The information and program qualifications related to the Urban Design Master of Science Program, under the Department of Urban Design of the Graduate School, are summarized below.
Information About The Program
Interdisciplinary Urban Design MSc Program is conducted under the auspices of ITU Graduate School of Science, Engineering and Technology in collaboration with three departments: Architecture, Urban and Regional Planning, and Landscape Architecture in the Faculty of Architecture. The program was founded in 1988 as part of ITU Institute of Science and Technology with the title “Urban Design Masters and PhD Program”. The program which was updated during the revision of ITU graduate programs in 2002, PhD program was ended and Masters' program gained an interdisciplinary dimension.
Urban design is an essential tool for conserving local and authentic values against the rapidly changing world. Therefore, creative and aesthetic urban environment respecting society and its past is fundamental to urban design. Urban design is concerned with improving the quality of urban space and its environment on a human-scale. The scope of the program is ensuring expertise in the field of urban design and providing the academic framework for studies regarding both the theoretical and practical aspects of the area.
Focusing on improving urban spatial quality and physical form, the urban design program aims to make students qualified specialists in the field of urban design and to have them capable of evaluating recent trends in urban design theories, practices, methods and processes.
The mission of the urban design program is providing a solid background on the expansion of urban design theory and methodology, and ensuring the skills of implementation about improving the spatial quality of the urban area.
The current Urban Design MSc Program requires a total of 36 credits (90 ECTS). The Program includes compulsory courses (24 credits – 12-credit project and 12-credit lecture), electives (12-credits lecture) and a non-credit Scientific Research, Ethics and Seminars. The program is completed with the submission and approval of a thesis.
The Urban Design Program provides architecture, urban planning and landscape architecture students with the knowledge and skills of urban design theory and practices. The courses include topics on research methodology, theory, design and other related fields of urban design study. The areas of study offered by this Interdisciplinary Urban Design MSc Program are “Environmental Quality of the Urban Spaces”, “Urban Design Standards”, “Urban Preservation and Renewal”, “Design of New Residential Areas”, “Universal Design”, “Urban Image and Identity” and “Evaluation and Design of Public Areas”. The curriculum of Urban Design Master Program at ITU intends to cover the following dimensions of urban design; technological, ecological, transportation, visual communication, urban sociology, urban law and economy.
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Registration Requirements
Application Term : Previous Term / 2024-2025 Spring Semester
Application Requirements (For T.C Nationality) ALES Numerical must be minimum 75 (old system GRE Quantitative minimum 700, new system GRE minimum 155 ). Undergraduate GPA must be minimum 3.00/4 (76.66/100). Graduation must be Urban Design and Landscape Architecture, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Urban and Regional Planning. Candidates must attend to interview with a minimum of 2 reference letters and a portfolyo.
Quota (For T.C Nationality): 5
Application Requirements (For International Students) ALES Numerical must be minimum 75 (old system GRE Quantitative minimum 700, new system GRE minimum 155 ). Undergraduate GPA must be minimum 3.00/4 (76.66/100). Graduation must be Urban Design and Landscape Architecture, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Urban and Regional Planning. Candidates must attend to interview with a minimum of 2 reference letters and a portfolyo.
Quota (For International Students): 2
Transfer Quota : 1
Application Page Graduate Education and Training Regulation Senate Principles
Application requirements, application dates, and quotas are updated in real-time from the Application System.
English Proficiency
Regulations and Guidelines
Academic Calendar
Course Plans
Course Schedules
Course Adjustment and Exemption Procedures
Program Educational Objectives
Program Educational Objectives are listed below:
- Improving skills for the development and implementation of the scientific methodology,
- Understanding the history of urban space and developing proposals for the future,
- Ensuring creativity in the process of urban design and using effective presentation techniques,
- Imagining alternative urban design solutions,
- Using digital techniques and methods in urban design and implementation,
- Successful interdisciplinary collaboration and teamwork for urban design.
Measurement and Evaluation
Evaluating Student Success
The student success is evaluated considering Articles 56, 57, 58, and 59 of the Istanbul Technical University Graduate Education and Training Regulation Senate Principles.
ARTICLE 56 - Before the enrollment for the courses begins, the faculty member who offers the course informs the Program Executive Committee about the types, number and contribution percentage to the final grade of the studies within the semester, as well as requirements for a right to take the semester final exam. These requirements shall be finalized by approval of the Program Executive Committee and approval of the chair of the department, who declares them to the student and informs the Graduate School.
ARTICLE 57 - A student may appeal the final grade of a course within one week following the announcement of the grades. Appeals must be submitted to the Graduate School in writing. The relevant faculty member shall re-evaluate the student's success status and submit the result to the Graduate School within one week. Appeals not submitted within the prescribed time frame shall not be considered by the Graduate School.
ARTICLE 58 - Courses in graduate programs shall be evaluated according to the following grading system.
| Grade Description |
Grade |
Scale |
| Excellent |
AA |
4.00 |
| Very good plus |
BA+ |
3.75 |
| Very good |
BA |
3.50 |
| Good plus |
BB+ |
3.25 |
| Good |
BB |
3.00 |
| Conditional Pass |
CB+ |
2.75 |
| Conditional Pass |
CB |
2.50 |
| Conditional Pass |
CC+ |
2.25 |
| Conditional Pass |
CC |
2.00 |
| Fail |
FF |
0.00 |
| Fail(No Exam) |
VF |
0.00 |
ARTICLE 59 - Students who wish to improve their cumulative grade point average may retake courses during the course-taking period. The most recent grade will be counted for the repeated courses.
Internship
There is no internship in this program.
Graduation Requirements
The current Interdisciplinary Urban Design MSc Program requires a total of 36 credits (90 ECTS). The Program includes compulsory courses (24 credits – 12-credit project and 12-credit lecture), electives (12-credits lecture) and a seminar presentation. The program is completed with the submission and approval of a thesis.
The Awarded Degree and Title
Degree : Master of Science Title : -
Program Employment Opportunities
Graduates of the Urban Design Masters’ Program can work both in public and private sectors for the design of urban or rural settlements. In the public sector, they can be employed for urban design services on different levels from the highest level, such as ministries, to the smallest municipalities. Planners, in the private sector, can work as the urban designer at their planning, architecture and landscape architecture firms as well as in other real estate development agencies, banks, industrial entities, mass housing entities, investment companies as urban design expert planners, architects or landscape architects.
Number of Graduates
Graduate Statistics
| Year | Number of Graduates |
| 2013 | 7 |
| 2014 | 17 |
| 2015 | 18 |
| 2016 | 5 |
| 2017 | 14 |
| 2018 | 28 |
| 2019 | 33 |
| 2020 | 12 |
| 2021 | 13 |
| 2022 | 17 |
| 2023 | 17 |
| 2024 | 22 |
Program Outcomes
P.O.1 Learning and knowledge devising: Understanding, using, manipulating and reforming for interdisciplinary use urban planning knowledge depending on the requirements of the undergraduate level.
P.O.2 Research-Questioning: Researching on the field of study, questioning the information acquired and producing new pieces of knowledge.
P.O.3 Responsibility-taking: Debating on complex issues on the field of study, devising solutions, taking responsibilities to conduct independent research and leadership.
P.O.4 Presenting knowledge: Presenting visually and orally knowledge acquired on the field, supporting it with adequate and contemporary materials, using technology for studies, mastering a foreign language for oral and written communication.
P.O.5 Application: Supporting the knowledge acquired on the field with legal and political points in order to transform it to a strategic and interdisciplinary application.
P.O.6 Commitment to ethical values, teaching and creating social impact: Questioning social norms and mobilizng to change it where necessary, conducting all debate within the boundaries of scientific, cultural and ethical norms.
P.O.7 Sharing and contributing to academic value: Accessing and contributing to international academic sharing in interdsicplinary work.
Program Coordinator
Head of the Department
Links