Washington University in St. Louis

About the Program

The Master of Urban Design program at WashU introduces students to a range of urban conditions from local to global with an in-depth focus on sustainable urbanism. Through a core sequence of three studios and seminars, students develop the skills to make design proposals for a diverse range of urban conditions within the contemporary metropolitan landscape. Urban design is approached through a full range of scales: from the mega-region to the district, from the district to the street, and ultimately, to the design of the public realm as the place of lively and vibrant community life.

WashU's STEM-designated Master of Urban Design was established in 1962 by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Fumihiko Maki. Now chaired by Linda C. Samuels, professor and director of sustainable design and environmental justice, the one-year program is open to individuals who have a professional or pre-professional degree in architecture, landscape architecture, or planning. 

Research

Faculty conduct field-leading, interdisciplinary research on urban design, spatial justice, social sustainability, and more. Professor Patty Heyda is the author of “Radical Atlas of Ferguson, USA” (Belt Publishers, 2024), which uses maps to explore the systemic forces that led to racial segregation, fragmentation, poverty, and police targeting. Lecturer Bomin Kim’s research advances systems methods to understand how urban environments influence social cohesion, urban resilience, and human health in vulnerable populations. Program chair Linda C. Samuels’ independent consulting firm, Infra_OPTS, works in St. Louis and Los Angeles, focusing on the design, mapping, and metrics of public infrastructure to create more equitable cities. 

Hands-On, Site-Specific Learning

The program offers many opportunities for workshops and study abroad. 

• Informal Cities workshops are intensive, hands-on opportunities to grapple with frictions and interconnections that exist between the informal and the formal aspects of the city. Previous sessions have explored conditions in Varanasi, India; Lima, Peru; Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa; and Caracas, Venezuela.
• The Lively City provides students new perspectives and skills that put people and their needs at the heart of the creative process of reimagining and transforming cities like Copenhagen, Los Angeles, Miami, and more. 
• The Global Urbanism Studio, the culminating studio of the Master of Urban Design program, invites students to study and experience significant global cities in comparative perspective. Past studios have been sited in Thailand, China, Cambodia, South Africa, Uganda, and Rwanda.

Socially Engaged Practice 

The school’s Office for Socially Engaged Practice connects students and faculty with communities in St. Louis and beyond to collaborate on meaningful, real-world projects in art, architecture, and design.

Scholarships and Fellowships

Over 94% of incoming graduate students at the Sam Fox School received a partial or full-tuition scholarship. A variety of full and significant tuition scholarships and fellowships are available in recognition of academic achievement, area of interest, experience, and leadership potential.

Dual Degrees

Broaden your education and professional goals by pursuing a dual graduate degree at WashU. Programs include: 

• Master of Urban Design + Master of Architecture
• Master of Urban Design + Master of Landscape Architecture
• Master of Urban Design + Master of Social Work

About WashU’s Sam Fox School 

WashU is a place where professors, practitioners, and students together ask important questions about the future of our built environment. How can we create a more sustainable, imaginative world, for and by a more diverse community of people? What role does artificial intelligence play in designing our buildings, landscapes, and cities? How do we work across disciplines — with engineers, social scientists, and historians — to make meaningful and ethical impacts in our world? If you are intrigued by how you could impact society as an urban designer, we invite you to explore these ideas further and engage with our talented community of students.

As part of a tier-one research institution, students in the Sam Fox School at WashU are uniquely poised to pursue expansive research and make distinctive contributions to their fields. Our campus-within-a-campus features six buildings including LEED Platinum Certified Weil Hall, the oldest art museum west of the Mississippi River, light-filled studios, abundant making spaces, and inviting common areas that foster a strong sense of community.