Urban Planning
What does your city of the future look like? In urban planning, you provide spatial answers to current societal questions. Design urban spaces, processes, and development strategies. By doing so, you can take on important planning tasks and develop long-term prospects for essential transformations – from the district level to the neighborhood level, in the city, on the outskirts, or in the region.
Your heart beats for...
A Degree Program with a Future
You will bring one of the following educational backgrounds:
- General university entrance qualification (Abitur)
- Specialized university entrance qualification
- Advanced technical college certificate (Fachhochschulreife)
- Professional qualification (Case-by-case examination)
German language level: C1
1st Semester
- Fundamentals of Pictorial Design
- Fundamentals of Building Design
- Fundamentals of Open Space
- Project (choose from 5 options)
- History of Urban Planning
2nd Semester
- Digital Fundamentals
- Fundamentals of Urban Planning
- Fundamentals of Law
- Project (choose from 5 options)
- Elective (choose from approx. 20 options)
3rd Semester
- Future Topics
- City and Landscape
- Planning Theory and Academic Research
- Project (selectable from 5 options)
- Elective (choose from approx. 20 options)
4th semester
- Urban Planning
- Infrastructure
- Society
- Project (selectable from 5 options)
- Elective (choose from approx. 20 options)
5th semester
- Practical or study abroad semester
- Reflection and Portfolio
6th semester
- Global Sustainability
- City and Region
- Urban and Regional Economics
- Project (choose from 5 options)
- Elective (choose from approx. 20 options)
7th Semester
- Real Estate Management
- Digital Tools and Methods
- Participation
- Project (selectable from 5 options)
- Elective (choose from approx. 20 options)
8th semester
- Cumulative Modules
- Preliminary research project
- Bachelor’s thesis and colloquium
Specializations/Areas of Focus/Fields of Study
- Can be customized through elective modules
- Specializations determined by the choice of project topics (5th semester) and in the bachelor’s thesis
The program combines design, technical, legal, and social science perspectives on urban planning. The focus is on integrated design projects in which real urban spaces are analyzed and further developed. The curriculum ranges from urban design to open space and infrastructure planning, law, and digital tools, as well as planning theory and social transformation processes. Specializations are offered particularly in the project modules as well as in thematic areas such as sustainable urban development, climate adaptation, the social city, and urban landscapes. Electives and evolving future-oriented topics allow students to develop their own individual profiles. In the Master’s program, these competencies are further developed in a research-oriented and international context.
Our bachelor’s degree program is divided into five module groups. These provide you as a future planner with targeted preparation for the most important skills and abilities:
- Foundation year: in the first and second semesters, you will deal with the spatial and legal foundations of the city and learn basic graphic design skills.
- Advanced year: in the third and fourth semesters, you will focus on theoretical and social approaches to the city; at the same time, you will delve deeper into spatial and legal topics.
- Integration year: after the practical semester or semester abroad, you will bring together your knowledge of the city in complex spatial and socio-economic issues in the sixth and seventh semesters
- Project: in all but the fifth semester, you will work on an increasingly complex urban development or urban planning project.
- Compulsory elective area: you set your own focus with six elements of the cumulative modules, five compulsory elective subjects from the Detmold School's range, the project topics and your Bachelor's thesis
With the new eight-semester Bachelor's degree in Urban Planning, you will acquire the academic requirements for later membership in the urban planning lists of the federal states.
- Public administration, such as in the municipal city planning office
- employee or self-employed in a planning office
- Urban research
- Project development
- Real estate industry
- Specialty journalism
- Competition organization
- Moderation, marketing
The program is project-based and closely linked to professional practice. Collaborations take place primarily through design projects, guest lectures, and field trips. Partners include municipal governments, urban planning and landscape architecture firms, as well as research institutions, topic-specific foundations, and civil society organizations. Topics include sustainable urban development, new demands on housing provision, climate adaptation, and participatory processes.
- Institut für Designstrategien (IDS - Institute for Design Strategies): The IDS conducts research on fundamental interactions between people and spaces. It develops strategies to help achieve a climate-resilient built environment, and takes advantage of the opportunities offered by digitization for innovative approaches and complex analyses.
Research focal areas: Regenerative design, human centered design and data driven design - Institut für Energieforschung (iFE - Institute for Energy Research): Interdisciplinary research institution with members from the departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Detmold School of Design, Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics, and Business Administration and Economics. The iFE develops technologies and solutions for efficient, networked, and innovative energy systems in the fields of districts, mobility, and industry.
... the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations
- directly to good health and well-being
- directly to clean water and sanitation
- directly to sustainable cities and communities
- directly to life on land
Studying at Creative Campus Detmold
Planning and building in one place. This concept can be found on our Creative Campus. Through both topics, a very special teaching and research location has been created. The internationally renowned Detmold School of Design is located here, as well as the Civil Engineering Department and the Center for Sustainable, Digital Construction, which is currently under construction. Architectural ideas thus cross paths with new thinking in civil engineering, such as sustainable 3D printing. The campus is complemented by media production, which together with the Detmold Academy of Music and the University of Paderborn have created a completely new stage for the transfer between creative science and business in the KreativInstitut.OWL. The campus is also adjacent to the city center, which can thus be reached by foot.
Information
- Application and Enrollment
- Dates and Deadlines
- Tuition
- FAQs on Application and Enrollment
- Study Plan
- Module Handbook
Only the information contained in the currently valid examination regulations for the program, as published in the official bulletin, is authoritative and legally binding. You can find the official bulletins here.
Voices from academia, teaching, and professional practice
Helen Deepe, Urban Planning Student:
“I particularly appreciate the up-to-date nature of the Urban Planning program at TH OWL—this is provided, among other things, by the ‘Future Topics’ module. The foundational modules are also diverse and engaging thanks to the broad subject expertise of the faculty.”
Professor Dr. Susanne Kost, Department of Planning Theory and Planning Methodology:
“Urban planning means understanding complex social and spatial requirements and processes and actively shaping them. In the program, students learn to think analytically, reflect critically, and develop viable concepts for livable and equitable cities.”
“From a city administration’s perspective, graduates bring exactly the skills we need: They think interdisciplinarily, understand spatial and social contexts, and can develop innovative solutions for current challenges such as climate adaptation or sustainable neighborhoods.”
Contact and Counseling
- Our Central Student Advisory Service answers questions about studying at the university
- Offers for study orientation
- Get to know your faculty!
- Click here to go to the subject-specific student advisory service of the faculty
- Apply at Hochschulstart (DoSV)!
- Information on the enrollment procedure is available from the Enrollment Office
- Studying abroad? Our International Office is there for you!
Still unanswered questions?
Our Student Service Center will answer all your questions about studying at TH OWL as well as about application and enrollment:
Phone: +49 5261 702 2534
E-mail: studierendenservice(at)th-owl.de
Service hours: Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.