Urban Planning MPlan(UG)

This module introduces you to cities and urbanisation, from the very first settlements to contemporary metropolises, using examples throughout history from across the world. The module focuses on thinking about the role of cities within societies and civilisations throughout history, and how planning ideas and practice have developed in response. It explores histories of urbanisation, from the earliest urban settlements to the megacities of the twenty-first century, looking at how various forces have shaped cities, and the outcomes of urbanisation for cities and their populations. It highlights influential ideas which have changed our thinking about cities, looks at how urban governments and planners have sought to respond to  challenges of urbanisation throughout history, and discusses critical debates around these. The module takes a global focus, drawing on different cases and examples from around the world. In addition to a focus on the historical foundations of cities, urbanisation, and planning, you will also be introduced to key foundational academic skills required for both your degree and future career. These include an introduction to good academic practice (including academic referencing), identifying relevant information, and communicating academic knowledge orally and in writing.

The module provides an introduction to spatial planning in theory and practice, exploring arguments for and against spatial planning and the rationale for state intervention into land and property development. You will get to hear about and explore key debates on the purposes of planning, the historical development of planning as a state activity and the current structure of national, regional and local government. A core function of the module is to introduce key aspects of the English planning system and key debates about its role and purpose, with reference to a range of international comparators. The module builds on these foundations to explore how spatial planning responds to a number of major societal challenges.

Exploring and gaining an understanding of place, space and urban design at the outset of your studies will provide you with the foundation needed to interpret, analyse and practically understand cities - focusing on the city of Sheffield, its communities and its people.  The module explores the fundamentals of urban design and its role in the analysis and design of space. You are introduced to some of the theories, techniques and data that planners use in their efforts to understand and create better places for people. The module will support you to develop your skills of analysis and help to equip you with applied skills to explore, make sense of, and develop spatial data/foundational drawing skills. You will be able to learn how to assess the physical, social, economic and environmental qualities of urban places as well as how to interpret and represent these spatially. You will also be able to learn the fundamentals of visual/graphical communication via professional software and posters. Teaching draws on practical examples via lectures, studio workshops, computer workshops, context-based study and site visits to gain a basic understanding and appreciation of cities and develop skills in the applied analysis of urban spaces and their design.

This module introduces you to the foundational relationships between planning and the environment, with a focus on how planners have understood, engaged with, and shaped environmental issues over time. It explores the historical development of environmental thought in planning, tracing how ideas about nature, urban growth, and human-environment relations have influenced planning practices from the 19th century to the present. You will be able to engage with key moments in planning history—such as the rise of garden cities, post-war reconstruction, environmental justice movements, and the emergence of sustainable development—as a way of understanding how environmental concerns have evolved in planning theory and practice.

Through lectures that combine lecturer input with discussion and practical exercises, the module introduces you to core principles of environmental planning, including land use planning for environmental protection, the precautionary principle, environmental assessment, and the integration of ecological knowledge into spatial decision-making. These principles are explored not only as technical tools but also as the product of specific historical and political contexts.

The module also focuses on contemporary challenges facing planners in the context of climate change, biodiversity loss, resource depletion, and socio-environmental inequalities. You will get to examine how planning is responding to these challenges through strategies aimed at achieving sustainability, promoting climate resilience, and advancing environmental justice. Through this, you learn how planning tools are used to reduce carbon emissions, plan for climate adaptation, and design resilient urban and regional systems.

UK and international case studies are used throughout the module to show how environmental planning principles are applied in practice, and how different governance contexts shape environmental outcomes. You will also be encouraged to reflect critically on the limits of planning in addressing environmental problems, and to consider the ethical and political dimensions of planning for the environment.

By the end of the module, you will be able to have developed a foundational understanding of the histories, concepts, and practices that underpin environmental planning. Through this, you will be equipped with key analytical tools to understand how planning can both contribute to and help address some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time.

This module addresses the range of challenges contained within the Sustainable Development Goals for cities attempting to transition towards sustainable urban development. You will be introduced to key sustainability challenges and the planning, and urban professional responses to these, in a range of specific cities. You will be able to conduct your own research on a particular sustainability challenge in a selected case study, evaluate relevant responses, and draw out wider lessons for planning and transitions towards sustainable spatial development.

Lectures will introduce you to a set of global urban challenges. Within these sessions, each challenge will be addressed through a mix of lecturer input and discussion and exercises. Lectures will cover the scope and nature of challenges, a critical look at appropriate policy responses, and how these are interacting within the context of particular case-study cities in the global South and North. During seminars, you will get to work in groups, each of which will work together on a single case study. The seminars will lead you through a process of research on your case study. You will identify and learn how to critically engage with academic, policy and media sources covering: the nature of the challenge, how it relates to the SDGs, and proposed policy and spatial planning responses in the chosen city. Seminars will also introduce you to core study skills, including note taking, summarising findings from academic and policy sources, communicating with policy makers and other officials, and writing policy briefs.

This module aims to help you to develop an understanding of the challenges of sustainable urban development; an understanding of the role of planning and wider urban professions in meeting these challenges; and skills in critical reading and evaluation of research materials.

This module explores uneven spatial economic development at urban, regional, national and global scales. It enables you to understand how market forces and policy interventions influence economic outcomes, helping you to make informed decisions in urban and regional planning. By examining state-market relations and economic cycles, you will gain critical insights into strategies for promoting sustainable, inclusive, and balanced development in different spatial contexts.  The module introduces key concepts and analytical tools employed by economists, and applies them to explore economic problems and investigate the role and scope for public policy interventions. It draws on ideas from mainstream economics and a variety of political and institutional economic perspectives. There is a central focus throughout the module on state-market relations and a focus on the spatial implications of political economic issues related to global development and uneven spatial development at a variety of scales (i.e., north-south divide in the UK, intra-urban inequalities at the scale of the city or the neighbourhood).

The ability to understand placemaking and urban design processes and their interface with planning, policy and development is crucial for any contemporary planning professional. The overall aim of this module is to enhance your understanding and critical appreciation of the contemporary context of urban design thought, policy and practice - focusing particularly on the role of place-making in cities. You will be able to learn about and apply  the language and techniques of urban design to explore and evaluate what constitutes effective place-making. The module will support you to develop the skills to analyse, appraise and design for urban contexts, supported by professional software and drawing techniques. You will also be able to develop awareness of the sequential stages of the design process, and the ability to deliver a comprehensive design/placemaking proposal supported by enhanced graphical skills for effective communication. Teaching will draw on practical examples via studio workshops, lectures, context-based study and student-led site visits.

This module provides you with an introduction to quantitative and spatial analytical methods, with a specific focus on interpreting and presenting data to better understand urban contexts. It exposes you to a variety of substantive issues surrounding the use of data in practice and aims to enhance your understanding of methods used to analyse real world policy challenges. You will access and use a range of different datasets, covering demographics, property, and land use and will be able to develop and practise skills in analysing them using both spatial and aspatial methods. You will be able to develop competence in accessing, analysing and presenting data to gain a deeper understanding of key issues facing urban settings.

This module aims to help you understand current agendas and approaches to environmental and infrastructure planning in the context of sustainability transitions. The module considers the role of urban planning and design in climate change mitigation and adaptation, including a focus on green and blue infrastructure. You will have the opportunity to learn from a variety of interventions, including, circumstances permitted, through an international field class. Integrating knowledge and skills from across the first two years of your studies, you will develop a master-plan that responds to the urban challenges posed by urban environmental change.

Real estate development is a complex interplay of land acquisition, design, planning consent, construction and marketing / disposal. Developers must navigate these stages through informed decisions, based on thorough market, planning, financial, and risk appraisals. The planning system plays a critical role in real estate development, providing a structure for decision-making that encourages sustainable outcomes and enhances the built environment, whilst also imposing regulatory constraints that can limit project parameters. Examining the real estate development process will enhance your skills in analysing complex problems, developing effective solutions and making sound decisions.

This module explores the real estate development process and the various influences that shape the viability of successful development projects. You will get to examine the structure of real estate markets, the roles and objectives of the various stakeholders involved in real estate development, the main aspects of real estate development appraisal and the ways in which planning, risk and design combine to shape how places change and who profits. You will be supported to work towards producing an assessment of the planning and market potential for a real-world development site incorporating viability, design and risk considerations and, in doing so, be able to learn to balance the competing demands of planning, financial viability and real estate development.

Drawing on cities from different contexts, this module provides you with an introduction to urban politics and the governance of urban change. The module explores the administrative, economic and socio-political contexts in which planning and urban policy making takes place, as well as the role that different groups and interests play in mediating and affecting urban transformations. You  will be able to explore questions around the agency of built environment professionals, how policies are made and influence change and the ways the relationships (and conflicts) between different stakeholder groups impact the goals and outcomes of urban governance.

At the heart of every discipline lie the ideas, concepts and frameworks that help its students and researchers to make sense of its object of study. In planning, geography and urban studies there are numerous perspectives, concepts and key thinkers that have shaped the development of these disciplines. This module introduces you to a series of key concepts and thinkers and helps you to make sense of urban life as a result.

This module supports you to develop your imaginative engagement with the nature of urban life and human settlement. Urban theory refers to writing and thinking devoted to 'seeing' and understanding urban life. Concepts and ideas are critical to how we engage with the key features and problems of the urban world, shape the process of conducting research and help us to make sense of and understand many of the key challenges in cities today. Theory is therefore critical to our understanding of how cities work in practice and how we understand and view urban life subsequently informs the development of cities and efforts to make them more socially just, sustainable and better places to live. You are introduced to a range of ideas and key concepts in urban studies with a view to understanding how cities have developed and how they 'work' in broad terms. The module considers a range of thinkers, concepts and perspectives. 

The module aims to introduce and extend your knowledge of different ways of seeing city life. This includes a wide range of perspectives, thinkers and concepts relating to urban social and political life, the economies of cities, the range of communities and groups living in cities and their built and natural environments. It also aims to provide you with an armoury of critical ideas and concepts that will deepen your understanding of the fundamental power relations, inequalities and divisions that characterise cities and which structure localities, particularly in relation to questions of class, race and gender.

This module introduces you to contemporary debates within political geography. You will be able to develop a detailed understanding of political processes at a variety of spatial scales, from the international to the local, from collective politics to individual political behaviour. You will be guided to explore questions of power, efficacy and conflict, with an emphasis on the spatial and place-specific aspects of politics. The focus will be on issues such as: geopolitics and international relations; the state and territoriality; the politics of nationalism and citizenship; civic activism; and individual political participation.

Environmental issues continue to be a key area of contemporary public concern and current political debate. They raise fundamental questions about the relationship between society and environment, and the politics and equity of that relationship. This module provides a geographical introduction to these issues and debates with examples from a range of scales, from the global to the local. You will be able to learn and understand core ideas, further developing understanding through inter-related explorations covering debates focused on  different real world themes and their potential solutions.

This module introduces you to conceptual and policy debates that frame possible urban futures. It aims to develop your critical understanding of the emerging contemporary visions, practices and challenges that are transforming cities, such as smart cities, eco-cities, cities and technology and cities and the super rich.  It is also focused on engaging you in exploring how alternatives to current mainstream urban planning practices might be imagined and brought into reality to deal with contemporary challenges, and shape more environmentally and socially just forms of urban development. The module uses case studies to explore these issues, and to understand how communities might address contemporary urban planning practices and derive alternatives.

Drawing on insights from theoretical debates in planning and policy studies, this module explores the assumptions underlying spatial planning practice and the challenges confronting practitioners. The module asks the fundamental question: why do societies do planning? Firstly, you will be able to  explore the values underpinning planning to understand why we plan, the nature of the challenges planning seeks to address and the dilemmas and conflicts these generate for planning practice. The module introduces concepts of equity, justice, democracy, the public interest, and power to understand how we might evaluate planning systems and how they influence place and people. Secondly, you will be supported to understand diverse theoretical approaches that planning has taken to address these dilemmas and conflicts. The module explores how these theoretical approaches inform planning practice, and how they might suggest alternatives to current ways of doing planning. Lectures will employ real-world cases and dilemmas faced by individual practitioners in their day-to- day work. In seminars you will get to participate in discussions based on a range of source materials. Lectures and seminar discussion will enable you to understand the concepts underlying ways of doing planning, assess their implications for place and people, and suggest alternatives that better respond to societal and environmental challenges.

This is an applied project module that provides a thorough grounding in the processes of strategic planning, drawing together and integrating skills developed through Levels 1-3. The module introduces the role of plans within planning systems, and in particular focuses on the English planning system. It examines in depth the role of planning across metropolitan areas and how strategic considerations, such as infrastructure, housing, environmental protection, and economic development are factored into the writing of plans. Using South Yorkshire as a focus, you will be able to examine how plan-making operates in this region. The module will enable you to explore how policy is made within South Yorkshire and understand the nature of key issues and opportunities within the area. In turn, you will be supported through workshops to engage in critical discussion about the policy opportunities that might be addressed through strategic spatial planning, and apply this to the South Yorkshire case study.

The nature of planning activity and its outcomes are underpinned by legal frameworks, procedures and case law decisions. These legal frameworks are intended to ensure clarity and fairness in the exercise of planning powers. They also change over time to reflect changing circumstances and government priorities.

This module explores the role and underlying values of law and policy in the English planning system within an international context. Core themes typically include:

the discretionary basis of UK planning;

the definition of development;

the legal process for undertaking planning decisions;

processes of planning appeal;

the changing status of development plans;

and the role of enforcement.

Through the module you will explore examples where contemporary policy is shaped by legal decisions and the scope for flexibility in working within established legal frameworks. Overall you will be able to develop  a thorough understanding of the procedures for controlling development through planning.

Infrastructure is a core component of cities, enabling economic, social and environmental elements of urban life to circulate and be drawn together or separated. In this module, you will learn about the importance of infrastructure to cities. The focus will be global, with an emphasis on understanding the politics of infrastructure development, how infrastructure projects can exacerbate or address inequalities, and the role of planners in envisioning, delivering and managing infrastructure. The module will start with a wide definition of infrastructures, which will include physical transport, energy, and water networks, but also focus on social and more localised infrastructures and their impacts on urban communities. 

The module will enable you to critically appraise technical approaches to infrastructure as well as developing knowledge of their social bases and cultural meanings. Through the module you will be able to develop knowledge of the ways in which planning deals with infrastructure and examine alternative means of conceiving and delivering infrastructure through planning policies and decisions.

Through a series of case studies, you will have opportunities to engage with a range of infrastructure projects and programmes enabling you to understand how they came about, the underlying planning processes that shaped them, their outcomes and who wins and loses from them.

In this module you will be able to engage with a wide range of contemporary housing challenges, considering how planning and wider State policy processes have tried - but often failed - to tackle entrenched issues. We will seek to develop an historically informed understanding by learning from past efforts to tackle problems associated with housing provision, access, quality and security. The module aims to situate planning policy alongside other mechanisms of intervention, building your substantive knowledge, theory and skills about housing and its relation to planning policy and decisions. We will help you to think about the bigger picture for housing, emphasising the links between planning, policies and housing outcomes at national, regional and local levels. 

The module aims to increase your understanding of contemporary debates around housing and housing policy. It will enable you to critically evaluate the means by which planning - and other policies -  shape the delivery, type and quality of homes people live in. You will be able to develop an historicised understanding of the causes and manifestations of problems, dilemmas and conflicts in housing systems and policy processes; and the ability to synthesise and apply knowledge through the development of potential policy approaches to addressing housing challenges. You will be supported to develop a nuanced understanding of people, place and policy through engagement with real-world examples, applying this critical awareness to reimagine future housing policies which can address the challenges we face around the world today.

This applied module introduces you to the theory and practice of participatory planning,  building on your prior learning about the social purposes of planning and the need for effective, inclusive participatory processes as a fundamental basis for good practice  and the creation of more sustainable and equitable places. The module involves you working in small groups to collate evidence on the history and current situation of a given  locality to generate ideas for its future development which draw on an understanding of its assets, issues and challenges. Drawing on relevant training available to you, you will then be required to prepare and deliver a 'Planning for Real (PfR) session to local A-level Geography students to elicit their views on the area's development. Through a learning-by-doing approach, the module challenges you to apply your existing knowledge of planning and place-making whilst developing new skills in participatory practice.

Planning does not stand still. Social, economic, environmental and political change leads to what seems like a constant process of planning reform. Planning in the future will not be the same as it is in the present. This module therefore aims to provide you with the knowledge, skills and understanding to interpret contemporary planning policy changes and respond to future challenges and opportunities, such as climate change. To do this, the module combines theoretical thinking with detailed analysis of unfolding changes in policy and practices of spatial regulation. The module is underpinned by the involvement of visiting speaker practitioners from a range of organisations and by interactive discussion and debate in lectures, problem-solving workshops and seminars. Overall the module is intended to equip you with the up-to-date knowledge of the changing contexts of planning practice and the skills needed to pursue successful careers in planning.

In this module you will undertake an individual research project on a topic you develop in the Autumn semester module Professional Practice and Research. You will be supported through the process by a range of group seminars and individual meetings with academic staff, this will include group seminars that will offer opportunities to share and get feedback on your ideas. The module will give you the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the role of research in relation to theoretical and practical dimensions of planning, and allow you to deepen your knowledge of a particular field or issue in  planning. It will also support you to develop a range of research, analytical, presentation and writing employability skills that will be useful in your future career.

Climate change is one of the most significant and urgent challenges of the 21st century. Cities generate over 70% of the world's CO2 and consume 60% of global energy, they therefore play an important part in mitigating the extent of climate change and in adapting to the effects of the climate crisis and its impacts on societies and the global environment. In this module you  will get to explore the drivers of climate change and their implications for urban systems, critically considering how urban professionals can respond to these challenges in ways that promote just and sustainable transitions.

Urban regeneration is common practice in the governance of urban change worldwide. Proponents make positive claims about its impacts on the urban economy, society and landscape, critics point to its negative outcomes. Drawing on Global experiences, in this module you will be able to consider the role of the state and other actors in the formulation and implementation of urban regeneration policy in its multi-scalar governance context, and the extent to which communities are engaged in and benefit from these processes. Through critical review of 'real world' cases, you will be supported to identify the tensions, vulnerabilities and varied impacts of such approaches and to consider alternative governance and policy responses.

This module aims to introduce the theories and practices of urban heritage conservation in a global context, and equip students with the basic skills to appraise heritage value and propose a planning response for conservation. This is achieved by discussing the evolution of the heritage movement and the shifting of conservation focus in the urban built environment. Critical questions will be debated in class such as how heritage is defined, by who, as well as the implications of conservation practices at different scales. We will look at the contemporary challenges to heritage conservation and the role of heritage in future place-making and sustainability. Using case studies, we will examine the creative conservation practices in the UK and internationally. Students will develop their own heritage project to critically apply the knowledge and skills to a real world case.

This module is aimed at students who already have a good degree of knowledge in GIS. 

This module aims to develop a high degree of competence in relation to advanced spatial analysis, understanding spatial approaches to problem solving, and the theories and precepts which underlie software applications in GIS. You are taught in a series of inter-related computer workshops focusing on real-world data and problem scenarios. The assessment focuses on employability skills related to a breadth of specialist knowledge and skills via a multiple choice exam, and depth of application via a 2,000 word advanced methods report, enabling you to demonstrate highly developed skills and knowledge sought by a range of potential employers.

This module explores placemaking as a multi-faceted approach to planning and designing spaces that emphasizes community involvement and the creation of vibrant, meaningful, and inclusive environments. As technology transforms how we interact with our surroundings, new technologies such as extended reality (XR) - including virtual, augmented, and mixed reality - are becoming crucial in reimagining placemaking processes. In this module, you will be able to investigate how technologies such as XR can enhance placemaking through virtual urban prototyping, spatial storytelling, augmented community engagement, and immersive participatory design. The module also addresses challenges and ethical considerations, including accessibility, digital divides, and potential disconnection in mediated environments.

Your learning will include hands-on workshops, practical exercises, and critical discussions, focusing on essential XR tools such as 3D modeling, spatial mapping, and immersive storytelling. You will be able to develop practical skills through client-focused scenarios, exploring how technologies such as XR can support community-centric urban design. This module aims to support you to develop employability skills to be able to creatively apply XR in designing and revitalizing public spaces, equipping you for roles in urban design, spatial planning, community engagement, and immersive media industries.

The overall aim of this module is to critically examine urban informality, with a particular but not exclusive focus on cities of the Global South. It explores theoretical understandings of urban informality, and looks at how it affects ways of living, such as land use, housing and basic services, working lives and politics. Using a broad range of material to bring the topic to life, including non-conventional sources - such as fiction, poetry, photography, and other media - the module helps students develop learning and research on this topic.

The module relies on a mixture of lectures, seminars and student-led group work, with the latter focusing on an in-depth case study of a selected city. It explores patterns and causes of informality and discusses the strengths and limitations of a range of theoretical approaches. It also analyses the success of different real-world urban planning responses (understood in broad terms), including government-led, donor-led and community-focused ones, in addressing key urban issues in the context of informality.

In this module, you will learn how to describe the key characteristics of living, working, and governing informally, and related spatial, economic, cultural, environmental, political, social and historical and temporal factors, with focus on cities of the Global South and North. You will also learn how to analyse and explain these characteristics, with reference to a range of academic and non-academic sources. You will recognise and evaluate different real-world urban planning responses; demonstrate theoretical and practical knowledge on informality in relation to a selected city; develop group work and presentation skills and express complex issues orally and in writing.

Acknowledging diversity within cities is increasingly regarded as central to successful planning, urban development and city making and is a very hotly debated issue currently, particularly with #MeToo, tensions in the post-Brexit context and the aftermath of Trump! But what do we mean by diversity and what theories exist to help us understand it? This module will focus on various aspects of diversity in the form of differing social identities (such as age, ethnicity, sexuality, disability and gender - including focusing on masculinity within cities) but also critically explore the ways in which diversity is understood by policy makers and city managers. The module will focus on cities in both the global South and North and consider the significance of migration in relation to diversity in both contexts. The module will rely on a critical engagement with literature from the discipline of geography, planning, urban studies and development studies.