Master of Urban Planning Program

Urban development is exploding across the UAE and the wider region. To effectively manage this change, well-trained and capable urban planners are urgently needed in government and in the private sector.

Urban planning is concerned with creating good places in which present and future generations can live, work, entertain and engage in their customary community, social, religious and cultural activities. It involves government, private enterprise and local communities taking concerted action toward achieving this goal.

Urban planning has roots in architecture, engineering, public health, law and the social sciences. Planners today combine design, analytical and communication skills to help communities manage change.

The Master of Urban Planning (MUP) at AUS provides professionals with a specialized graduate education that enables them to exert leadership in managing urban growth, developing urbanization policies, and promoting social development. The program imparts students with the high ethical standards compatible with the values of local cultural settings, principles of social justice and concerns for environmental protection and sustainability.

MUP faculty and students engage with real-world planning issues through research and scholarly dialog facilitated by the School of Architecture and Design's Institute of Urban and Regional Planning and Design (IURPD).