Master of Urban and Regional Planning

Why study the Master of Urban and Regional Planning at UNE?

The Master of Urban and Regional Planning offers a thorough grounding in urban and regional planning both to graduates wishing to enter the profession and to practising professionals wishing to upgrade their knowledge.

Besides acquiring knowledge and necessary skills, for their professional accreditation, graduates will be in high demand and will be able to access employment opportunities within and outside Australia.

Students complete two trimesters of coursework (48 credit points) followed by one trimester of research (24 credit points) in which the student will undertake a full-trimester research dissertation.

The course is fully accredited with the Planning Institute of Australia and graduates are eligible for membership of the Institute's Urban and Regional Planning Chapter.

Career Opportunities

Examples of career opportunities include positions in local and state government, private consulting firms, development companies, state and federal government departments involved with urban affairs, environmental management, transport, community development, heritage conservation, regional prosperity and related fields, as well as opportunities in higher level policy advice and research roles.

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Degree Snapshot

DURATION

1.5 Years Full-time
Up to 6 years Part-time

FEES

CSP (quotas apply)
Full Fee
International

2018 STUDY OPTIONS
Armidale

Trimester 1, Online
Trimester 1, On Campus
Trimester 2, Online
Trimester 2, On Campus

Official Abbreviation MUrbRegPlan
Course Type Postgraduate
CRICOS Code 069344F
Commencing
Location Admission Period Mode of Study
Armidale Trimester 1 Online
Armidale Trimester 1 On Campus
Armidale Trimester 2 Online
Armidale Trimester 2 On Campus
Course Duration
  • 1.5 Years Full-time
  • Up to 6 years Part-time
Fees CSP (quotas apply) / Full Fee / International
Total Credit Points 72
Intensive Schools

Mandatory intensive schools may be a requirement of some of the units in this course. See Unit Catalogue for specific requirements.

Entry Requirements

A candidate shall:

(a) hold an AQF Level 7 Bachelor degree in a discipline related to the built environment including architecture, planning, environment or geography; or

(b) hold an AQF Level 8 Graduate Diploma in Urban and Regional Planning (including at least one 500-level unit) from the University of New England or equivalent AQF Level 8 qualification (including at least one 500-level unit) and attained at least a Credit average in 48 credit points.

International students from non-English speaking countries require evidence of English proficiency such as TOEFL (550) or IELTS (Overall 6; subtests 5.5).

Advanced Standing

Candidates admitted under Rule (a) may be granted a maximum of 48 credit points for the core coursework units only based on units that were not part of the degree on which admission was based, and for which the candidate achieved at least a Credit.

Candidates admitted under Rule (b) shall be granted a maximum of 42 credit points of Block Advanced Standing, provided the study was at the level of at least Credit average and a minimum of 6 credit points has been completed at 500 level, based on their admission to candidature. Up to a further 6 credit points may be granted based on units that were not part of the degree on which admission was based.

No advanced standing will be granted for the Dissertation unit GEPL500.

Academic Colours

Mace (BCC 73) edged with Gold (BCC 114)

Further Information

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These course rules & plans are ONLY to be used if you commenced, transferred or changed versions in the Master of Urban and Regional Planning in 2018.

Admission to Candidature

A candidate shall:
(a) hold an AQF Level Bachelor degree in a discipline related to the built environment including architecture, planning, environment or geography; or
(b) hold an AQF Level 8 Graduate Diploma in Urban and Regional Planning (including at least one 500-level unit) from the University of New England or equivalent AQF Level 8 qualification (including at least one 500-level unit) and attained at least a Credit average in 48 credit points.

Advanced Standing

Candidates admitted under Rule (a) may be granted a maximum of 48 credit points for the core coursework units only based on units that were not part of the degree on which admission was based, and for which the candidate achieved at least a Credit.

Candidates admitted under Rule (b) shall be granted a maximum of 42 credit points of Block Advanced Standing, provided the study was at the level of at least Credit average and a minimum of 6 credit points has been completed at 500 level, based on their admission to candidature. Up to a further 6 credit points may be granted based on units that were not part of the degree on which admission was based.

No advanced standing will be granted for the Dissertation unit GEPL500.

Period of Candidature

For candidates admitted under Rule (a) the period of candidature shall be:
(a) 1.5 years as a full-time candidate;
(b) up to six years as a part-time candidate.

For candidates admitted under Rule (b) the period of candidature shall be up to two years as a part-time candidate.

Course Requirements

To qualify for the award a candidate must pass units to the value of 72 credit points consisting of 48 credit points coursework and 24 credit points research dissertation.

Students will be required to maintain a Credit-average (or higher) to be eligible to proceed to the research component of the course.

Program of Study

Candidates shall complete an approved program of study as outlined in the Course Schedule comprising:

For candidates admitted under Rule (a)
Course Structure Credit Points
Core Units 72 cps
Total 72 cps

To view complete Program of Study click here

For candidates admitted under Rule (b)
Course Structure Credit Points
Block Advanced Standing 42 cps
Core Units 30 cps
Total 72 cps

To view complete Program of Study click here

Award of Degree

Candidates who meet the course requirements shall be awarded the Master of Urban and Regional Planning.

Dissertation

1. A candidate shall submit a dissertation embodying an original investigation of a topic within their chosen field.
2. Depending on the topic under investigation, the approval of the relevant Ethics committee must be sought if required.
3. The School, on the advice of the course coordinator, shall appoint a supervisor, who shall be a member of the teaching or research staff of the University or an associate of the University or an associate of the University (at the rank of academic Level B or higher). The supervisor shall advise and supervise the candidate during the period of candidature.
4. Except with the permission of the School, on the recommendation of the supervisor, the dissertation shall not exceed 15,000 words of text, excluding appendices.
5. Except in exceptional circumstances, candidates shall be required to enrol in and complete the dissertation in either one trimester full-time or one year long honours period part-time.

Submission of Dissertation

1. Electronic submission of the dissertation is highly recommended. Alternatively two soft bound and one unbound copy of the dissertation together with a certificate from the supervisor certifying that the dissertation is in a form suitable for examination can be submitted to the School following liaison with the course coordinator.
2. At least one month prior to the date of submission candidates shall inform the School of their intention to submit a dissertation.

Examination of Dissertation

1. The dissertation will be assessed by at least two examiners.
2. The examiners may be internal or external to the University of New England at the discretion of the course coordinator.
3. The final result will be determined by a committee from within the discipline, not including the supervisor, on the basis of the examiner's reports and confirmed by the School Teaching and Learning Committee. The dissertation will be awarded the grade of Fail, Pass, Credit, Distinction or High Distinction.
4. A dissertation will not be examined by a candidate's supervisor.

Appeals

Candidates are referred to the Academic Assessment Appeals Policy and the Academic Assessment Appeals Procedures.

Course Progression

Candidates are referred to the Course Progression Rule and the Course Progression Procedures.

Improper Conduct

Candidates are referred to the Student Coursework Academic Misconduct Rule and the Student Coursework Academic Misconduct Procedures.

Course Aims

The Master of Urban and Regional Planning enables graduates to contribute towards making the world more liveable and sustainable through developing understanding and skills in all major and core areas relating to place-making and land use planning, including through original research.

Learning Outcomes Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
  1. demonstrate a systematic and coherent body of knowledge that incorporates state of the art understanding of urban and regional planning, along with knowledge of research principles and methods applicable to the field;
  2. demonstrate highly developed cognitive, critical and theoretical skills to analyse and creatively evaluate and generate ideas relating to complex land-use and built-environment problems in a range of social, economic and environmental contexts;
  3. demonstrate knowledge and skills to exercise the high level judgement and responsibility required of a highly skilled professional planner in the governance of diverse urban and regional contexts;
  4. demonstrate initiative and autonomy in evaluating and implementing approaches to complex planning problems and research, capacity to work in leadership roles, and ability to communicate complex and theoretical information to a variety of audiences; and
  5. plan and undertake a substantial research-based project, to answer a research question competently and ethically using the appropriate methodology and analysis, and communicating the problem, approach, results and conclusions effectively.
Graduate Attributes
Knowledge of a Discipline

Graduates will possess advanced theoretical and practical knowledge about land use planning and its place in contemporary society locally and internationally. Graduates will understand how planning influences society and space in a variety of urban and regional contexts. This knowledge will be delivered through various teaching platforms, in the classroom and online, via a variety of materials ranging from critical readings to maps, plans and statistics. The development of knowledge in the discipline will be monitored through assignments within each unit of the course. Graduates will also have enhanced knowledge in a specialist area of planning through targeted academic research.

Communication Skills

Graduates will possess advanced skills to communicate in forms essential to the discipline. This will include the ability to communicate through oral communication, report writing, statistics, maps, plans and other graphical forms. It will also include skills to constructively engage with various participants in urban and regional planning. These skills will be taught and practised in lectures, tutorials and online activities and assessment tasks throughout the course. Graduates will also have advanced skills in academic writing through the communication of research.

Problem Solving

Graduates will possess advanced skills to identify problems and develop solutions in urban and regional planning. This will include capacity to interpret urban and regional environments, their composition and social impacts, and to contribute to the improvement of those environments through professional decision-making techniques. The course will hone these skills in general methods of urban and regional planning, and in specialist areas like transport planning and urban design. Graduates will also have specialist skills to apply advanced research methods to identified problems in urban and regional planning contexts.

Information Literacy

Graduates will have the advanced ability to identify information requirements in a variety of planning situations and advanced skills in sourcing, using and representing that information for planning practice. This will include practiced skills to assemble information from primary and secondary sources, and specialist abilities to evaluate the significance of that information for a given context. Specialist research skills will be taught during the course, and exercised through a supervised research project.

Ethical Conduct and Social Responsibility

Graduates will have expert awareness of the professional and ethical responsiblities of the planning profession. Graduates will have advanced skills to engage appropriately with various participants in the planning discipline, and to be appropriately responsive to various social and cultural influences in planning interactions.

Lifelong Learning

Skills and knowledge developed during the course will foster intellectual curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking in the graduate. Research work during the course will build advanced cognition of planning concepts and practices developed, providing an excellent foundation for lifelong intellectual engagement with the discipline.

Independence and Collaboration

Learning and research activities undertaken during the course will provide the graduate with high level skills to work independently on complex planning problems. Graduates will possess specialist skills to undertake independent academic research and will have advanced confidence in their grasp of planning knowledge, methods and practices. Graduates will also learn skills relating to stakeholder engagement and collaboration. These skills will be developed through on-campus and online interactive activities, and supervised research.

How to Apply

Domestic Students

All domestic students apply through the link below

For more information, click here

International Students

International students apply direct to UNE through UNE International

For more information, click here

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