This master’s programme invites a critical, design-led examination of cities and their systems, from neighbourhoods up to regional scales. Teaching and projects address urbanisation in an international context and trace both historical and contemporary developments. The course emphasizes research-informed design: proposed solutions must be creatively driven, scientifically grounded, and sensitive to cultural, social and political conditions that shape urban life.
The programme is intended for graduates from a variety of backgrounds who want to pursue careers at the intersection of creativity and scholarship, or who aim for influential positions in urban planning and public administration. Students develop skills in critical research-design so they can formulate justified, context-aware interventions for complex urban problems.
Urban design here is explicitly inter- and transdisciplinary, sitting at the crossroads of architecture, urban and regional planning, urban sociology, landscape architecture and environmental planning. The curriculum provides access to these disciplines through a broad range of courses and emphasizes collaborative studio- and lab-based projects. These teaching formats train students in methods for unraveling complexity and working effectively across professional boundaries. A dual-degree option is offered in cooperation with Tongji University (Shanghai): participants spend the first year in Berlin and the second year in Shanghai.
Requirements (concise)
This consecutive Master's leads to the academic degree Master of Science in Urban Design. It is a two-year (four-semester) full-time course of study, comprising 120 ECTS/credit points in total, including the Master's thesis. The curriculum is built around studio-based projects, methodological/theoretical modules and a thesis colloquium that together prepare students for independent scientific and artistic work.
Studio-led Urban Design Projects are the programme’s practical core: problem-based assignments address real urban development challenges at local, regional, national and international scales. You will practice the whole urban-design workflow — from systematic analysis of place and program through alternative structure and use scenarios to detailed design studies of elements such as public space, building typologies and transport. The Urban Design Methods and Tools module introduces scientific methods from architecture, planning, landscape architecture and sociology, showing how these disciplines can be integrated; coursework alternates theoretical input with practical exercises and explores critical design strategies and “research by design” approaches. The Introduction to Urban Design module situates design work in historical, social, political and economic contexts, teaching you to formulate thesis questions, conduct analytical and theoretical research, and present findings as texts, concepts and design specifications. The Master’s Thesis Colloquium supports the transition to the final thesis by training you in the theory and practice of scholarly and artistic research.
You can choose compulsory-optional modules from an Urban Design handbook catalogue (drawn from four offerings in architecture, urban and regional planning, landscape architecture and sociology), and you are also free to select optional courses from the wider university curriculum. This flexibility lets you deepen technical skills, broaden theoretical foundations or pursue interdisciplinary specialisations relevant to contemporary urban challenges.
Requirements (concise)
This programme requires applicants to hold a completed Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent diploma in architecture, urban and regional planning, landscape architecture, or a closely related discipline. “Equivalent” means a recognised undergraduate qualification that matches the level of a Bachelor’s degree.
If your undergraduate degree is in a closely related field rather than one of the core disciplines, you must have a minimum of 30 academic credits directly related to architecture, urban and regional planning, or landscape architecture. Of those 30 credits, up to 12 credits may be substituted by relevant professional work experience in the same fields.
Admission requirements (summary)
Winter Semester (International)
15 May 2026
Winter Semester (EU/EEA)
15 May 2026
The programme prepares graduates for careers in creative and scientific roles related to urban development, including positions in urban design practice, planning consultancies, public administrations and non-governmental organisations. Its interdisciplinary training equips students to take on coordination and leadership roles where design, planning policy and social context must be integrated.
Alumni may also pursue research or doctoral studies, or work in international organisations and collaborative projects that require skills in design-led research, cross-disciplinary teamwork and intercultural competence.
Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg — Cottbus
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar — Weimar
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar — Weimar
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar — Weimar