PhD Planning, Property and Environmental Management / Programme details

PhD Planning, Property and Environmental Management provides a vibrant and nurturing research environment for those who are interested in pursuing research in:

• urban and regional planning;
• future cities and data analysis;
• environmental planning and management;
• environmental impact assessment;
• green infrastructure, urban design and regeneration;
• housing and property development.

Our planning, property and environmental management research focuses primarily around the making of future cities - embracing issues such as spatial analysis, urban governance and sustainability.

We aspire to create better cities by critically analysing and helping shape better policies for promoting equitable and sustainable cities for future generations.

Our research focuses on the UK, Europe and other international arenas such as China and Latin America.

Staff members and research students are also active in engaging with the  Manchester Urban Institute , particularly via the  Spatial Policy and Analysis Laboratory , and the Global Urban Futures .

Postgraduate research students are regarded as an integral part of our research culture, and we recruit high-calibre students from all over the world to join our diverse, multidisciplinary, and international team.

Manchester is a city where planning has been taught and researched for more than 50 years, and urban development and environmental impacts are right on your doorstep.

We have one of the longest established and largest professionally recognised planning departments in the UK.

Our research addresses the urgent challenges that cities face.

Over recent years we have broadened our work beyond Planning, Property and Environmental Management, towards the themes of real estate and urban design.

Planning, Property and Environmental Management is part of the School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED), a unique interdisciplinary collaboration between the disciplines of Architecture, Education, Geography, International Development, and Planning, Property and Environmental Management.

What unites us is a shared commitment to highlight and address the uneven relationships between societies, economies and the environment.

We want to understand better the world in which we live, and to offer solutions to the problems within it.

We acknowledge that a complex and interconnected world presents many challenges for analysts, but researchers in SEED are pioneering new evidence, measures, concepts and theories in order to address these challenges in practice.

SEED's world-leading research is rooted in everyday life but international in relevance and scope, addressing social, economic and environmental concerns across the globe.

Our PhD and professional doctorate research community, grouped around a range of dynamic centres and themes, is central to the SEED research agenda across all our disciplines.

We provide excellent doctoral research training on research methodology and substantive content.

Based on an individual skills audit, you may take course units on planning theory, research design process, and quantitative and qualitative methodologies, together with course units that support your specific research specialism.

Our students are proactive in an interdisciplinary forum where PhD students share their work and hosting their own PhD seminar series as well as participating in the department's own academic seminars.

PhD students also can work as Teaching Assistants, following a training session accredited by the Higher Education Academy.

When you become a postgraduate researcher, you'll join a diverse and vibrant community of doctoral students from nearly 100 different countries, all studying within the Faculty of Humanities.

You'll be assigned to a specific research grouping that complements your research interests and have access to a variety of interdisciplinary research institutes.

Our working environments are often spacious and open plan, giving you plenty of opportunities to communicate with colleagues and staff within the School, and you will have your own desk space as well as access to our fantastic range of libraries on campus.

All our academic supervisors are research active and will support you to work on challenging research problems and develop rigorous, creative and original research.

You can expect to meet with your supervisor at least once a month to discuss progress on your project.

You will have access to a large and diverse community of internationally recognised academic experts offering an environment that will stimulate intellectual debate and development. We provide additional financial support for several activities related to your PhD, including:

• presenting at international conferences;
• attending workshops that provide relevant professional opportunities;
• conducting fieldwork in the UK and overseas.

Discover what it's really like to conduct postgraduate research at The University of Manchester on our student spotlights page.

Find out more about what it's like to undertake a postgraduate research degree at Manchester on our Humanities PGR blog . 

You can develop your practical skills in our project studio, model-making workshop, and computer suites with specialist design and spatial analysis software.

For more information, see Facilities.

The University of Manchester Library

Manchester is home to one of the UK's five National Research Libraries - one of the best-resourced academic libraries in the UK and widely recognised as one of the world's greatest research libraries.

Find out more about libraries and study spaces for postgraduate research students at Manchester.