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Core modules:

Spatial Planning Systems

This module provides an introduction to state-led planning and the key principles that underpin how spatial planning systems seek to shape the built environment. It considers the administrative, legal and political contexts in which planning decisions are made and the role of different groups in shaping land-use development. The module will help you understand how spatial planning systems are constructed and the ways planning policies are made and implemented. It will use practical scenarios to explore planning and development as contested activities with significant outcomes for people and place.

15 credits

Perspectives on Spatial Planning and Development

This module is seen as core in developing initial knowledge and understanding of planning and urban development. It critically explores the role of spatial ideas in planning policy and practice and plays a key part in developing critical skills and understanding of different contexts and environments relevant to that practice. The module covers urbanisation in a range of contexts and examines how spatial planning seeks to respond to key economic, environmental and social challenges.

15 credits

Values in Planning

This module explores the inter-relationships between theoretical debates within planning and everyday practice. An awareness of theoretical debates is crucial to understanding the assumptions implicit in spatial planning practice and the challenges confronting practitioners. The module tackles questions regarding the nature of spatial planning and the arguments and ideological basis for planning in different contexts. It also addresses the key conceptual challenges that shape the activity of planning, including how to achieve equitable and just planning outcomes, the role of technical knowledge and the knowledge held by communities, and how we might envision alternatives to current modes of planning. A distinctive strand of the module will focus on the ethical dilemmas faced by planning practitioners, and will evaluate the frameworks that are used to shape approaches to acting ethically. Particular emphasis is placed on the dilemmas faced by individual practitioners in conducting their day-to-day work and in learning from cases that reveal the ideological tensions and conceptual challenges underpinning the planning project.

15 credits

Employability and Professional Skills

As professional skills become increasingly vital for workplace success, this module will allow you to develop a range of supporting skills that will enhance your learning experience at Sheffield and prepare you for a successful career.

The module has two elements: 1. Cultures of Learning and Professional Skills - understanding how we teach at Sheffield, how to get the most out of your study and how to develop key generic professional/soft skills 2. Employability Skills - preparing you for careers within planning, design, real estate, GIS and related professional areas.



The aims of this  module are: 

1. to provide a range of supporting skills for home and international students, which will help you get the most out of your learning in Sheffield

2. to prepare you for professional employment and career development at the end of your studies.

Plan Making

This module provides you with an introduction to the plan making process, focusing on the principles, methods and techniques underpinning plan preparation. The module will first introduce the history and theory of plan making. It then explores the various phases and elements of plan making including but not limited to concept design, evidence development, participation, techniques and analysis, strategy development, financing, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Parts one and two foreground the applied element of the module where you will apply newly acquired knowledge of the plan making process and knowledge accrued from autumn semester to develop a site specific area action plan for a part of a chosen urban site. In doing so, the module will develop both foundational knowledge of plan making and applied skills relevant to planning practice.

15 credits

Core modules:

Planning and the Development Process

This module explores the development process and the various influences on the feasibility of successful development projects, including the planning process. It is designed to introduce planning and design students to core knowledge and skills, enabling them to understand how the development process shapes built environment outcomes. The module examines the structure of real estate development markets, the roles and objectives of the various stakeholders involved in development and planning, the main aspects of real estate development appraisal and the ways in which planning, design and risk influence profitability. Students will work towards recommending a course of action that offers the greatest likelihood of a successful outcome and in doing so, learn to balance the competing demands of planning, design and development.

15 credits

Urban Design: Principles and Processes

This module aims to introduce and explore the fundamentals of urban design through the evaluation of urban design masterplans and design/planning policy. It is intended to develop core urban design knowledge and understanding for Urban and Regional Planning and Real Estate Planning and Development students. The module will introduce students to the vocabulary of urban design as part of the development process and provide an overview of the key physical components of the spatial environment, the role of urban design in shaping the built environment, and core principles in interpreting and appraising urban design processes and practices. The module will equip students with design evaluation skills to explore, make sense of and evaluate planning and design policy including design codes, masterplans and strategic development frameworks. Teaching will draw on practical examples, lectures, workshops and external speakers/practitioners to develop skills in the evaluation of spaces, their design and the use of planning, development/design policy.

15 credits

Optional modules - A student will take two of the following modules:

The Urban Climate Emergency (PGT)

Climate change is one of the most significant and urgent challenges of the 21st century. Cities generate over 70% of the world's CO2 and consume 60% of global energy, they will therefore play an important part in mitigating the extent of climate change and in adapting to the effects of the climate crisis and its impacts on societies and the global environment. This unit will explore the drivers of climate change and their implications for urban systems, critically considering how urban professionals can respond to these challenges in ways that promote just and sustainable transitions.

15 credits

Issues in Housing

This module will introduce students to a range of enduring housing challenges across different contexts, discussing historic and contemporary policy responses. The module will build both substantive knowledge about the causes and manifestations of housing problems and provide students with the skills to critically evaluate policies which seek to address these problems, grounding insights in relevant theories, concepts, and empirical research. The module will encourage an insight into the range of key actors involved in addressing housing challenges, build students' abilities to question the assumptions underpinning interventions, and develop an awareness of the relative strengths and weaknesses of policy approaches. By the end of the module, students will be able to demonstrate a nuanced awareness of the origins of contemporary housing problems, situating these within the relevant historical context, to evaluate policy approaches oriented to addressing these challenges, and to suggest new ways forward.

15 credits

GIS for Built Environment Professionals

This module aims to introduce key Geographical Information Systems (GIS) principles and techniques to students in fields where GIS is becoming an increasingly relevant tool. The focus is on enabling students to develop an understanding of the potential of GIS and some fundamental GIS skills, through a series of workshops using a range of common software. Assessment is through a written report incorporating visualisations and analysis.

15 credits

Urban Informality

The overall aim of this module is to critically examine informality, with a particular but not exclusive focus on cities of the Global South. The module relies on a mixture of lectures, seminars and student-led group work, with the latter focusing on an in-depth case study of a selected city. It explores patterns and causes of informality and discusses the strengths and limitations of a range of theoretical approaches. It also analyses the success of different real-world urban planning responses (understood in broad terms), including government-led, donor-led and community-focused ones, in addressing key urban issues in the context of informality.

15 credits

Planning Law

The nature of planning activity and its outcomes are underpinned by legal frameworks, procedures and case law decisions. These legal frameworks are intended to ensure clarity and fairness in the exercise of planning powers. They also change over time to reflect changing circumstances and government priorities. 

The following module explores the role and underlying values of law and policy in the English planning system within an international context. Core themes include:

- the discretionary basis of UK planning

- the definition of development

- the legal process for undertaking planning decisions, 

- processes of planning appeal

- the changing status of development plans

- the role of enforcement.

The module will also explore examples where contemporary policy is shaped by legal decisions and the scope for flexibility in working within established legal frameworks. 

Overall the module will provide students with a thorough understanding of the procedures for controlling development through planning.

15 credits

Health, Wellbeing and the City

This module explores the urban environment as a determinant of health and well-being and examines how planning and urban design can contribute to improvements in health. Beginning with an exploration of the historic relationship between planning and public health, the module focuses on how the urban environments support or undermine health in relation to mental health, ageing, obesity, air quality and noise pollution. The module also introduces the notion of health impact assessment and further reflects on the contribution of planning to environmental justice and the reduction of inequalities in health.

15 credits

Urban Heritage and Conservation

This module aims to introduce the theories and practices of urban heritage conservation in a global context, and equip students with the basic skills to appraise heritage value and propose a planning response for conservation. This is achieved by discussing the evolution of the heritage movement and the shifting of conservation focus in the urban built environment. Critical questions will be debated in class such as how heritage is defined, by who, as well as the implications of conservation practices at different scales. We will look at the contemporary challenges to heritage conservation and the role of heritage in future place-making and sustainability. Using case studies, we will examine the creative conservation practices in the UK and internationally. Students will develop their own heritage project to critically apply the knowledge and skills to a real world case.

15 credits

Urban Regeneration (PGT)

Urban regeneration is common practice in the governance of urban change worldwide. Proponents make positive claims about its impacts on the urban economy, society and landscape, critics point to its negative outcomes. Drawing on Global experiences, we will consider the role of the state and other actors in the formulation and implementation of urban regeneration policy in its multi-scalar governance context, and the extent to which communities are engaged in and benefit from these processes. Through critical review of 'real world' cases, we identify the tensions, vulnerabilities and varied impacts of such approaches and consider alternative governance and policy responses.

15 credits

Core module:

Dissertation

This is a core module which allows students to develop and manage an individual research project. The module aims to help students to develop and apply research skills and an appreciation of the issues involved in managing a research project; to develop an understanding of the role of research in relation to theoretical and practical dimensions of the chosen discipline; and to further and deepen knowledge in their chosen field of planning, real estate, urban design, development, or related interests.

60 credits