Overview
Shaping the future
Do you want to directly shape a better future? Then Urban Environmental Planning is for you. With this degree, you’ll develop the skills you need to design the needs of coming generations, turning your dreams of how the future should look into a reality. Learn how geography, society and sustainability intersect in town planning from our expert faculty, as well as from inspiring guest lecturers. Study in the heart of London, one of the world’s most exciting cities and one that’s constantly evolving to meet its citizens’ needs. Plus, benefit from visits to real projects in Cornwall and another European city to see it in action. There is currently a national shortage of professional planners and an unsatisfied demand from both the public and private sector after over a decade of public sector austerity - you’ll graduate with the expertise and experience to jump right in.
If you already work in town planning, or are about to take up employment, your employer may like to take advantage of our Chartered Town Planning Apprenticeship.
Why Urban and Environmental Planning at LSBU?
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- Wide ranging research interests: global political economy, international human rights, sexualities and society, global sport, human trafficking, sustainability and climate change.
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- Interactive seminars and workshops that encourage free and open debate - for you to share ideas and learn from each other.
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- Global alumni network: Become part of an 80,000-strong alumni network.
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- Optional ‘work placement’ modules and volunteering programme
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- Inspiring schedule of guest speakers, events, volunteering opportunities and exchange of ideas.
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- Inspiring schedule of guest speakers, events, volunteering opportunities and exchange of ideas.
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| ModeFull-time | Duration3 years | Start dateSeptember | Application codeK440 | Application method UCAS |
Course Accreditations
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RTPI
Location
London South Bank University student union is located at 103 Borough Rd, London SE1 0AA.
If you are visiting our Southwark Campus, you may wish to use our downloadable campus map (PNG File 466 KB). For information on accessibility, see our DisabledGo access guides.
Walk or bicycle
The University is in easy walking distance of underground and leading overground stations. We are only 20 minutes away from the Thames. We encourage walking and cycling and have bicycle racks on campus. Please check the Transport for London cycling website for London cycling maps and route planners.
By bus
LSBU is very well connected, and a large number of buses travel to and connect in the Elephant and Castle area from across London.
By train or tube
The Bakerloo and Northern lines stop at Elephant & Castle underground station, which is right next to campus. The closest rail stations are Elephant & Castle, London Waterloo and London Bridge. To plan your train journey, visit the National Rail website.
By car
London South Bank University does not provide public parking space. There is a limited amount of parking in the area, so we strongly advise using public transport.
Do consider the Congestion Charge if you are driving through London to reach the campus. Find out if you'll be crossing the Congestion Charge zone to reach our Southwark Campus.
TfL journey planner
You can travel to Southwark Campus by using public transport, plan your journey using the Transport for London journey planner.
Entry Level Requirements
To be considered for entry to the course applicants will normally be required to have the following qualifications:
- A Level BCC;
- BTEC National Diploma MMM;
- Access to HE qualifications with 9 Distinctions and 36 Merits; or
- Equivalent Level 3 qualifications worth 106 UCAS points
Applicants without these qualifications will be considered on a case by case basis if they have relevant work experience in the Town Planning environment.
In addition, applicants must normally hold 5 GCSE at grade A-C including Maths and English, or equivalent (reformed GCSEs grade 4 or above).
Choose your country
Select country here:
Advanced entry
If you have already completed some studies at another university, we may be able to consider you for advanced entry. Please see our advanced entry page for more information.
Course status
United Kingdom
£9250.00
Tuition fees for home students
International
£15900.00
Tuition fees for international students
Tuition fees are subject to annual inflationary increases. Find out more about tuition fees
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Full-time
full-time
BA (Hons) Urban And Environmental Planning (FT) - Year 1
UK fee: £9250.00 International fee: £15900.00 AOS/LSBU code: 1232 Session code: 1FS00 Total course fee: UK: £27750.00 International: £47700.00 BA (Hons) Urban And Environmental Planning (FT) - Year 2
UK fee: £9250.00 International fee: £15900.00 AOS/LSBU code: 1232 Session code: 2FS00 Total course fee: UK: £27750.00 International: £47700.00 BA (Hons) Urban And Environmental Planning (FT) - Year 3
UK fee: £9250.00 International fee: £15900.00 AOS/LSBU code: 1232 Session code: 3FS00 Total course fee: UK: £27750.00 International: £47700.00
For more information, including how and when to pay, see our fees and funding section for undergraduate students.
Please check your fee status and whether you are considered a Home, EU or International student for fee-paying purposes and for our regulatory returns, by reading the UKCISA regulations.
See our Tuition Fees Regulations (PDF File 391 KB) and Refund Policy (PDF File 775 KB).
Possible fee changes
The University reserves the right to increase its fees in line with changes to legislation, regulation and any government guidance or decisions.
The fees for international students are reviewed annually and the University reserves the right to increase the tuition fees in line with the RPIX measure of inflation up to 4 per cent.
Scholarships
We offer several types of fee reduction through our scholarships and bursaries. Find the full list and other useful information on our scholarships page.
International students
The course is not currently open to international students.
International (non Home) applicants should follow our international how to apply guide.
Home/EU applicants
| Mode Full-time | Duration 3 years | Start date September | Application code K440 | Application method UCAS |
Accommodation
Once we have made you an offer, you can apply for accommodation. You can rent from LSBU and you’ll deal directly with the university, not third party providers. That means we can guarantee you options to suit all budgets, with clear tenancy agreements and all-inclusive rents that include insurance for your personal belongings, internet access in each bedroom and on-site laundry facilities.
Or, if you’d rather rent privately, we can give you a list of landlords – just ask our Accommodation Service.
Read more about applying for accommodation at LSBU.
Finance
You don't need to wait for a confirmed place on a course to start applying for student finance. Read how to pay your fees as an undergraduate student.
Prepare to start
Applicant events
After you’ve received your offer we’ll send you emails about events we run to help you prepare for your course.
Enrolment
Before you start your course we’ll send you information on what you’ll need to do before you arrive and during your first few days on campus. You can read about the process on our Enrolment pages.
The degree is offered as a three-year full-time course over two semesters per year.
Year 1
- Development Management
This module focusses on the legal, policy and political framework of Development Management, the nature of development and the process the planner manages including pre application, validation, applications, public consultation, decision making, planning obligations, appeals and public enquiries, judicial review and enforcement. It considers the nature of these processes and the role and skills of the planner and the various stakeholders involved them. - Making Sustainable Places
A module which examines the challenges faced when trying to make places more sustainable and encourage appropriate forms of future development. A week long residential field study visit, currently to Cornwall, is integral to the module and provides the opportunity to explore sustainability issues with professionals engaged on live projects. - Plans, People and Processes
This module is concerned about people, places and the creative aspects of ‘spatial planning’ that underpin the current belief that ‘good planning’ and ‘good design are inseparable’. After a critical historical overview of the forces that shaped the built environment over time, the module will focus on the principles of urban design as a process of place making. Students will be introduced to the assessment of the character and qualities of places and to various ideas on how the experience and understanding of places and their elements can be visually communicated through plans and other media. - Planning History and Principles
The module provides an introduction to the way the planning system and planning practices have evolved in the UK. The module combines an historical approach with a critical consideration of the key attributes of the planning system as it emerged and developed after the Town and Country Planning Act 1947. Alongside this engagement with the development of the statutory planning system is an introductory examination of how the principles guiding planning practices have evolved. - Society, Space and Place
This module introduces students to the structures, networks and relationships that underpin contemporary society, and how these are reflected and mediated geographically. It aims to explore key ideas that help us understand how places are structured and created. It will examine processes of economic, social and cultural change and academic attempts to conceptualize these shifts. - Geographical Investigations
A module which examines a range of ways in which geographical information is produced and communicated, with an emphasis on developing students’ skills. It includes a focus on Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and how planners and other relevant agencies, stakeholders and interest groups, compile, represent and use geographical data.
Year 2
- Environmental Change: Issues and Impacts
This module focusses on environmental issues and examines potential responses aimed at securing more sustainable patterns of development and resource efficiency and adaptation to and mitigation of climate change. - Strategies Visions and Design
On this module you'll focus on the importance of modes of transport for patterns of land-use and the construction of a sustainable future. You'll also examine how issues of power and equality underpin mobility: who can move, how and in what ways. - Local Economic Development
This module explores economic development at a local level in terms of both theory and practice, considering the internal and external factors influencing local economies. Students will consider both research and policy responses to local economic change, particularly with regard to the role of planning in local economic development. The module will explore the complex economic factors shaping local areas and provide students with the tools to interrogate them and form recommendations for how a local authority can intervene. - Planning for Housing
The module focuses on the role of the planning system in delivering housing. In doing so, the module considers the interrelationships between national, regional and local housing strategies and the delivery and implementation of residential development.
- Geographies of Regeneration
This module focuses on the importance of place and the challenges involved in regenerating urban and (to a lesser extent) rural environments facing issues of decline and restructuring. The role of local scale interventions and strategies through planning and regeneration agencies is a key focus. The module is based around regeneration issues in the UK and a residential field study visit in a European city. - Work Experience
A module that enable students to reflect critically upon a period of work experience so as to enhance their future employability. In addition to staff advice and contact the student will gain the support of the University’s Employability Service.
Year 3
- Evidence Based Planning
This module investigates the role, nature, benefits and disadvantages of evidence-based planning and policy making. It equips students with the ability to choose and employ appropriate planning related research techniques and methodologies and to able to write a research proposal. - Real Estate Valuation
The module will develop understandings of real estate knowledge, by focusing on the development process, markets, and valuation. By developing an understanding of methods and applications of development viability appraisals, the module will pay attention to the economics of land and property markets and of the development process. - International Planning Perspectives
The module compares and contrasts key challenges facing spatial planners across a range of international settings and the extent to which both the challenges and the policy responses are mobile across international borders. A range of planning cultures and planning practices will be examined in order to facilitate a comparative analysis of diverse approaches to planning in different contexts. The module primarily explores spatial planning at the strategic level. In practice this can refer to planning activities at the regional, national and international levels. - Cities and Representations
This module explores the ways in which the changing geographies of cities have been conceptualised and represented across a range of written and visual media through history. The implications of such representations for policy and practice, particularly for spatial planning, are a central theme of the module. - Dissertation
This is a double weighted module that runs over two semesters. In it, students will carry out an independent academic research project supported by supervisions and seminars. This is an opportunity for students to develop their own specialist interests and exhibit their individual expertise, knowledge, and research skills. Students will be encouraged to gather and analyse primary data.
Careers
Employability Service
At LSBU, we want to set you up for a successful career. During your studies – and for two years after you graduate – you’ll have access to our Employability Service, which includes:
- An online board where you can see a wide range of placements: part-time, full-time or voluntary. You can also drop in to see our Job Shop advisers, who are always available to help you take the next step in your search.
- Our Careers Gym offering group workshops on CVs, interview techniques and finding work experience, as well as regular presentations from employers across a range of sectors.
Our Student Enterprise team can also help you start your own business and develop valuable entrepreneurial skills.
There is currently a national shortage of professional planners and a demand from both the public and private sector after over a decade of public sector austerity. There is also demand for planners on the international scene. As the world struggles with climate change, urbanisation, population growth and changing work and living patterns, it will be crucial to our futures to plan for these eventualities if we are to avoid major environment and social disturbances.
Employment prospects are excellent especially in London and the South East of England. Successful planning students may find jobs in central government, local government, non-governmental organisations, housing associations and quangos. Given our extensive links with public, private and voluntary sector employers we find that employers often approach us first seeking suitably qualified and motivated applicants
A high proportion of our graduates find employment in the field within six months of graduation in the public, private and voluntary sectors. Some students take up jobs towards the end of the course. Local authorities and private consultancies are major employers as are companies and other organisations with large land and property assets and our alumni can be found in senior positions particularly in London and the South East of England. That said a significant proportion of alumni now practice (teach and research) across the UK and overseas.
Our alumni include three Past Presidents of the RTPI, and many senior planners in local authorities, government agencies and private sector consultancies, developers and housing providers. These regularly return to provide talks to our current students and have donated prizes for students on graduation. Many alumni now occupy influential professional positions in the UK and internationally.
We have been successfully running professionally accredited planning courses for over 50 years, the second oldest planning school to be doing so in the UK.
This degree is accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).
- The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) is the leading membership organisation and Chartered Institute responsible for maintaining professional standards and accrediting world class planning courses nationally and internationally.
Teaching and Assessment
All members of the academic team are research active, participating in local, national and international projects and publishing academic books and peer reviewed journal articles. This ensures that staff remain at the cutting edge of their specific areas of expertise, providing students with the benefit of access to new insights and debates.
The course is delivered in a variety of ways. Most modules have traditional formal lectures alongside seminars, tutorials, group discussions, individual and group presentations and role play exercises (such as a mock planning enquiry). Many modules also include guest speakers and visits to live projects in and around London.
The course is assessed entirely by coursework, there are no exams. The assessments include traditional essays and professional reports, site analysis, development proposals, viability assessments, portfolios, research proposals, visual poster displays and group / individual presentations.
Personal Tutoring
As an undergraduate Law and Social Science student, you will be allocated a named tutor during your first semester at LSBU. The role of your tutor is to be your primary contact for academic and professional development support.
Your tutor will support you to get the most of your time at LSBU, providing advice and signposting to other sources of support in the University. They should be the first person at the university that you speak to if you are having any difficulties that are affecting your work. These could be academic, financial, health-related or another type of problem.
You will have appointments with your personal academic tutor at least three times a year for up to 30 minutes throughout your course. You can contact your tutor for additional support by email.
