| Welcome to the Department of Urban Planning & Architectural Design |
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The majority of the world's population lives in cities. We live in the urban millennium. Sustainable urban development is a major challenge for societies. Well-educated urban planners and designers are in high demand. Specially on the Arabian Peninsula, a region with continuously strong population growth and rapid urbanization processes, urban planners are in high demand. Both programmes are the first of its kind in the Gulf region:
Study Programmes The courses at GUtech's Department of Urban Planning and Architectural Design (UPAD) are based on an understanding of the city as a dynamic system. Therefore, the programmes embrace the many scales of planning and designing - from a single house to an entire city to a whole region. They also combine the various disciplines that influence the making of urban space - history, culture, sociology, psychology, economics, law, management, environment, and technology. The focus is on developing ways of thinking to find integrated solutions and applications for the complex challenges of urban development today. Each semester's core course in the undergraduate as well as postgraduate programme is an integrated design project. It reflects the curriculum's broad range of subjects and enables students to apply the newly learned theoretical skills to a practical context. Within every stage of the courses, an overview of the worldwide context is followed by an application within the national Omani context. Like all programmes taught at GUtech, English is the language of instruction, including written and oral tests, seminar papers and the Bachelor's thesis. The programmes at GUtech are internationally accredited by ACQUIN, a German international accreditation agency.
Bachelor of Science in Urban Planning and Architectural Design The duration of the full-time undergraduate programme in Urban Planning and Architectural Design is eight semesters or four years. In the first year the focus is on architecture. The second year's feature is on urban design. The third and forth year aims at integrating both scales. Through internships, international excursions, elective courses, and the completion of the Bachelor's thesis the students can lay an individual foundation for their future career paths. In addition, selected issues such as Arabic building culture, history of urban development and planning, landscape design, building construction, sustainable building technologies, planning methods, creative techniques, and legal aspects of planning and building are taught. Moreover, the necessary media skills are practiced - from freehand to digital drawing.
Master of Science in Integrated Urban Planning GUtech offers a part-time MSc in Integrated Urban Planning. The course is tailored to improve skills and to strengthen capacities for integrated urban planning and management based on strong links to real-life challenges. The Master programme is the only one in the GCC to be modelled on a German Master's programme (RWTH Aachen University), while responding to the particular characteristics of urbanisation in Arab countries and to their needs and potential for sustainable development.
Career opportunities for urban planners and architects Urban planners and architects play a major role in shaping the way we live. They form the interplay of spatial, social, technical, economic, ecological aspects of our built environment. Their expertise is required in many fields, e.g.:
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