Urban Design, MUD
Climate, Community, Ecological, Future, Health, Justice, Place, Resilience, Technology, sustainability
Do you love studying cities? Are you interested in designing public spaces? Become an urban designer able to shape communities and tackle complex challenges, such as adapting to climate change, addressing systemic injustice, integrating nature-based solutions, building urban resilience and achieving sustainable development goals.
The Master of Urban Design program at The Design School is a transdisciplinary postprofessional graduate program that provides students with actionable knowledge of urban design and enables them to lead urban transformations for community and urban resilience.
Students study and apply newly emerging design knowledge from architecture, landscape architecture, creative placemaking and placekeeping, urban planning, community development, civil engineering and real estate development. Students also draw from critical works in nondesign disciplines, including climate science, social justice, sustainability science, urban ecology, urban climate, natural resources management, environmental psychology, anthropology, arts, histories, smart cities, laws and systems theory.
The Master of Urban Design program offers a 12-month curriculum built around the analysis and understanding of the dynamic urban systems specific to rapidly urbanizing regions of the world. The program leverages the Phoenix metro area as a learning laboratory through a number of challenges --- the rapidly expanding metropolis, the scarcity of water resources, the extreme heat and climatic conditions, and the area's unique ecological and cultural diversity --- in the development of responsible global initiatives and innovative design strategies for urban environments.
This program addresses the urban design transformations that are needed to build just, sustainable and resilient cities.
- College/school:
Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
- Location: Tempe
36 credit hours including the required applied project course (MUD 593)
Required Core (10 credit hours) Electives (9 credit hours) Other Requirements (12 credit hours) Culminating Experience (5 credit hours) Additional Curriculum Information
MUD 521 Advanced Urban Design Studio I (5)
MUD 522 Advanced Urban Design Studio II (5)
DSC 598 Topic: Principles of Collaboration in Design (3)
LAP 598 Topic: Smart City Sustainability and the Environment (3)
MUD 598 Topic: Great Cities (3)
MUD 598 Topic: Urban Issues (3)
MUD 593 Applied Project (5)
Students should see the academic unit for an approved design professional elective list.
Applicants must fulfill the requirements of both the Graduate College and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.
Applicants are eligible to apply to the program if they have earned a bachelor's or master's degree from a regionally accredited institution.
Applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in the last 60 hours of their first bachelor's degree program, or applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in an applicable master's degree program.
All applicants must submit:
- graduate admission application and application fee
- official transcripts
- portfolio
- letter of intent
- two references
- proof of English proficiency
Additional Application Information
An applicant whose native language is not English must provide proof of English proficiency through either the TOEFL or the IELTS regardless of their current residency. The minimum score for admission to the program is 80 on the TOEFL iBT or an overall band score of 6.5 on the IELTS.
Other information for international applicants can be found at the English proficiency for international graduate students page.
Applicants who hold a studio-based four-year undergraduate design degree are considered for the one-year MUD program. This is a postprofessional program.
Applicants must hold an undergraduate or graduate degree from a college or university recognized by ASU in a studio-based design discipline.
The portfolio, letter of intent and contact information for three references must be submitted to SlideRoom (https://asudesign.slideroom.com/#/Login). The Design School requires that these be submitted in addition to the graduate admission application requirements.
Admission to the program is selective. Admission cannot be deferred; students must enroll in the semester for which they are admitted, otherwise they will need to go through the entire application process again for the year in which they are applying.
Applicants may be admitted to the one-year program with deficiencies if their previous coursework is not equivalent to the ASU undergraduate requirements and standards. Deficiencies must be completed prior to taking the required courses, if necessary. This may cause the student to take longer than one year to complete the program.
A personal interview is not required; however, a candidate wishing to visit the school is welcome and should make arrangements by contacting the department.
| Session | Modality | Deadline | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Session A/C | In Person | 05/01 | Final |
| Session A/C | In Person | 01/15 | Priority |
Graduates are prepared to work across a diverse spectrum of positions in the design field within public and private sectors and not-for-profit organizations. Potential areas of work include:
- climate change mitigation and adaptation
- community development
- creative placemaking and placekeeping
- environmental and climate justice
- low-impact development
- public health and cities
- smart cities
- sustainable cities
- transit-oriented design
- urban and community resilience
The Design School
|
CDN 162
designgrad@asu.edu
480-965-3536
3 year programs
These programs allow students to fast-track their studies after admission and earn a bachelor's degree in three years or fewer while participating in the same high-quality educational experience of a 4-year option. Students should talk to their academic advisor to get started.
Accelerated master's
These programs allow students to accelerate their studies to earn a bachelor's plus a master's degree in as few as five years (for some programs).
Each program has requirements students must meet to be eligible for consideration. Acceptance to the graduate program requires a separate application. Students typically receive approval to pursue the accelerated master’s during the junior year of their bachelor's degree program. Interested students can learn about eligibility requirements and how to apply.
