MSc Global Urban Development and Planning

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2027, the tuition fees are as follows:

• MSc (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £13,200
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £32,000

The fees quoted above are fully inclusive of tuition, administration and computational costs.

Fees for entry are subject to yearly review. The University reserves the right to increase your tuition fee by up to 7% each year for courses lasting more than one year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our educational and wider student experience. Postgraduate fees information .

Always contact the admissions team if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

International student CAS deposit

Self-funded international applicants are required to pay a deposit of £2500 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. Some applicants will be required to pay a higher deposit. More information on tuition fee deposits .

An overseas field visit is an optional part of the course.

Please note there is a student contribution towards the cost of the trip depending on the location.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

• Information on university funding, loans, and scholarships are available on the master’s student funding page .

• Funding for EU and international students is on our country-specific pages .

This course unit introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of Integrated Land Use and Transport Planning. Students learn core concepts, principles and emerging debates in the field, and identify institutional and policy issues and challenges relevant to achieving land use and transport systems integration in practice.

Building on the concepts and principles, the course introduces students to analytical tools, methods and models that are being applied in the integrated planning and evaluation of land use and transportation systems. Students will acquire practical understanding of approaches and models of land use and transport systems integration, by exploring international case studies from the Global South and Global North. Students will assess and evaluate the societal and environmental consequences of land use and transport plans and policies.

A primary goal of this course unit is to enable students to appreciate the interconnectedness between land use and transportation systems integration on the one hand and the normative goals of creating inclusive, equitable and environmentally sustainable cities on the other hand.

Students will engage with debates around the impacts of emerging technological and social changes on current and future land use and transport systems, and their integrated planning. Topics covered in this course include:

• Introduction to concepts, theories and principles in land use-transport interaction
• Co-evolution of transport and land use systems
• The built environment and travel behaviour
• Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)
• Introduction to travel demand modelling
• Accessibility planning and analysis
• Institutional and policy conditions for co-ordinated land use and transport planning
• Planning for non-motorized transport and
• Future of transport and cities, focusing on new/emerging transport technologies and mobility services

The unit aims to:

•            Introduce students to the concepts, principles and practices in the interdisciplinary field of land use and transportation systems integration;

•            Advance students’ understanding of how integrated approach to land use and transport planning is critical to the normative goals of creating inclusive, healthy and environmentally sustainable urban futures

•            Introduce students to analytical tools, methods, models and software applications for understanding, planning and evaluating the linked responses between land use and transportation systems.

The course unit will be delivered through a variety of teaching and learning modes, including lectures, expert guest speakers, student-led interactive sessions, student presentations, hands-on software and methods training workshops and a fieldtrip.

Student will attend one three-hour session per week. The lectures will be organized in two sessions. The first session, which is a one-hour-fifteen minute lecture, will typically introduce core concepts, theories and debates about a topic. This will be followed by forty minutes of student-led interaction session to discuss assigned readings on the topic of the day.

In order to ensure that students engage with assigned readings and participate in the discussion sessions, they would be required ahead of every session to select from the readings provided one article to review and provide a short summary of their reflections. Based on the weekly readings and reflective summaries, students will develop a plan for the essay component of the module assessment.

Students will also learn by completing group-based activities and produce pre-recorded video presentations and policy-briefs to communicate their findings. A component of the module assignment is peer-assessed, with the aim of giving students the opportunity to receive feedback and learn from each other.

There will be a day’s fieldtrip, which will involve the class taking the water taxi from Manchester city-centre to Salford Media City to demonstrate Transit-Oriented Development

• Explore the nexus between land use and transportation systems and explain the underlying mechanisms of interaction.

• Identify the institutional and political conditions necessary for co-ordinated land use and transport planning, the associated practices and emerging challenges.

• Recognise and articulate the role of integrated land use and transport planning in sustainable place-making.

• Critically assess key concepts, principles and debates on land use and transport systems integration and their practical relevance.
• Appraise the socio-spatial, economic and environmental consequences of land use and transportation policies and plans.

• Apply analytical tools and methods in the field through practical project-based learning activities.
• Demonstrate research and analytical skills.

• Demonstrate presentation and communication skills.
• Self-direct their learning.

Students will receive written feedback for work submitted on BB via Turnitin. 

Acheampong, R. A., & Silva, E. A. (2015). Land use–transport interaction modeling: A review of the literature and future research directions. Journal of Transport and Land use, 8(3), 11-38.

Banister, D. (2012). Assessing the reality—Transport and land use planning to achieve sustainability. Journal of Transport and Land Use, 5(3), 1-14.

Booth, C., & Richardson, T. (2001). Placing the public in integrated transport planning. Transport policy, 8(2), 141-149.

Cervero, R., & Kockelman, K. (1997). Travel demand and the 3Ds: Density, diversity, and design. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 2(3), 199-219

Deakin, E. (2019) Transportation, land use, and environmental planning (1st Edition). Elsevier: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Geurs, K. and B. Van Wee (2004). Accessibility evaluation of land-use and transport strategies: Review and research directions. Journal of Transport Geography, 12, 127-140.

Halden, D. (2011). The use and abuse of accessibility measures in UK passenger transport planning. Research in Transportation Business & Management, 2, 12-19.

Handy, S., Cao, X., & Mokhtarian, P. (2005). Correlation or causality between the built environment and travel behavior? Evidence from Northern California. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 10(6), 427-444.

Hansen, W. (1959). How accessibility shapes land use. Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 25(2), 73-76.

Hull, A. (2005). Integrated transport planning in the UK: From concep