Urban Design University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

Overview

The Urban Design MEng from University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is structured to allow various options for the mode of study, from a one-year, full-time option (open to candidates from architecture backgrounds or with strong design and graphic representation skills), or as a 2- or 3-year part-time option open to all candidates. 

Key facts

Graduates gain eligibility for recognition as a Professional Urban Designer from the Urban Design Institute of South Africa (UDISA).Within the diversity and complexity of contemporary and rapidly changing cities, there is a need to understand how spaces operate and adapt to meet social, cultural, ecological and economic needs for a plethora of users.

Urban design is about spaces for humans and non-humans and their co-existence on earth as a holistic system. Therefore, the comprehension and guidance of how and why space is designed considers multiple networks. 

Through a pluralistic approach to the teaching of urbanity and urban design, an integrated suite of theoretical courses, design studios and a culminating research report emphasises resilience and design for constant change. 

Dealing with fluidity requires an understanding of culture, ecological and anthropogenic systems, access to the (in)formal and multiple, the overlay of networks and power structures, negotiation between bottom-up and top-down approaches, and modes of representation beyond an abstract top-down masterplan or a typical diagrammatic spatial parameters. 

Interdisciplinary overlaps with the Master of Urban Studies allow for a broad base of contextual understanding of cities in the global South, while the MUD’s small class sizes allow for one-on-one guidance from lecturers and urbanism professionals from around the region and the School’s global partners.  A set of theory courses and a series of urban design studios equip students with the skills to create an urbanity that is both an expression of dignified human values and a context for human activity and development.