Urban Design, M.Sc.
Architects, urban, regional and landscape planners often cannot really do justice to the complex tasks of urban planning with their specialist knowledge and skills. It requires a multidisciplinary, cooperative approach, both because of the complexity of the tasks and the large number of actors involved. The Master's degree in Urban Design is located at the intersection of architecture, urban and regional planning, sociology and landscape architecture.
In cooperation with the Tongji University in Shanghai/China, there is the possibility of completing the Urban Design course in parallel as a double master's program (dual degree program). Participants in this special program study together for one year in Berlin and one year in Shanghai.
Programme facts
| Degree | Master of Science (M.Sc.) |
|---|---|
| Duration | 4 semesters, 120 ECTS |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Required English | B2 |
| Study mode | Full-Time, Double Degree |
| Start | Winter semester |
| Application | Via uni-assist, winter semester until 15.06 |
| Admission | Admission restriction (NC): a competition of school grades |
| Tuition fee | €0 per semester for international students |
| Semester contribution | €379.06 per semester |
What the tuition fee consists of
Will I get in
The programme has an admission restriction: the average grade of your certificate, converted to the German scale, decides. The cut-off changes every year — last year's value shows the order of magnitude, not a promise.
How the selection works and how strong the competition is — we go through it against your certificate when we select programmes for you.
Programme selection →About the programme
Urban design has long been forgotten as an independent discipline in Germany. In Anglo-Saxon countries it was previously offered as a primarily scientific degree. For the first time in Germany, the Urban Design master’s course was developed at the Technical University of Berlin. It is closely intertwined with other courses and offers you an intensively interlinked study program. Teaching in the Urban Design course is carried out by the Institutes for Architecture, Urban and Regional Planning, Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning and Sociology. Since the course is internationally oriented, the compulsory subjects are held in English. In cooperation with the Tongji University in Shanghai/ China, the urban design course is also offered as a dual master's program (dual degree program). The course is conducted in English and is open to 20 students, with a contingent of ten places being allocated exclusively to Chinese prospective students. All participants in this special program study together for one year each in Berlin and Shanghai and receive a Chinese and a German master’s degree at the end of the dual degree program. As an urban designer, you are creatively and scientifically active. They work in state, municipal and civil society institutions, in universities and research institutes as well as in private offices. Their fields of activity are large, medium and small towns as well as rural areas. Your range of work includes the elaboration of goals and strategies for urban development and master plans as well as the planning and implementation of urban development measures. Scientific investigations and expert work on urban planning issues are another focus of work at home and abroad.
What you study
The Urban Design master's program is divided into a compulsory area, an elective area and an elective area. The compulsory area has a scope of 78 credit points (LP) including the projects and the master's thesis. The elective area comprises 30 CP. In the elective area, you must complete modules totaling 12 CP. The study and examination regulations for the course regulate the goals and structure of the course as well as the requirements and implementation of the examinations.
The full curriculum and the programme's parameters are part of programme selection: we compare them with your profile.
Pick programmesCareer
As an urban designer, you work both creatively and scientifically. They work in state, municipal and civil society institutions, in universities, research institutes and private offices. Their fields of activity are large, medium and small towns as well as rural areas. The areas of responsibility of urban design cannot be limited to one level of scale, but deal with the spatial interrelationships between micro and macro, local and global. The range of work includes the elaboration of goals and strategies of urban development and master plans as well as the planning and implementation of urban development measures.
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Typical fields of work for graduates are:
- the urbanization processes in both the Global South and the Global North and the reflection of their interrelationship,
- dealing with dynamic and rapid urban growth and the implementation of process-based design approaches,
- the critical and creative examination of the changing social framework,
- the urban structuring of existing and new settlements, open spaces and urban landscapes,
- the design of public spaces, taking into account ecological, cultural, social, political and also technical and financial framework conditions.
Another focus of work in Germany and abroad are scientific studies on urban planning issues.
Cost of study
| Tuition fee of the federal state (Berlin), international students | €0 |
|---|---|
| Semester contribution | €379.06 |
Requirements and application
| Previous education | The formal entry requirement for the international consecutive Master’s degree in Urban Design is a first professional university degree in a degree in architecture, urban and regional planning, landscape architecture or a related subject. |
|---|---|
| Language | English B2 — confirmed by a certificate when you apply |
| Application | Via uni-assist, winter semester until 15.06 |
The procedure and the set of documents depend on your certificate. We check the university's requirements against your documents and give you a list: what to submit, how to certify and translate it, where and when to apply.
Check the requirementsHow to get into this programme
- 1Check your certificate and its recognitionDirect admission, a year at a university at home, or Studienkolleg first — this decides the whole plan.
- 2Documents and translationsCertified translations of the certificate and transcript, an APS if required. 3–4 weeks.
- 3Application via uni-assist until 15.06uni-assist checks documents for 4–6 weeks — send them well before the deadline.
- 4Admission, visa, movingPlan 2–3 months for the visa and the blocked account in parallel.
How to apply
You can submit the application yourself or with our help — the university decides on admission in both cases.
Applications go through the university's portal or uni-assist. Typical mistakes:
- ×incorrectly made certified copies and translations
- ×a wrong set of documents
- ×the application submitted the wrong way
- ×errors or gaps in the application form
- ×the application submitted at the wrong time — too early or too late
An incomplete or incorrectly prepared application is excluded from the selection — it can no longer be corrected after the deadline.
StudyInFocus does not represent the university and does not influence the admission decision. We do not sell study places and do not guarantee admission — this is a service for preparing and submitting documents on the applicant's side.
If your level is not enough yet
The two most common stoppers are a language level below the requirement and a certificate without direct admission. Both can be solved, but they take months — plan them now, not after a rejection.
Questions about this programme
How much does the programme cost?
What language level do I need?
When do I need to apply?
Don't postpone the application
The deadline is 15.06.2027 (244 days left). Language, translations and the document check take months, not weeks. In 30 minutes we will build a plan backwards from the deadline and tell you honestly whether you can make it.