MSc Planning Major Projects

As the population of the UK continues to expand, it is becoming necessary for towns and cities to make ambitious plans for delivering both growth and infrastructure.  This course explores the transition of these strategic goals into the planning, design and appraisal of major projects. These projects encompass all development sectors and include projects relating to transport, energy, utilities, and the environment. They also extend to encompass the type of large-scale housing, commercial and retail projects that environments are increasingly having to support.

By applying theory to practice, the course provides an opportunity to develop a strong understanding of the innovations and practices that are necessary to take a project from idea to reality. The course explores the key consenting regimes that projects have to pass through and the steps that urban planners, developers and examining teams have to consider. As such, you will gain extended knowledge of procedures surrounding environmental appraisal, political and community engagement, and design review.

You will gain an appreciation of the policy context surrounding urban development and infrastructure across the UK and beyond. Additionally, you will acquire specialist knowledge, skills and competencies to help with the facilitation of development projects in a sector that is expanding.

Specialist skills for today's world

Large-scale projects tend to be long-term, complex and often contentious. The industry expects professionals to have the skills, confidence and vision to make thesemajor projects happen. This course will equip you with these skills, fromcommunication and leadership to negotiation and project management, enabling you to be ready to take on the industry's challenges.

The course is suitable for graduates keen to explore, and develop a specialism, in the major projects sector. It is particularly suited to those who have studied, or are practising, urban planning. However, the breadth of the course also makes it suitable for graduates from other degree paths and will provide opportunities for individual interests to be pursued (for example: from the application of good design to environmental protection).

Some of the modules will be offered individually as units of CPD which will be beneficial for people in related areas who have a need to understand the field more fully, such as marketing professionals and environmental assessors.

Engaging with Bristol's rich planning sector

The course will use development case studies throughout to identify and explore some of the major projects that are being designed and delivered today. Learning material will require you to study a selection of projects in depth, thereby helping to draw out, and encourage reflection, on key areas of innovation and best practice (such as the application of sustainable building design). Your experience will be enhanced by site visits, real-life project briefs and presentations from experts in the field.

Bristol is the home of the Planning Inspectorate that has a considerable stake in the appraisal of plans and projects, and the urban planning sector, more generally. The course is therefore well positioned to take advantage of the considerable body of knowledge and expertise that exists in the city. The course also benefits from Bristol's rich urban planning sector that has a highly developed network of consultancies covering each of the key stages of project planning. Many of these companies have international portfolios, providing specialist advice in planning and development, environmental law, public relations, design and marketing.

The city is host to a number of bodies that initiate major projects as well as a range of development and engineering companies, which creates potential opportunities for graduates of the MSc Planning Major Projects. Example companies include Burges Salmon, Arup, Atkins, Aecom, Barton Wilmore, Land Use Consultants and the PPS Group.

The course will work with other key partners associated with project delivery, such as the Planning Advice Service and the Homes and Communities Agency. In addition, you will also focus on the wide-range of major projects underway in Bristol, a city that is renowned for its green and innovative ambitions. Current projects include a metro bus and rail system, the development of Hinkley Point, railine electrification, a new reservoir at Cheddar, and a series of large scale housing projects.

Key fact:  A unique course that develops skills and knowledge in the planning, design and delivery of major development and infrastructure projects through a programme that is flexible and outward looking.