The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney)
The Master of City Planning at UNSW is a two-year, professionally accredited postgraduate degree that allows you to bring experience from previous study to launch a career in urban and regional planning.
City planning is an exciting, varied and progressive profession that plays a pivotal role in decisions shaping the future of cities and regions. Through a career in planning, you’ll improve lives by designing cities that are sustainable, equitable, healthy and inspiring.
As part of the Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture you’ll join a uniquely interdisciplinary and supportive community. You’ll work alongside students and professionals from across the built environment, just as you would in the workplace. You’ll benefit from UNSW’s strong ties to industry and world-leading research in city planning, as you explore diverse subjects including city renewal, city analytics, housing policy and healthy sustainable communities.
In your second year you’ll devise and undertake an independent major research project, which allows you to deepen your expertise in an area of specialisation and empowers you to kick-start your career by adding to your professional portfolio.
Sydney, Australia
24 Months
AU$ 40,705
IELTS: 7 TOEFL: 94
The Master of City Planning is a two-year full-time degree. It involves 14 courses plus a capstone project.
Full program structure
Each university year at UNSW has three terms and an optional summer study period. The Master of City Planning involves 14 courses and one capstone project.
You can study full-time or part-time. Depending on how you plan your study load, you can fit two or three courses into a term and one course in a summer term.
Below is a summary of what you will study in a standard two-year, full-time study plan:
1 Capstone project
9 Core City Planning courses
4 Prescribed electives.
Capstone Project
In your final year of study, you'll devise and independently undertake a major capstone project, where focus on a particular area of specialised interest and build further depth and expertise to the critical ideas and knowledge you have already gained.
This means you’ll graduate with advanced skills and a specialised project that will set you apart as you kick-start your career.
To gain entry into the Master of City Planning, you’ll need a bachelor’s degree with a credit average or above (Weighted Average Mark 65+).
If you have an undergraduate degree in a cognate discipline, or you’ve partially completed a relevant postgraduate program, you can apply to have this study recognised via Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). If your prior study is recognised, credit for certain subjects will be counted towards the Master of City Planning.
What is a cognate discipline?
City and urban planning are interdisciplinary in nature, which is why we recognise the benefits that students from diverse academic backgrounds bring to this program. If you’ve studied any of the following subject areas in your undergraduate degree, you may be eligible for RPL.
Built environment subject areas, including: architecture, landscape architecture, construction, property development and urban design.
Social, economic and environmental science subject areas, including: geography, urban studies and sociology, demography, economics, social policy and politics, communication studies, health studies, international development, environmental ecology, environmental management, environmental sustainability.
Law/Jurisprudence
Environmental and civil engineering subject areas, including surveying and spatial science degrees.
RPL for these study areas will be limited to 24 Units of Credit (UOC), which is normally the equivalent of 4 subjects.
Applicants will be assessed on a combination of higher school academic results, portfolio submission and an interview.
You may be asked to provide evidence of your English proficiency to study at UNSW depending on your educational background and citizenship. English language skills are vitally important for coping with lectures, tutorials, assignments and examinations - this is why UNSW requires a minimum English language competency for enrolment.
If English is not your first language, you’ll need to provide proof of your English proficiency before you can be given an offer to study at UNSW. You can do this by providing evidence that you meet one or more of the following criteria:
English language tests and university English courses
Prior study in the medium of English
Other qualifications
UNSW Global offers courses and programs designed to help you reach the English language level required for entry into your chosen degree. Different options are available depending on your current English language level.
IELTS 7.0 overall (min. 6.0 in each subtest)
TOEFL 94 overall (min. 25 in writing, 23 in reading, listening and speaking)
2022 Indicative First Year Fee
$40,705*
2022 Indicative Fee to Complete Degree
$82,130*
Strategic Planner
Local Government Planner
Social and Community Planner
Environmental Planner
Urban Consultant
Urban Policy Analyst
Urban Policy Officer
Transport Planning
Urban Designer
Heritage Officer
Property Developer