Urban- and regional planning - master

300 credits, taught in Norwegian. Contact: Department of Landscape Architecture and Spatial Planning (ILP). Internet address: www.umb.no/ilp

The program attend to the society\'s need for professional planners in public services and private institutions and companies with activities governed by the Planning and Building Act. The program is of great social relevance.Master students in Urban and regional planning are qualified to all kinds of work that deal with problems in regards to the Planning and Building act. The work tasks are varied: to develop the surroundings; to make regulation plans and local government plans for towns, cities and regions; to plan how to take care of environment, culture and landscape. Other work tasks could include planning of coast and water systems, real estate development, road construction and commercial development.

Admission requirements
Applicants must meet the minimum requirements for entrance to higher education in Norway.

Internationalisation, studies abroad and exhange agreements
The study program is first and foremost made for Norwegian conditions, but it is sought for international examples for use in the teaching. Excursions to other countries are also possible during the study period. This is not yet formalised. In addition internationalization and globalization are topics that will be discussed in the master\'s program.Students are encouraged to take parts of their study program abroad. The 4. year is organized so that it will be possible to exchange mandatory courses with other courses in other teaching institutions. The department cooperates with The Oslo School of Architecture and the University of Oslo, and has agreements with University of Western Australia (Perth, Australia). In addition UMB has agreements of student exchange both in the Nordic countries and in the rest of the world.

The department cooperates with The Oslo School of Architecture and other educational establishments offering landscape architecture courses abroad: Landbouwuniversiteit Wageningen (The Netherlands), Technische Universität Dresden (Germany), Technische Universität München TUM (Germany), Universität Hannover (Germany), Universität für Bodenkultur (Austria), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Ecole Nationale Superieure du paysage (ENSP) (Versailles, France), Universita degli studi di Genova (Italy), University of Western Australia (Perth, Australia).Universita degli Studi di Genova (Italia), Western University of Australia, Perth (Australia).

Related studies
Master in Property and Land Law and Master in Spatial planning are related studies. Property and Land Law emphasises economical and juridical property conditions. Planning here is related to implementation of large public infrastructural measures or private property development. Master in Landscape Architechture (planning) resembles Urban and Regional Planning, but emphasises natural science, aesthetics and design.

Learning goals
Urban and regional planning is a vocational study program where students learn to plan the physical surroundings as well as planning according to the Planning and Building act. The students learn different methods to analyse the surroundings and different approaches to possibilities and concequences, as well as solving conflics of interests. The students learn to create environmental, architechtonical and functional resolutions. They learn to arrange planning processes and cooperate with others, use maps, digital drawing programs and geographic information systems (GIS).

Teaching and evaluation methods
During the two first years, the lectured courses are mandatory. During the third and fourth year it is a greater possibility for own choices and specialization. The whole study program is made up by theoretical studies combined with practical project work related to planning and project development. The master thesis is one semester (the last one). This thesis will show that the student know the subject based on a selected topic. The students will meet with \'real life\' through practical planning assessments, field work and inspections. Emphasis is put on solving problems and writing semester assignments, as well as exams. Group work is used. This reminds of the work situation of a planner\'s normal working day.At a 100 level the students are evaluated on reported acquired knowledge, mostly on written assignments. 200 and 300 level courses are to a greater extent evaluated on the students\' ability to solve problems in an educated way. This applies to evaluation of hand-in assignments and project papers, as well as written and oral tests. From 200 level and onwards, continuous evaluations are mostly used. The examiners are used in two ways: 1. To evaluate all students\' exams and 2. To evaluate the exam itself. The students will at the beginning of the study program get to know the criterias and the grading system.

Programme content
The study program gives knowledge on subjects within the fields of natural science, social science and architechture, plus problems related to qualities and characteristics of the physical surroundings. Students learn about the legal system and how to develop technical plans and decisions. Urban and Regional Planning includes different interest of land use, environment, ownership, development, society and relations between neighbours. Throughout the studies there will be focus on relevant problem issues and practical planning work. Specializations in town and regional development, regional planning, natural and environmental planning, coast and water system planning and implementation of planning are offered.

Spesialisation requirements
The first two years (120 credits) are joint for all students of Urban and Regional Planning. After that the students can choose one of four majors: \'Planning processes and implementation\', \'Landscape ecology, environment and climate\' og \'Urban transformation and town development\'. Planning processes and implementation emphasises knowledge on administration and implementation of plans. Landscape ecology, environment and climate emphasises landscape-ecological problems and solutions. Town transformation and town development emphasises design and the use of area on a superior level. There is a great level of freedom of choice in Urban and Regional Planning. This means that it is possible to combine the three majors in the program. In addition, it is required to choose a major in an area of interest, either by taking courses at the Department of Landscape Architechture and Spatial Planning, or at other departments at UMB or in an other teaching institution.

Student advising

Evaluation