Outline
Jointly delivered by Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (ESALA) and the Research Centre for Urban Studies at Heriot-Watt University, this programme builds on a trajectory of research and knowledge development in urban studies in both institutions.
You will study the wide and diverse range of social, cultural, economic and political processes that influence the development of the contemporary urban environment. The programme also enables you to acquire the tools and skills to propose and develop urban projects of diverse scales and specificities, considering policy frameworks, design interventions and the role of people in shaping cities.
The programme seeks to address the gap between architecturally driven and planning driven urban design perspectives. It brings together a range of approaches relevant to urban design that are currently being developed within and across multiple professional and disciplinary practices.
Students on the programme come from a wide range of multidisciplinary backgrounds ranging from the Social Sciences, Humanities and Art to the Environmental Sciences and Engineering. They work collaboratively to understand how urban strategies and urban design approaches respond to contemporary urban transformations around economies, political approaches, physical constraints and social networks.
You will benefit from an academic environment, expertise and knowledge brought by researchers with international experience in a range of urban-related themes and geographical areas, showcasing a diversity of future challenges.
The city of Edinburgh offers a unique laboratory for the exploration of current urban design issues. Its renaissance to ‘Geddesian’ planning history and contemporary international planning pedagogy links to local urban institutions and bodies and provides a good platform from which to support student-led, context-based projects and dissertations.
To find out more about this course, visit our Degree Finder: Urban Strategies and Design.
