Planning & City Resilience

Discover the role of planning in providing innovative responses and opportunities for creating resilient places that can adapt to the impacts of social (e.g. demographic change), economic (e.g. enhancing city/region competitiveness), environmental (e.g. climate crisis) challenges. You will explore a range of topics that relate to building resilient cities across four cross-cutting themes: sustainable development, social and climate justice, inclusive planning and partnerships, and smart interventions.



The programme is delivered via a combination of lectures, workshops, and seminars alongside local and international field visits that use the city as a laboratory. You will benefit from research-led academic instruction from a multidisciplinary course team. In addition, you will learn from industry experts working in the public, private and NGO sectors and gain experience in how planning enhances city resilience, blending concepts and theories with real world problems and solutions.



As a graduate you will be in possession of an MSc degree recognised by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), enabling you to develop your career as a chartered town planner. Graduates will have excellent career opportunities in planning and development agencies and consultancies, local authorities, regeneration, environmental management, community development and other planning related careers.



Become an ethical leader of change in how to collectively co-design, plan and deliver a resilient future that creates sustainable cities and communities.

Full-Time Programme

Year One

Resilience Theory and Practice

International City Planning and Development

Spatial Planning and Practice

Healthy Communities

Sustainable Development - Strategy for a Secure Future

Research Methods and Project

Inclusive Engagement - This module is optional

Environmental Protection and Sustainable Technologies - This module is optional

Sustainable Housing and Communities - This module is optional



Part-Time Programme

Year one

International City Planning and Development

Spatial Planning and Practice

Sustainable Development - Strategy for a Secure Future



Year Two

Resilience Theory and Practice

Healthy Communities

Research Methods and Project

Inclusive Engagement - This module is optional

Environmental Protection and Sustainable Technologies - This module is optional

Sustainable Housing and Communities - This module is optional

Applicants must:

(a) have gained:

i. a second class honours degree or better from a university of the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, or from a recognised national awarding body, or from an institution of another country which has been recognised as being of an equivalent standard;



or



ii. an equivalent standard (normally 50%) in a Graduate Diploma, Graduate Certificate, Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma or an approved alternative qualification;



and



(b) provide evidence of competence in written and spoken English (GCSE grade C or equivalent).

In exceptional circumstances, as an alternative to (a) (i) or (a) (ii) and/or (b), where an individual has substantial and significant experiential learning, a portfolio of written evidence demonstrating the meeting of graduate qualities (including subject-specific outcomes, as determined by the Course Committee) may be considered as an alternative entrance route. Evidence used to demonstrate graduate qualities may not be used for exemption against modules within the programme.



English Language Requirements

English language requirements for international applicants

The minimum requirement for this course is Academic IELTS 6.0 with no band score less than 5.5. Trinity ISE: Pass at level III also meets this requirement for Tier 4 visa purposes.



Ulster recognises a number of other English language tests and comparable IELTS equivalent scores.

Attendance

All modules will be delivered through blended learning i.e. via virtual learning environment as well as traditional face-to-face teaching on Ulster University’s Belfast campus. Contact hours vary by module. Timetables are reviewed on an annual basis subject to staff and room resources.

Start Date: September 2025.

Career options

Global initiatives, such as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, illustrate the growing need for practitioners – and graduates – with the skills necessary for progressing the resilience agenda. It is anticipated that demand for professional planners will continue to expand, nationally and internationally, due to rapid urbanisation, growing inequalities and the climate crisis. The technical and transferable skills gained through the modules will help prepare students for securing and maintaining employment within this ever changing context.



Accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), the programme will provide a career development opportunity for both current planners (in public and private sector) with aspirations to work in the area of resilience, and those graduates from any undergraduate programme to transfer to the field of planning. The provision of optional modules provides flexibility to accommodate educational preferences and career progression interests/specialism.



Graduates will have excellent career opportunities in planning and development agencies and consultancies, local authorities, regeneration, environmental management, community development, and other planning related careers. Opportunities also exist within the Belfast School of Architecture and the Built Environment for graduate to embark on PhD research in a wide range of planning and resilience topics.

Research Areas


The PhD in Celtic Studies usually involves close study of Celtic languages and literatures (e.g., Irish, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic), but may encompass religion, history, archaeology, and the interface with the Latin and Germanic traditions of the Celtic-speaking regions. Doctoral research usually entails some degree of comparative work. The sources utilised tend to be medieval, but some topics may require the use of written sources of earlier or later date. For certain topics, knowledge of research methodologies other than those associated with Celtic Studies may have to be attained. The Structured PhD programme provides students with opportunities to acquire such training, and to learn non-Celtic languages (medieval and modern) that may be relevant to their research.


PhD students of Celtic Studies are usually supervised or co-supervised by scholars of Irish, Welsh, or Celtic (languages and literatures), but for some theses, supervisory expertise in archaeology, history, classical languages and literatures, or other disciplines may also be essential. The list of researcher profiles below is drawn from the disciplines of Archaeology, Classics, History, Old and Middle Irish, and Welsh.