The Master of Urban Design (MUD) degree program is a one-calendar-year program of study for students with a prior professional degree in architecture, landscape architecture, or city and regional planning. The program last for three semesters, starting with the June Summer Session and ending at the end of May of the following year. The program offers advanced training in urban design in an interdisciplinary curriculum with faculty drawn from architecture, landscape architecture, and planning in the College of Environmental Design. Designers work in teams and individually across a large range of scales to develop an understanding of the complexity of urbanism and the interdependencies of buildings, landscapes, and planning in environments shaped by cultural, social, economic, political, and environmental forces. The program is an intense and demanding learning experience in which a global group of students shares working methods, acquire additional skills, and explore new challenges in the rapidly expanding field of urban design. As the only stand-alone urban design program in the state, the MUD program begins by focusing on emerging issues in California and the West at the urban, suburban, and territorial scales. As the fifth-largest economy in the world, the most diverse state in the U.S., and a global pioneer in technology, sustainability, and culture, California is a unique laboratory to investigate future spatial challenges. The final independent advanced design project offers students the opportunity to address topics that they are passionate about in sites around the world.
Thank you for considering UC Berkeley for graduate study! UC Berkeley offers more than 120 graduate programs representing the breadth and depth of interdisciplinary scholarship. The Graduate Division hosts a complete list of graduate academic programs, departments, degrees offered, and application deadlines can be found on the Graduate Division website.
Prospective students must submit an online application to be considered for admission, in addition to any supplemental materials specific to the program for which they are applying. The online application and steps to take to apply can be found on the Graduate Division website.
Admission Requirements
The minimum graduate admission requirements are:
A bachelor’s degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution;
A satisfactory scholastic average, usually a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 (B) on a 4.0 scale; and
Enough undergraduate training to do graduate work in your chosen field.
For a list of requirements to complete your graduate application, please see the Graduate Division’s Admissions Requirements page. It is also important to check with the program or department of interest, as they may have additional requirements specific to their program of study and degree. Department contact information can be found here.
Admission to the Master of Urban Design program requires:
A prior professional degree in architecture (BArch or MArch), landscape architecture (BLA or MLA), or city and regional planning (MCP or MUP with a strong design background).
Evidence of high-quality academic and professional work, including minimum TOEFL/IELTS score requirements.
Two years of professional experience after completion of the professional degree is recommended but not required. Applicants will be evaluated based on the quality of their work.
Master's Degree Requirements
Course Requirements
Five courses constitute the core of the Master of Urban Design degree program:
ENV DES 201 Urban Design Fundamentals Studio—an intensive studio involving collaborative work on problems that are large in scope, yet require attention to spatial organization and design details. This studio is scheduled in the 10 week Summer Session.
ENV DES 251 Discourses in Urban Design Seminar—an introduction to the program, faculty resources, and important issues in contemporary urban design practice. This course is scheduled in the 8 week Summer Session.
CY PLAN 298 Economics Module, which introduces key economic issues and concepts.
ENV DES 252 Thesis Research and Preparation, a seminar that brings all candidates in the program together to develop and discuss their individual Advanced Design projects.
ENV DES 253 Thesis Studio, led by an urban design practitioner with MUD faculty. The thesis studio provides students with guidance to complete their advanced design project by mid-May, when they will present their work to faculty, students, alumni, and invited reviewers.
Students can select an additional studio is selected from advanced urban design graduate studios offered in the three departments. Students must also complete courses in methods, urban design history or theory, and electives related to their interests. See the MUD Program Handbook for further information, including sample programs.
Electives relevant to thesis topic per approved study list
Variable
Courses
Urban Design
Terms offered: Summer 2024 10 Week Session, Summer 2023 10 Week Session, Summer 2022 10 Week Session
An intensive studio involving collaborative work on problems that are large in scope, yet require attention to spatial organization and design details.
The studio course is offered each fall semester and required for incoming graduate students in the Master of Urban Design Program (MUD). The course is also open to College of Environmental Design graduate students of advanced standing in the Master of City Planning Program/ Urban Design Concentration, the Master of Architecture and Master of Landscape Architecture Programs. Urban Design Fundamentals Studio: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Students enrolled in the Master of Urban Design program have priority. Others welcome with consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar and 5 hours of studio per week
Summer: 10 weeks - 6 hours of seminar and 6 hours of studio per week
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022
The advanced urban design studio builds on the conceptual and design skills taught in the introductory studio, adding more complex contexts, sites and programs. The studio will address realistic contemporary urban, suburban, or rural situations requiring innovative solutions. The studio projects will be either sponsored or led by professional firms. Students will undertake in-depth research, understand economic, political, social, and cultural dynamics, investigate challenging sites, and produce creative responses. Advanced Urban Design Studio: Read More [+]
Terms offered: Prior to 2007
This course explores contemporary debates around race, gender, sexuality, disability rights and other forms of embodied politics and considers their potential to transform the normative assumptions and practices of the built environment disciplines. Concepts such as self-abstraction, assimilation, and discourses of the “universal” or neutral body will be examined critically in relation to socially situated theories of power, identity, and activism. The course will investigate case studies of everyday objects, buildings and urban space that exemplify the creative limits and possibilities of embodied difference in the design process. Weekly reading responses, class discussions, presentations, and a final project are required. Design and Difference: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2023
This course focuses on four inter-connected areas of pedagogy important to urban planning, design, and public policy that repair, rather than perpetuate, systemic harm. First, we will examine the main tenets of critical race theory to address the structural roots and history of injustice. Second, students will learn the theory, methodology and practice of transformative community planning, design and public policy principles that center the lived experiences, experiential knowledge, and agency of people directly impacted by systemic injustice. Third, we will examine the role of individual and collective healing focusing on the principles of restorative justice. Fourth, we will explore the theory and practice of love-based justice.
Terms offered: Summer 2024 8 Week Session, Summer 2022 8 Week Session, Fall 2021
The course is the first of three courses (ED251, ED252, ED253) directed toward the development of research and design proposals that advance the field of urban design. As the first course in the sequence, ED251 introduces topics and research methods in contemporary urban design. There is a lecture component (Section 1) that is open to the College and campus. Graduate students preparing for theses and professional reports in urban design will enroll in Section 2, which includes attending the lectures as well as a seminar that expands on the lecture topics by exploring various research and design methodologies. Discourses in Urban Design: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: The one unit section is open to all students. The three unit section is for students enrolled in the Master of Urban Design program or those who have obtained the consent of the instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023
Seminar focuses on individual urban design interests, the design and research work that students are pursuing in other courses, and development of thesis or final design projects. Thesis Research and Preparation: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Students must be in the Master of Urban Design program or obtain consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Summer 2023 10 Week Session
A studio for Masters of Urban Design students aimed to support students during the final months of their thesis work. Faculty will hold bi-weekly individual desk critiques of student work and organize preliminary reviews to outside reviewers in preparation of the final review scheduled at the end of the semester. Thesis Studio: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 252
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024
This Clinic seeks to develop students to advance an anti-racist future guided by the principles of love, healing, and justice. Students are required to enroll in the companion theory course, EnvDes C231, Critical Race Theory in Planning, Design, and Public Policy. This Clinic focuses on four areas of professional practice. First, students are supervised by experienced professional practitioners. Second, students will learn the framework of racial equity analysis through applied theoretical frameworks and case study pedagogy. Third, students will apply the framework of racial equity analysis to real-world projects. Fourth, students will engage in reflection of their experiences through peer learning and regular journal entries.
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