Postgraduate Taught Programme: Urban Planning and Real Estate

Aims

This programme has been devised in discussion with employers who consider a training combining urban planning skills and real estate concepts as key to future development and providing graduates with a highly sought qualification. Its aim is to deliver graduates not only with a sound technical background in planning and real estate but with real sense of practical real life experiences. Students will have a dedicated teaching room with an emphasis on continuous assessment and student led learning. Teaching is exclusively with other postgraduate students.

We therefore aim to:

• provide students with knowledge of the concepts and practice relevant to the study of sustainable urban regeneration, planning and real estate in an international context.
• enhance the overall student experience by an approach to learning which integrates theory and practice contributing to a better engagement with real life problems.  
• deliver a rich learning experience for students allowing them to immerse themselves in spatial planning and development practice underpinned by staff with wide international research interests.  
• prepare students for collaborative working by exposing them to professional practice and up to date research activity.

Successful completion of the degree will allow students to seek employment as town planners and/or surveyors. There is then a further period of training in employment culminating in an Assessment of Professional Competence.

Requirements

The minimum requirement is a first degree (equivalent to a British second class Honours degree). The Programme Director will consider applicants with non-standard qualifications, particularly those with substantial work experience.

It is important when submitting an application that you ensure you have completed all the necessary sections and enclosed all the relevant documentation to ensure that your application can be processed as quickly as possible.

Even if you have been educated in the medium of English you must meet our English Language requirements. These are located at www.abdn.ac.uk/sras/international/english.shtml. This programme requires that you meet the 'Postgraduate Standard' level of English proficiency. If you are in doubt about your proficiency in English, contact the British Council office or its equivalent in your country. If your first language is not English, it is important that your proficiency in English is good in order for you to study successfully at the University of Aberdeen . Without this ability you will find great difficulty in understanding lectures, producing written work and sitting examinations.

We have one intake each year in September. Late applications may be asked to wait until the next intake should the programme coordinator feel there is insufficient time to consider the application. Prospective students who require a visa to study in the UK are advised to apply as early in the year as possible to secure a place. Applications received after 30th June from students who need to apply for a visa to study in the UK will not be processed for entry but may be considered for entry into the following intake as appropriate.

It is important to note that the programmes of postgraduate study at the University of Aberdeen are very competitive and the entry requirements stated are a guide to the minimum requirements, but do not guarantee entry.

Syllabus

Studied over 12 months, the full-time course is intensive and is intended to prepare students for a career in development, consultancy and real estate.

First Semester

• Planning Theory and Practice
  Overview of development of spatial planning as a practice and discipline and review of historical theoretical paradigm evolution encompassing current focus on sustainable development. While Scotland receives particular attention an international comparative perspective is adopted with stress on the cultural embedding of planning practice and the exercise of situated professional ethics.
   
• Real Estate Economics
  Introduction to business economics. Property and the macroeconomy. Economic characteristics of property. Institutional and regulatory environment of property (including legal and planning controls). Property market analysis: use, investment and development. Sector analysis: offices, retail, industrial, housing.
   
• Valuation and Finance
  Quantitative approaches to valuation and investment. Principles underlying basic valuation and investment formulae. Principle methods of valuation. Critical examination of conventional and alternative approaches to valuation.
   
• Planning, Land and Environmental Law
  This module focuses on the governance and legal context for spatial planning intervention in a Scottish, British context and beyond.

Second Semester

• Design, Development and Regeneration
  This module will concentrate on an appreciation of the role of design in the creation of place identity and quality places. This will include a broader understanding of the impact of economic change on localities and the need to understand development processes to better deliver environments which are sustainable and inclusive yet competitive.
   
• Planning Methods and Plan Making
  This course aims to provide students with an understanding of the methods and techniques used to formulate, appraise and monitor land use development plans.
   
• Research Methods
  Introduction to urban/rural planning, property and environmental research. Traditions of thought in social science. Choosing a research topic, research methods and methodology, project/time management, relationship between students and their supervisor. Reviewing literature, use of bibliographic tools and online resources, use of primary and secondary data, interviews and surveys, interpreting quantitative and qualitative data/information. Research ethics. Writing up research.

Third Semester

• Comparative International Planning (includes Field Course)
  This course aims to provide you with an understanding of the approaches to land use planning adopted in a range of jurisdictions such as the USA, Canada, Western Europe and Australia. It includes an extended field trip.

• Dissertation - MSc Students Only
  Formulation, design and implementation of an academic dissertation on an approved topic dealing with an aspect of urban planning and property research.
    
  

In addition students are required to complete a File of Engagement with Professional Practice through attending, observing and reflecting upon a number of outside meetings (such as local council planning committee meetings, pre-application consultation meetings and public inquiries). The file is submitted in May. It is not assessed but is marked and commented upon. It is intended to help students connect what they learn in the class room with the world of professional practice, and therefore equip them with knowledge and experience valued and increasingly expected by prospective employers. 

Assessment

Assessment methods include in-course essays, reports, student-led presentations a number of written examinations.

Teaching

All courses involve lectures, tutorials, seminars and project work, although the relevant balance varies as you progress through the programme. The first semester focuses on the theoretical concepts relating to sustainable development with a mixture of exams and continuous assessment. In the second half of the programme the focus is more on applying knowledge and skills in applied projects and course-work. Project work includes individual and group exercises.

As part of the course students are required to attend European fieldtrip. The location of this has yet to be finalised but previous post graduate field trips have gone to Ireland, Portugal, and Slovenia. Future destinations will include New York and Berlin.

The programme will provide a diversity of teaching and learning situations and types of assessment that meet the needs of employers and prescribed academic standards. Each course will have reading lists which you are encouraged to pursue in your own time to further your understanding of taught material. In addition to these courses you are also encouraged to participate in various seminars and guest lectures where appropriate. As with all programmes it is up to you what you get out of them and we are here to facilitate your maximum potential and enjoyment.

Funding

Prospective students should visit the University's Postgraduate Funding Database, the University Funding Pages.and the College's Funding Pages.

University of Aberdeen Alumni Discount Scheme
The University of Aberdeen is very pleased to offer a 20% discount on postgraduate tuition fees for all alumni who have graduated with a degree from the University of Aberdeen. The Alumni Discount Scheme applies to both home and overseas students, and applies to the self-funding element of the postgraduate tuition fee. This is the element of tuition fee which you are paying yourself and does not cover the element of tuition fee which is covered by a scholarship, funding body, your employer, a company, or any another source of funding. The Alumni Discount applies only to the tuition fee element and does not apply to any other costs such as additional programme costs or research costs. More Information can be here.

Other Sources
The University of Aberdeen also has a list of International Scholarships & Bursaries.

Careers

On completion, our graduates can expect excellent prospects in the planning and surveying professions. Potential employers include, for example, local authorities, development agencies, central government and the private sector.

Fees

Information on tuition fees, including the current fee level, can be found on the University Registry website.

PLEASE NOTE: In accepting an offer for this programme offer you should be aware that the University makes an additional training charge, over and above the standard tuition fee. In 2011/12 this charge will be £1,000. Part-time students will be charged pro rata. Students will also be expected to cover the costs of travel to residential field work destinations.

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