Master of Regional and Urban Planning (MRUP)

This two-year professional planning degree develops the requisite conceptual knowledge and practical skills required by planners in this increasingly complex environment. You will develop an understanding of the administrative, legal and policy frameworks in which spatial planning operates and the social, political, economic and environmental challenges facing planning. In addition students develop practical skills for plan & policy making, including environmental assessment, retail assessment, public participation methods, development & project management, and GIS. Depending on your interests, you choose to specialise in either development and design, or environmental planning. A structured combination of theoretical discussion, practical studio-based learning and independent research. Intensive learning experience which is policy relevant and practice related. Potential in year 2 (based on competitive selection process) for 1 semester exchange with the Master in Urban Planning Program at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Irish Planning Institute, which are internationally recognised qualifications. The Master of Regional and Urban Planning programme is a two-year professional planning programme, providing graduates with the requisite skills and knowledge to begin a career as a professional planner, with specialisation in either development and design or environmental planning. The MRUP is aimed at providing an integrated and inclusive understanding of the challenges required to create places that combine environmental quality, with a vibrant economy, good quality of life and distributive justice. The programme is underpinned by a critical and questioning approach aimed at equipping our students with intellectual confidence and the professional and ethical judgement to make decisions, which promote and ensure sustainable spatial development and manage environmental change. The programme fosters a learning environment that draws on the research and expertise of our academic staff, combined with insights from innovative practitioners in the planning, development and environmental field. Uniquely, we can draw on our location in Dublin and Ireland to reflect on the challenges of a rapidly developing vibrant city and modern economy set in an unsurpassed natural environment. The MRUP utilises a mix of lectures, hands on computer lab based work, group projects in a studio setting, regular student presentations, independent research and academic and professional writing, to provide graduates with the requisite skills and knowledge needed in the rapidly changing global environment facing planning. Careers & Employability Graduates of the MRUP are to be found working as professional planners in the public & private sector, as GIS consultants, as policy advisors, property development consultants, and as community & rural development coordinators. Our graduates have found employment with: national and international planning agencies, government departments, local authorities including urban and rural authorities in Ireland, the UK, Australia and New Zealand; transportation agencies including the National Transport Authority; planning consultancy firms including Tom Philips and Associates, John Spain Associates and Future Analytics consulting; urban regeneration companies, large house builders including Glenveagh Properties; wind & solar energy companies including Eirgrid and ABO Wind, and environmental NGOs including An Taisce. The recovery in the development and construction sector in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe is creating increasing opportunities for planning graduates here in Ireland and further afield.