Course overview
Urban design is the profession and discipline concerned with the shaping of cities. Traditionally concerned with the spatial and material layers of the city, urban design today also encompasses the "content" of urban spaces - their social, performative, and experiential dimensions. Through a combination of historical survey, theoretical framings, case studies, and contemporary questions, this course critically maps the variety of approaches to shaping urban spaces and places, in pursuit of their animating principles and ideologies.
Course learning outcomes
- To expose students to a range of historical precedents, theoretical ideas, case studies, and field experiences relevant to the study and practice of urban design and planning.
- To situate urban design within its social, cultural, political, technological, and aesthetic context.
- To facilitate the development of a rigorous intellectual framework for design and research on cities, and an awareness of the student’s emerging personal theoretical position and approach to urban design.
- To develop skills in the representation, analysis, and interpretation of urban places and spaces, in both textual and graphic modes, using both analogue and digital techniques.
- To develop critical and analytical thinking along with the ability to communicate this thinking (writing, oral and graphic presentation, other media).
- To foster capacities to generate, coordinate, share, and debate ideas and proposals in collaboration with others.
Fee calculator
To display course fees, please select your status and program below:
We’re updating this Fee Calculator. It currently shows fees for programs only. Please check the relevant program for full fee details.
Study Abroad student tuition fees are available here.
Only some Postgraduate Coursework programs are available as Commonwealth Supported. Please check your program for specific fee information.
The Student Contribution amount displayed below is for students commencing a new program from 2021 onwards. If you are continuing in a program you commenced prior to 1 January 2021, or are commencing an Honours degree relating to an undergraduate degree you commenced prior to 1 January 2021, you may be charged a different Student Contribution amount from the amount displayed below. Please check the Student Contribution bands for continuing students here. If you are an international student, or a domestic student studying in a full fee paying place, and are continuing study that you commenced in 2025 or earlier, your fees will be available here before enrolments open for 2026.