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| Application Deadline: | June 1 (EEA); March 1(Non EEA) | ||
| Annual Tuition Fee: | ≈ € 5,600 | ||
| Location: | Leuven / Belgium / View location on map ▾ Hide location on map ▴ | ||
| Duration: | 24 months | Start Date: | September |
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| Credits (ECTS): | 120 | ||
| Languages: | English | ||
Location of University of Leuven
The Master of Urbanism and Strategic Planning (MaUSP) is a four-semester academic degree offered by the Department of Architecture, Urbanism, and Planning (ASRO), first organized in 2005-2006. As an internationally oriented programme developing a critical understanding of contemporary conditions of cities and urban regions, it aims to cultivate innovative concepts and strategies for qualitative interventions in urban territories through design, planning, and policies. It prepares students for leadership roles in urban design, urban development and management, and strategic planning, with a special focus on European-wide urban problems. The programme interacts with research conducted by the five research groups active in the ASRO Department.
The MaUSP programme is part of the European Postgraduate Masters in Urbanism (EMU), and students can apply to attend one or two semesters abroad at one of the partner universities - UPC Barcelona, TU Delft, or IUAV Venezia - to obtain the additional European Postgraduate Certificate of Urbanism. Applications to the European Postgraduate Masters in Urbanism are subject to approval by the EMU board.
The joint EMU programme is a collaborative effort bringing together the best components of existing curricula, creating new courses, and offering a top-ranking professional degree by combining the specificity and strengths of the participating universities. The consortium functions as a platform for promoting an exchange of knowledge, ideas, and research projects on current urban trends in Europe and the world.
By the end of the programme the student will have acquired:
* knowledge of diverse contexts of urbanization, in Europe and the world;
* knowledge of working at various levels of scale, with an ability to explain the interference between these levels of scale;
* design methods that are supported by a thorough analysis of the spatial phenomena dominating contemporary urbanization, and an understanding of the social forces underlying these phenomena;
* the ability to intervene in a strategic project which is politically and economically feasible, and which exercises a structuring effect that transcends its direct impact;
* skill in designing spatial interventions and strategies;
* skill in achieving a critical view of society's spatial functioning;
* sound communicative skills;
* the knowledge and skills required to participate in scholarly research
After successfully completing the programme, graduates will have acquired a thorough knowledge of urbanization in different contexts. They will have learned to work on various scale levels, with an understanding of the interferences between scales. They can critically analyse spatial phenomena in relation to the social and economic forces driving them. Building upon such analysis, they can design strategic interventions that are politically and economically feasible, and that have a structural impact. They will have developed excellent communication skills, visually as well as textually, and they will be able to function in a research environment.
Students completing this programme will be able to provide professional architectural and/or urban design experience to design offices, consultancy firms, or as public servants. Urbanism is closely related to current and rapid social transformation and is continuously in need of professionals capable of elaborating new interpretations, strategies, and designs in response to emerging trends. MaUSP graduates are highly valued in urban design offices, in consultancy firms for urban development and management, in real estate agencies that develop public-private partnerships, and in the public sector.
Contents
The MaUSP programme consists of four one-semester modules, spread over two years. Semesters are developed around themes highlighting a particular urban condition. Each semester module consists of a dominant design studio and compulsory courses, to be complemented by optional courses which represent about 25% of the full four-semester workload.
The training programme will allow you to explore a wide range of strategies and designs for cities and territories:
* Emerging Cities A focus on rapid transformations of cities and territories makes the issues of global pressures versus local resistance and identity a central concern.
* Territories of Dispersion The extended use of territory, including novel ways of working and living, require a rethinking of new types and techniques of infrastructure.
* Post-Industrial Sites Obsolete and marginal urban areas provide new opportunities for urban restructuring. The territorial scale and the notion of “shrinking cities” both require that the notion of development be rethought.
* Mobility and Network Cities Innovations and development in technology and infrastructural systems allow for the re-conceptualisation of cities, such as urban polycentric regions, emerging centralities, city clusters, and airport cities.
* Cultural LandscapesConservation through transformation, planning based on revaluation of heritage resources, and identity in relationship to globalisation are a number of key issues. Ecological sensitivities and emerging landscape urbanism strategies trigger the rethinking of valuable territories under pressure by generic development.
The fourth semester is reserved for your final thesis. You may choose between a written thesis or a design project.
Lecture series
Guest lectures and seminars form an important part of the programme. Most of them are compulsory. The programme benefits from the department’s worldwide contacts in the field of human settlements and urbanism. Professionals involved in both teaching, design, and consultancy activities from different corners of the world reflect the international character of the MaUSP training.
Study trips
Study trips to various destinations are organised throughout the academic year. You will be able to see and experience the area studied and will have the unique opportunity to link your theoretical knowledge to daily practice and fieldwork. The trips include visits to sites, lectures by local experts, as well as a range of assignments. Recent study trips in Europe have been made to France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and London (UK). Furthermore, one-day visits within Belgium are organised to support courses and provide an understanding of local current trends in urban transformations.
Moreover, as a key feature of the programme, a study trip and studio-related fieldwork sessions are offered in a non-Western context. You will be given the opportunity to travel to the non-European studio context for field work and visits to relevant best practices and other relevant sites for about two weeks.
EMU design workshops
Annual design workshops are a compulsory and crucial activity offered by K.U.Leuven and the other three partner universities (IUAV Venice, UPC Barcelona, and TU Delft). This week-long exchange of ideas and exposure to four different schools’ approaches intensifies the purpose of the programme. To date, students have had the opportunity of undertaking design investigations in Conegliano (Italy), in the area of “Prà dei Gai”, and the area around Venice.
IELTS
You are normally required to take an English Proficiency Test.
Most European Universities recognise the IELTS test.
Take testRequirements
Admission decisions are based upon evaluation of a complete application file:
* - Master of Science in Engineering: architecture
* - Master of Science in Architecture
* - Master of Science in Landscape Architecture
* - Master of Science in Spatial Planning
* - Master of Science in Urban Planning / Design
* - Master of Science in Human Settlements
Applicants should fulfil the following formal requirements:
* Be a graduate (with minimum 5 years of university education) in Architecture, Architectural Engineering, Civil Engineering, Urban or Physical Planning with a good academic record (normal level of 70 %, of GPA 2.8/3.0, second class upper). The relevance of the academic record will be compared for each university and/or country of origin.
* Have a good command of English, certified by a score on al language test (e.g. TOEFL/IELTS) indicating a C-1 level on the Common European Framework of the Council of Europe (Candidates who can prove that their entire university education was taken in English (for example in a Commonwealth country) can be exempted from this requirement.
* Submit a letter of motivation and a portfolio which clearly demonstrate their sound professional intentions and relevant experience.
* Applicants with some years of relevant professional experience will be preferred.
Additional Requirements
| Minimal degree required: | Master's degree |
| Minimal amount of work experience | Not specified |
Language Proficiency
| IELTS Band: | 6.0 |
| TOEFL Paper-based: | 550 |
| TOEFL Computer-based: | 213 |
Ask a Question
You can contact Maura Slootmaekers to ask a question about Master of Urbanism and Strategic Planning (Adv.) at University of Leuven.
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