a wide mix of graduates. Often these are geography graduates, but increasingly graduates with social science, law, architecture and surveying degrees, as well as graduates from the environmental sciences find that Spatial Planning makes use of their knowledge and training.

Location

Dundee is an excellent city in which to study spatial planning. The city is under-going an exciting process of renewal and has developed to become a leading centre for medical life science and digital animation industries. The University of Dundee has excellent library and sports facilities. Student accommodation is readily available. Dundee has excellent medical services and offers a wide range of cultural, social and recreational facilities. The city is beautifully situated on the Tay estuary. Within relatively short distances, is a dramatic range of scenery from mountains to the coast. Edinburgh is little over one hour distance, and Aberdeen and Glasgow are less than two hours travel time. All may be reached by bus, car or rail.