The Master of Urban Design (MUD) is a post-professional program that prepares architects and landscape architects for design-based research and professional practice at the urban and regional scales. 

The MUD program is committed to design as a primary medium of operation and research in a broad intellectual framework that includes geography, environmental studies, social sciences, media studies, economics, and engineering. It aims for responsible and creative design in the context of contemporary city and region building, with attention to new paradigms of urbanization, global economic restructuring, and information technology. 

The program emphasizes a coherent intellectual approach that is committed to analysis and critique and seeks to become the central Canadian forum for advanced research, design innovation, scholarship, criticism, and debate in urban design.

The Master of Urban Design is a two-year post-professional program open to students with a professional degree in architecture (Bachelor of Architecture, MARC) or landscape architecture (BLA, MLA)—and to others with degrees in related fields who have demonstrated design ability and experience—with a final year average of at least mid-B from the University of Toronto or its equivalent from a recognized university.

Students must complete a total of 9.5 full-course equivalents (FCEs) as follows:

• 7.0 FCEs in core courses:
  
  • 2.0 FCEs: Design Studio
    
    • URD1011Y Urban Design Studio 1
    • URD1012Y Urban Design Studio 2
  • 1.0 FCE: Option Design Studio
    
    • URD2013Y Urban Design Studio Options
  • 0.5 FCE: Thesis Preparation and Research
    
    • URD2014H Thesis Research and Preparation
  • 1.0 FCE: Design Thesis
    
    • URD2015Y Urban Design Studio Thesis
  • 1.0 FCE: History Theory Criticism
    
    • URD1031H Urban History Theory Criticism
    • URD1041H Introduction to Urban Design Theory and Practice
  • 1.5 FCEs: other courses
    
    • URD1021H Urban Design Computation
    • URD1044H Urban Design and Development or PLA1655H Urban Design and Development Controls
    • URD2041H Business and Land Use Planning in Real Estate Development or PLA1651H Planning and Real Estate Development
• 2.5 elective FCEs

Term 1

URD 1021H: Urban Design Computation (intensive two-week course in late August)

URD 1011Y: Urban Design Studio 1
URD 1031H: Urban History Theory Criticism
URD1041H: Introduction to Urban Design Theory and Practice

Term 2

URD 1012Y: Urban Design Studio 2
URD 1044H/PLA 1655H: Urban Design and Development
Elective
Elective

Term 3

URD 2013Y: Urban Design Studio Options
URD 2014H: Thesis Research and Preparation
Elective
Elective

Term 4

URD 2041H / PLA 1651H: Planning and Real Estate Development
URD 2015Y: Urban Design Studio Thesis
Elective

More information on admissions for the Master of Urban Design program is available on our Graduate Admissions page. 

October 1, 2024: Applications open
January 6, 2025: Applications due

Header image credit: Kaman Duru