Course details

Summary

Create a future you want to live in. The BUrbPlan(Hons) is New Zealand’s only undergraduate urban planning programme.

Programme overview

Professional urban planners play a critical role in shaping our urban environments – economically, environmentally, socially and culturally.

The Bachelor of Urban Planning (Honours) explores how towns, cities and public spaces can impact our lives. You will use both critical analysis and creativity to address real-world issues and implications of urban development.

With a BUrbPlan(Hons), you’ll be eligible to apply for membership to the New Zealand Planning Institute.
Programme structure

In your first year, you’ll learn about the broad influences on urban planning and the structure of cities. We’ll also introduce the policy and legislation that dictate outcomes. Through studio courses, you’ll also develop your creative and design capabilities and become familiar with land use principles. In the first of two General Education courses, you’ll supplement your urban planning studies with a subject of your choice.

From your second year and beyond, you’ll take a second General Education course and also explore sustainable urban development, 毛利 and Pacific planning priorities, urban design concepts, and the legal and economic aspects of urban planning. Studio courses give you the chance to apply what you’ve learned to real world cities.

Being based in Auckland, you’ll have the opportunity to apply your knowledge and interact with leading industry professionals in New Zealand’s largest urban environment.

In your final year, you’ll have the freedom to explore an urban issue of interest to you within your honours dissertation (maximum 15,000 words).

Where could this programme take you?

The three common avenues for employment in urban planning are local government, central government and private practice. BUrbPlan(Hons) graduates generally start out assisting in all aspects of planning, and later choose to specialize in one domain, such as transport, consents, environmental planning or design.

Jobs related to this programme

• Central, regional and local government bodies
• Community groups
• Iwi authorities
• Non-governmental organizations
• Private practice
• Urban design

Further study options

• Master of Heritage Conservation
• Master of Planning
• Master of Urban Design
• Doctor of Philosophy

Entry criteria

Secondary school qualifications

You need to have one of the following:

International Baccalaureate Diploma with a minimum total score of 24.

General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Level. You must have completed a minimum of three A-Level subjects with at least a 'C' grade or higher. General Studies or similar general papers cannot be included.

GCE ‘A’ Level requirements apply to ‘A’ Level qualifications examined by bodies such as AQA, OCR, Edexcel, WJEC, CCEA, Pearson Education Limited and CIE taken outside of New Zealand.

English language requirements:

IELTS 6.0; TOEFL (iBT) 80; TOEFL (paper-based) 550; CAE or CPE 169; PTE 50; MELAB 80.