University of California, San Diego

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

The Master of Urban and Regional Planning program at UC San Diego equips students with the essential knowledge, skills, and tools that professional planners need to understand and improve cities and environments. Our two-year curriculum emphasizes hands-on learning in our vibrant, ecologically diverse, and multinational metropolitan region. We put climate change, social and spatial justice, and multinational planning at the center of our curriculum.

Through a mix of seminars, studios, and community-engaged practicum courses, students will learn to address urgent problems of our time in collaboration with communities and professional planners.

RESEARCH AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

We provide all of the opportunities of a world-class research university that prizes public engagement. Our award-winning faculty and staff direct research centers and initiatives including the Bioregional Center for Sustainability Science, Planning, and Design; the Climate Action Lab; the Just Transitions Initiative; the UC San Diego Labor Center; the Center for Housing Policy and Design; and the Homelessness Hub at UC San Diego. 

Every Master's degree student will have hands-on training in research and technical skills and community engagement. Students may choose to complete their degree with either a capstone project or a research thesis.

OUR PLACE

We learn and study together in a building that has won awards for architectural excellence and sustainable design, on a coastal bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, in the most biodiverse urban area in the United States. Our campus is connected by public transit to the busiest land border crossing in the Western hemisphere.