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Title
Geography and PlanningBA
Category
undergraduate
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7da2f1b4c9d54563ae93e5c9eb097d07
Source URL
https://sheffield.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/2026/geography-and-planning-ba
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https://sheffield.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/2026
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2026-03-23T16:31:38+00:00
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Geography and PlanningBA

Source: https://sheffield.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/2026/geography-and-planning-ba Parent: https://sheffield.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/2026

2026-27 entry View 2027-28 entry

Geography and Planning BA

School of Geography and Planning

Combining human geography with planning, this course allows you to tackle issues of environmental and social justice within the context of urban development.

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Course description

Why study this course?

3rd for construction, surveying and planning

Guardian University Guide 2026

3rd for town and country planning and landscape design

Complete University Guide 2026

Research and impact

The School of Geography and Planning has an international research reputation spanning both disciplines - 100% of our research conducted within the geography/environmental studies subject and 95% within urban studies and planning was rated as world leading or internationally excellent, according to the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.

We cover field trip costs

Fieldwork should be open to everyone - that's why we’ll cover the cost of travel, accommodation and food for all field classes. You’ll be free to focus on exploring new environments and developing new skills, without worrying about extra expenses.

This course focuses on how you can respond to urban and environmental change. It combines the social, cultural and political elements of human geography with the applied, practical edge of a planning education.

Human geography enables you to understand how people engage with their environment, while planning is about managing change to make better, more just and sustainable places. Studying a blend of these subjects will offer you a unique insight into how to apply the theoretical understanding of geography to the urban environment - exploring how people and places interact.

A key feature of this course is our emphasis on making a positive difference in the world. We take an interdisciplinary, critical and global perspective, and explore how to create more fair, just and sustainable places.

Having undergone significant regeneration following the decline of its steel industry, Sheffield is an ideal location to study geography and planning. The city has transformed into a hub for new sectors like advanced manufacturing, tech and green energy.

In addition to engaging with urban and environmental changes in this city, you’ll also have the chance to get out of the classroom and into the field, linking theory to practice, for example with a residential school-funded field trip focusing on human geography.

You’ll also benefit from our close connections with policy makers and practitioners. We’ll invite urban planning expert guest speakers and alumni to share their own experiences and insights on topics that you will be learning about as part of your modules.

You may also have the opportunity to gain valuable work experience as part of an industry placement year, for example in public authorities and private consultancies.

Dual and combined honours degrees

Modules

A selection of modules are available each year - some examples are below. There may be changes before you begin your studies. As you progress through your course, we’ll confirm additional details for the core and optional modules available to you.

Title: Geography and Planning BA course structure\ UCAS code: LK74\ Years: 2026, 2027

First year

Second year

Final year

First year

Core modules:

Development, Planning and the State : The module provides an introduction to spatial planning in theory and practice, exploring arguments for and against planning and the rationale for state intervention into land and property development. You will cover key debates on the purposes of planning, the historical development of planning as a state activity and the current structure of national, regional and local government. A core function of the module is to introduce key aspects of the English planning system and key debates about its role and purpose, with reference to a range of international comparators. You will develop skills in navigating planning documents and working in groups, which are essential for built environment careers. The module builds on these foundations to explore how spatial planning responds to a number of major societal challenges.

**20 credits**

Exploring Human Geographies : This module provides an introduction to key principles, relations and processes that contribute to a diverse array of social, cultural, economic and environmental aspects of human geography.  You will have the opportunity to learn about spatial patterns of power, inequality and interdependence produced by processes such as economic and cultural globalisation, how we experience these at the local scale, and how they have changed over time.  Through lectures and seminars you will be guided through key concepts and current debates shaping how human geographers approach these issues. Examples will be drawn from around the world and at a variety of geographical scales, highlighting the value of a geographical perspective to help us understand and navigate the world we live in. Developing skills in critical analysis, you will gain experience of putting these to use in a critical field report.

**20 credits**

Cities, People and Urban Design : Exploring and gaining an understanding of place, space and urban design at the outset of your studies will provide you with the foundation needed to interpret, analyse and practically understand cities - focusing on the city of Sheffield and its people.  The module explores the fundamentals of urban design and its role in the analysis and design of space. You are introduced to some of the theories, techniques and data that planners use in their efforts to understand and create better places for people. The module will support you to develop your skills of analysis and help to equip you with applied design skills to explore, make sense of, and develop spatial data/foundational drawing skills. You will learn the core principles of reading, representing, and interpreting the quality of urban space, including how to assess the various dimensions that contribute to the overall quality of urban places, the kinds of behaviours and interactions they enable, and how to interpret and represent these spatially. You will also develop skills on the fundamentals of visual/graphical communication via professional software and posters. \ \ Teaching draws on practical examples via lectures, studio workshops, computer workshops, context-based study and site visits. Through these, you will gain a basic understanding and appreciation of cities and develop transferable skills in the applied analysis of urban spaces and how they are designed - which you will be assessed on using a combination of written formats, spatial mapping and posters to communicate your evidence.\ \

**20 credits**

The Making of Urban Places : This module introduces you to cities and urbanisation, from the very first settlements to contemporary metropolises, using examples throughout history from across the world. The module focuses on thinking about the role of cities within societies and civilisations throughout history, and introduces you to how planning ideas and practice have developed in response. It explores histories of urbanisation, from the earliest urban settlements to the megacities of the twenty-first century, which are significant for understanding how various forces have shaped cities, and the outcomes of urbanisation for cities and their populations. It highlights influential ideas which have changed our thinking about cities, looks at how urban governments and planners have sought to respond to  challenges of urbanisation throughout history, and discusses critical debates around these. The module takes a global focus, drawing on different cases and examples from around the world. In addition to a focus on the historical foundations of cities, urbanisation, and planning, you will also be introduced to key foundational academic skills required for both your degree and future career. These include an introduction to good academic practice (including academic referencing), identifying relevant information, and communicating academic knowledge orally and in writing.

**20 credits**

Global Challenges : This module explores the geographies of global challenges and their intricate and complex connections. It goes beyond identifying problems to analyse how different stakeholders are actively developing solutions and driving positive transformation. The wider impact of our research ranges from the local to the global, with benefits for the economy, society, culture, policy, health, the environment and quality of life. From revitalising local communities to reducing risk to life, you will gain insights into how research can help shape more sustainable and equitable futures. This module takes a  case study approach to explore different opportunities for addressing complex global challenges across research and practice.\ \ During seminars, you will work in teams to engage critically with your own experience and non-academic sources (e.g. news articles, social media, blogs, videos) and materials (e.g. physical data, images) to consider how geographers can contribute to addressing global challenges from everyday life to the workplace.\ \ The overall aim of the module is to equip you with theoretical and practical tools to critically engage with a rapidly changing, deeply interconnected world, where understanding difference is essential to promoting inclusive and just futures.\ \

**20 credits**

Environment in Action : This interdisciplinary module introduces you to some of the most critical environmental questions facing our world today. Through a combination of physical and social science lectures and workshops, you will acquire a comprehensive understanding of fundamental concepts and the complexities of environmental issues, debates, and potential solutions. \ \ You will have the opportunity to develop essential academic skills - such as research skills, critical thinking, independent working and interdisciplinary-thinking - that are crucial to understanding and tackling environmental issues. Workshops will enhance your interpersonal skills as you gain experience in effective collaboration.

**20 credits**

Second year

Core modules:

Urban Analytics : This module provides you with an introduction to quantitative and spatial analytical methods, with a specific focus on interpreting and presenting data to better understand urban contexts. It exposes you to a variety of substantive issues surrounding the use of data in practice and aims to enhance your understanding of methods used to analyse urban data in real world contexts. Primarily delivered through a series of computer workshops, you will gain practical experience in accessing a range of different datasets including demographics, property, and land use and will develop and practise skills in analysing data using both spatial and aspatial methods. The analytical and quantitative skills you develop in this module are key to employability and will have applications across your degree and beyond. These include competence in accessing, analysing and presenting quantitative data using both Excel and GIS software.

**20 credits**

Urban Theory : At the heart of every discipline lie the ideas, concepts and frameworks that help its students and researchers to make sense of its object of study. In planning, geography and urban studies there are numerous perspectives, concepts and key thinkers that have shaped the development of these disciplines. This module introduces you to a series of key concepts and thinkers and helps you to make sense of urban life as a result.\ \ This module supports you to develop your imaginative engagement with the nature of urban life and human settlement. Urban theory refers to writing and thinking devoted to 'seeing' and understanding urban life. Concepts and ideas are critical to how we engage with the key features and problems of the urban world, shape the process of conducting research and help us to make sense of and understand many of the key challenges in cities today. Theory is therefore critical to our understanding of how cities work in practice and how we understand and view urban life subsequently informs the development of cities and efforts to make them more socially just, sustainable and better places to live. You are introduced to a range of ideas and key concepts in urban studies with a view to understanding how cities have developed and how they 'work' in broad terms. The module considers a range of thinkers, concepts and perspectives. \ \ The module aims to introduce and extend your knowledge of different ways of seeing city life, through critically engaging with diverse sources. This includes a wide range of perspectives, thinkers and concepts relating to urban social and political life, the economies of cities, the range of communities and groups living in cities, and their built and natural environments. It also aims to provide you with an armoury of critical ideas and concepts that will deepen your understanding of the fundamental power relations, inequalities and divisions that characterise cities and which structure localities, particularly in relation to questions of class, race and gender; and to enable you to synthesise, critically assess and evaluate diverse theoretical perspectives, and their application to real world urban issues.

**20 credits**

Human Geography Research Design and Fieldwork : The ability to design and conduct field research, and to analyse and present meaningful findings from fieldwork are essential parts of the discipline of degree-level Human Geography. These skills, as well as experience of conducting fieldwork, enhance employability across diverse career choices. This module builds on your learning from 'Human Geography in the Field' in the first year, addressing the philosophical and methodological background to, and the process of, designing and conducting fieldwork. You will hear about the principles of research design and be able to develop key skills through engaging in practical experience of fieldwork. This approach facilitates your immersive learning and engagement with ethical research. The module is delivered through lectures, tutorials, problem solving sessions and a residential field class. You will be assessed via a fieldwork report with feedback linked to designing, conducting and reflecting upon the research journey, culminating in a dissertation proposal.

**20 credits**

Real Estate, Planning and Development : Real estate development is a complex interplay of land acquisition, design, planning consent, construction and marketing / disposal. Developers must navigate these stages through informed decisions, based on thorough market, planning, financial, and risk appraisals. The planning system plays a critical role in real estate development, providing a structure for decision-making that encourages sustainable outcomes and enhances the built environment, whilst also imposing regulatory constraints that can limit project parameters. Examining the real estate development process will enhance your skills in analysing complex problems, developing effective solutions and making sound decisions.\ \ This module explores the real estate development process and the various influences that shape the viability of successful development projects. You will get to examine the structure of real estate markets, the roles and objectives of the various stakeholders involved in real estate development, the main aspects of real estate development appraisal and the ways in which planning, risk and design combine to shape how places change and who profits. You will be supported to work towards producing an assessment of the planning and market potential for a real-world development site incorporating viability, design and risk considerations and, in doing so, be able to learn to balance the competing demands of planning, financial viability and real estate development.

**20 credits**

Optional modules:

Urban Design and Place-making : An enhanced ability to understand placemaking and urban design processes and their interface with planning, policy and development is crucial for any contemporary planning professional. The overall aim of this module is to enhance your understanding and critical appreciation of the contemporary context of urban design thought, policy and practice - focusing particularly on the role of place-making in cities. You will learn about and apply the language and techniques of urban design to explore and evaluate what constitutes effective place-making. The module will support you to develop the skills to analyse, appraise and design for urban contexts, supported by professional software and drawing techniques. You will also develop awareness of the sequential stages of the design process, and the ability to deliver a comprehensive design/placemaking proposal supported by enhanced graphical skills for effective communication. Teaching will draw on practical examples via studio workshops, lectures, context-based study and student-led site visits.\ \ Throughout the module, you will develop relevant employability skills in spatial analysis, professional design/drawing software, visual/graphic communication, design and problem solving. These transferable skills are highly valued across the built environment sector, including in consultancy, local government, policy and NGOs. By the end of the module, you will be able to demonstrate an enhanced ability to evaluate the role of urban design in contemporary place-making and deliver an applied comprehensive design proposal on a real-world site.

**20 credits**

Culture, Space and Difference : This research-led module introduces you to the cutting edge of Social and Cultural Geography. Through seminars and interactive lectures you will explore how we live with difference in the module world. Difference is framed in terms of diversity, equality and inclusion - and their opposites including prejudice and exclusion. These themes are illustrated through case studies drawn from geographical research in cities and countries around the world. The module aims to deepen and enrich the ways in which you are able to think about geographical issues and conduct geographical research of your own. The module team works with you to help you to develop your own 'photo essay'  - which will bring the ideas of the module to your experiences from everyday life.

**20 credits**

Sustainable Development and Global Justice : Sustainable Development is a major challenge for countries around the globe. This module guides you to explore contemporary development issues their historical trajectories, diverging narratives and their embeddedness in current geopolitics. It examines the contribution that geographers, and geographical thought, can make towards understanding questions of environmental justice, inequality, poverty and socio-cultural change. The module encourages a critical discussion and intercultural dialogue about comment concepts like 'justice', 'nature' and 'development', reflecting on the framing power of words and narratives. In a time of rising nationalism, the module examines the potential and limitations of multi-country collaboration to address global challenges. It explores the roles of various actors, including the United Nations, bilateral donors, NGOs, governments and the private sector. Further, it invites students to reflect on the role of social innovation, digital technologies and co-design practices with marginalised groups in making progress towards sustainable development. This module addresses diverse theories, paradigms, approaches and contemporary critiques of development, and explores some of the central issues affecting processes of development. Case examples are drawn from Latin America, Africa and South-East Asia.

**20 credits**

Housing and Home : Housing and homes are the foundation on which we build our lives. Housing is a unique good which enables access to other services, opportunities, and the pursuit of a whole range of aspirations. It affects access to employment, green space, and family formation, as well as playing an important role in the expression of identities. Housing is deeply spatial and access is spatially uneven.\ \ Housing is also fundamentally linked to the idea of home. In our daily lives we can develop a sense of home or feeling comfortable. Just as home can be made or constructed through particular practices, it can also be unmade or undone. Home can become harmful, threatened, associated with unsafety, or lost via insecurity and eviction. In this module we will develop a critical appreciation of housing and home, questioning some of the taken for granted assumptions that are often prominent in public debates.\ \ You will learn from historic and contemporary case studies, from the UK and globally, to think about provision and access to housing, everyday experiences of home in a changing world, and alternatives. This will be situated within a broader understanding of the role of social, economic and political processes in housing systems, and the ways in which the housing system renders spatial patterns of social difference within society. You will engage with the logics that underpin the operation of contemporary housing systems, considering the processes contributing to increasing inequalities in people's ability to access housing and make a home.\ \ You will have the opportunity to critically reflect on what home means to you, and apply learning from academia to your own life and the world around you. As part of the assessment, you will have an opportunity to focus on an area which is of most interest to you, developing your independence and self-directed learning.\ \ Trigger warning - this module will bring you in contact with discussions of home loss, housing precarity and homelessness.

**20 credits**

Social Justice and Environmental Challenges : Environmental issues continue to be a key area of contemporary public concern and current political debate. They raise fundamental ethical questions about the relationship between society and environment, and the politics and equity of that relationship. This module provides a geographical introduction to these issues and debates with examples from a range of scales, from the global to the local. You will be able to understand and critique core ideas, further developing comprehension through inter-related explorations covering debates focused on  different real world themes and their potential solutions. Alongside an essay, a creative assessment will develop skills in visual presentation and communication through the creation of a zine for a public audience.

**20 credits**

Urban Culture and Conflict : Cities are sites of social conflict and cultural production.  The links between these two facets of modern urban experience have long fascinated scholars seeking to understand the cultural history of the urban imagination.  In this module you will be able to explore different ways artists, intellectuals, political activists, ordinary people and other thinkers have sought to understand and explain various experiences of and conflicts over urban life.  You will gain skills in how to situate the relationships between sensory perceptions, aesthetic judgments and power relations in their own place and time.  This module will draw from historical, cultural, social, and political geographies as well as other disciplines to engage with the shifting nature and spatiality of these relationships through case studies of selected cities, the particular changes in urban culture they occasioned, contemporary responses to those changes, and the theoretical debates they inspired.  Key topics will include conflicts over social inequality, cultural difference, production and expression, representational practices and bodily experiences, and how they are situated in changing urban form and architecture.

**20 credits**

Cities, Violence and Security : Urban violence, insecurity and crime are features of the everyday and crisis moments of city life in many nations around the world. Warfare touches life in many cities today, questions of narco-terror and violence affect many others. Meanwhile, the role of the climate emergency in driving migration and instability, economic crisis and precarity, alongside other forms of disturbance lead to forms of injustice, violence and victimisation. This module seeks to develop your understanding of the political, economic and social drivers of human insecurity in urban settings. \ \ This module has been designed to develop your engagement with and responses to multiple forms of urban insecurity. It discusses the diverse kinds of responses to insecurity by states, armies, police and citizens, many of which bring further rounds of insecurity and violence to marginalised and excluded populations.  \ \ The primary aim of the module is to find answers to the question: how can peace and security be enjoyed by all citizens in cities around the world today? You will be introduced  to a range of examples of violence, conflict and insecurity in urban contexts around the world. Through this, you will be supported to develop your awareness of the programmes and policies being pursued to make better and safer places. Examples of urban violence and crime, policing, forced evictions, domestic violence, terrorism, gangs and the rise of gated communities and other modes of design and control to produce securitised urban spaces are discussed and analysed in their effectiveness. \ \ The module aims to develop your awareness of the political, social and economic context in which urban violence and insecurity are embedded in different global contexts. It also aims to develop your understanding of core debates relating to urban insecurity in both the global North and South. In addition, it seeks to develop your critical understanding of the role of these debates in informing policies and initiatives to try and reduce violence and insecurity in cities. \ \ Trigger warning - this module will bring you into contact with discussions of extreme violence, gender-based violence, sexual violence, police and state violence, including terrorism.

**20 credits**

Territory, Power and Policy : From international conflicts to power dynamics in the home, the field of political geography analyses how political ideas, processes, and conflicts are inherently spatial and operate across diverse scales from the global to the hyper-local. In this module, core ideas of power, territory, and policy are used to explore the dynamics of state governance, collective movements, and individual political views and behaviour. Substantive lecture topics include: geopolitics and the spatialities of international relations; the construction of statehood and territoriality; immigration and the politics of nationalism; the role of civic activism and dissent; and the geography of political participation. Case studies analysed in seminars respond to real-life events and have included student protests and activism, populism, eco-fascism, and ongoing international conflicts.\ \ Crucially, this module encourages self-reflection, prompting you to connect theoretical concepts to your own ideologies, political values, and beliefs regarding ideas of justice in real-world contexts. Furthermore, the complex question of how political ideas are communicated, learned about, and taught is placed at the forefront of the module. Writing an essay and a commentary piece give you the opportunity to develop your communication skills for academic and general audiences. These assessments grapple with this question of power and knowledge when we learn about political geography, as well as using theoretical understanding to critically evaluate political events.

**20 credits**

Final year

Core modules:

Environmental Justice at a Time of Crisis : This module works with critical debates and approaches in Environmental Geographies to help understand a range of environmental crises (such as climate change, sustainability, waste and pollution, consumption, extinction) in front of us. You will be able to examine histories, causes and solutions for these environmental crises while drawing connections between global South and North.\ \ The module will cover a range of scales and actors from individual behaviours to community actions, analysing case studies of local bodies and global organisations and their negotiations. The module will leverage conceptual and political tools provided by environmental geographies and enable you to consider ways to tackle these multiple and co-constituted crises in socially just ways. A creative assessment builds on communication and analytical skills through the production of a Manifesto for Praxis and Action.

**20 credits**

Shaping Future Cities : Building on earlier learning about global and urban challenges, this module introduces you to conceptual and policy debates that frame possible urban futures. It will develop your critical understanding of the emerging contemporary visions, practices and challenges that are transforming cities, such as smart cities, eco-cities, cities and technology, and cities and the super rich.  It will also engage you in exploring how alternatives to current mainstream urban planning practices might be imagined and realised to deal with contemporary challenges, and shape more environmentally and socially just forms of urban development. The module uses case studies to explore these issues, and to understand how communities might address contemporary urban planning practices and derive alternatives, through workshops leading to the formulation of an urban policy proposal.

**20 credits**

Dissertation : In this module you will be able to gain experience in leading and managing your own independent research project. You will be expected to prepare, organise, research and report a piece of original work under guidance through regular meetings with an academic supervisor. Building on your research proposal in second year, you will shape the topic and will either be expected to collect original material in order to investigate it, or to perform secondary analysis on information drawn from existing sources. The finished product is presented in the style, and at the length, associated with academic journal articles. The management and completion of this project will develop your skills in academic analysis as well as crucial professional skills related to time-management and organisation.

**40 credits**

Optional modules:

Urban Infrastructures and Place-Making : Infrastructure is a core component of cities, enabling economic, social and environmental elements of urban life to circulate and be drawn together or separated. In this module, you will learn about the importance of infrastructure to cities. The focus will be global, with an emphasis on understanding the politics of infrastructure development, how infrastructure projects can exacerbate or address inequalities, and the role of planners in envisioning, delivering and managing infrastructure. The module will start with a wide definition of infrastructures, which will include physical transport, energy, and water networks, but also focus on social and more localised infrastructures and their impacts on urban communities. \ \ The module will enable you to critically appraise technical approaches to infrastructure as well as developing knowledge of their social bases and cultural meanings. Through the module you will be able to develop knowledge of the ways in which planning deals with infrastructure and examine alternative means of conceiving and delivering infrastructure through planning policies and decisions, ultimately formulating a briefing paper based on a specific theme and city. \ \ Through a series of case studies, you will have opportunities to engage with a range of infrastructure projects and programmes enabling you to understand how they came about, the underlying planning processes that shaped them, their outcomes and who wins and loses from them.

**20 credits**

Contesting Development : The aim of this module is to strengthen your skills in critically examining the development process within a global context, drawing on examples from developed and developing nations, to understand the local-global nexus. You will be able to learn about the different ways in which 'sustainable development' is defined, and how we can decolonise development, reflecting more critically on our position and the power relations within this process. Drawing on debates within development geography and other disciplines, the module is structured around two themes: current global crises and how these affect us all but differently across the globe; and development interventions which aim to tackle global crises globally and locally. Topics covered may include: neoliberalism and its relation to the financial crises, the environmental crises and its root causes, populism and the rise of inequalities, sustainable development and the sustainable development goals, alternatives to development, and the pros and cons of the use of technology. A group presentation will strengthen your ability and experience working as part of a team to examine and communicate complex debates.

**20 credits**

Urban Exploration : This module offers you a chance to explore urban geographies from new angles, which emphasise creative, experimental and subversive ways of seeing and doing geography. Through lectures and seminars, you will be exposed to experimental fieldwork ideas and gain skills in methods (such as visual, multisensory and mobile methods), and you will also learn about innovative research in urban geographical subjects (such as urban nature, security, mobilities, and access). This module includes a period of non-local, residential field-work in a UK city, which will allow you the opportunity to engage with fieldwork collectively and produce an assessed individual fieldwork project.

**20 credits**

Creative Geographies : Place, in all its forms, has long inspired creativity, while the creative works that result are themselves inherently spatial.  This module explores creative work from several historical and contemporary creative movements and associated cultural producers in context. Why did their creative work arise where it did? What difference did that place (or places) make to their aesthetic thought and expression? How was space itself integral to their creative work? In this module you are guided through the intricate relationship between culture production and spatiality across various media, geography, and political and social contexts. Emphasis is put on specific types of space and place as sites and mediums of aesthetic thought and creative practice.  Core themes include identity, place, displacement, historical imaginations, the built environment, and creativity and socio-spatial transformation.

**20 credits**

Democracy and Citizenship : This module explores how a geographical approach helps us to analyse issues such as controversial election results, divisive immigration policies, and contentious social activism. You will be able to learn how the two key concepts of democracy and citizenship can be used to engage with contemporary debates and theories to draw out the links between geography, policy, and society, and the ways in which these are shaped and responded to by citizens, communities, civil society, and political parties. The module emphasises the critical appraisal and interpretation of a variety of perspectives - including your own. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which these interactions are played out across and through multiple scales, from the global to our everyday lives.\ \ Through lectures and workshops this module aims to provide you with substantive knowledge, understanding, and critical skills to assess political events. It will enable you to enhance your research and communication ability through creative assessments that develop skills in writing a commentary piece for a general audience and using audio-visual materials to present your arguments.

**20 credits**

Planning Law and Development Management : The nature of planning activity and its outcomes are underpinned by legal frameworks, procedures and case law decisions. These legal frameworks are intended to ensure clarity and fairness in the exercise of planning powers. They also change over time to reflect changing circumstances and government priorities. This module explores the role and underlying values of law and policy in the English planning system within an international context. Core themes typically include:\ \ - the discretionary basis of UK planning;\ \ - the definition of development;\ \ - the legal process for undertaking planning decisions;\ \ - processes of planning appeal;\ \ - the changing status of development plans;\ \ - and the role of enforcement.\ \ Through the module you will also explore examples where contemporary policy is shaped by legal decisions and the scope for flexibility in working within established legal frameworks. Overall you will develop a thorough understanding of the procedures for controlling development through planning, essential for many built environment professions.

**20 credits**

Planning, Policy and Housing Challenges : In this module you will be able to engage with a wide range of contemporary housing challenges, considering how planning and wider state policy processes have tried - but often failed - to tackle entrenched issues. We will seek to develop an historically informed understanding by learning from past efforts to tackle problems associated with housing provision, access, quality and security. The module aims to situate planning policy alongside other mechanisms of intervention, building your substantive knowledge, theory and skills about housing and its relation to planning policy and decisions. We will help you to think about the bigger picture for housing, emphasising the links between planning, social policies and housing outcomes at national, regional and local levels.\ \ The module aims to increase your understanding of contemporary debates around housing and housing policy. It will enable you to critically evaluate the means by which planning - and other policies - shape the delivery, type and quality of homes people live in. You will be able to develop an historicised understanding of the causes and manifestations of problems, dilemmas and conflicts in housing systems and policy processes; and the ability to synthesise and apply knowledge through the development of potential policy approaches to addressing housing challenges. You will be supported to develop a nuanced understanding of people, place and policy through engagement with real-world examples, applying this critical awareness to reimagine future housing policies which can address the challenges we face around the world today.

**20 credits**

The content of our courses is reviewed annually to make sure it's up-to-date and relevant. Individual modules are occasionally updated or withdrawn. This is in response to discoveries through our world-leading research; funding changes; professional accreditation requirements; student or employer feedback; outcomes of reviews; and variations in staff or student numbers. In the event of any change we will inform students and take reasonable steps to minimise disruption.

Learning and assessment

Learning

You'll learn from teaching staff who are world-leading researchers in geography and planning. Policy makers and practitioners are often invited into teaching sessions to share experiences and insights.

Activities include:

The variety of learning methods ensure you gain both academic depth and practical experience throughout your studies.

Your learning experience overview:

We invest to create the right environment for you. That means outstanding facilities, study spaces and support, including 24/7 access to our online library service.

Study spaces and computers are available to offer you choice and flexibility for your study. Our five library sites give you access to over one million books and periodicals. You can access your library account and our rich digital collections from anywhere on or off campus. Other library services include study skills training to improve your grades, and tailored advice from experts in your subject.

Learning support facilities and library opening hours

Assessment

The course uses diverse assessment methods, including academic essays, policy reports and design portfolios, to help develop your knowledge and skills. You'll receive continuous feedback to support ongoing learning.

Real-world projects feature throughout, enhancing employability through practical experience.

Our diverse range of assessments ensures that you develop transferable skills and attributes that are prized by employers. As a graduate you will be able to confidently and creatively interpret, present and communicate complex information to a variety of audiences.

Entry requirements

With Access Sheffield, you could qualify for additional consideration or an alternative offer - find out if you're eligible.

Standard offer

The A Level entry requirements for this course are:\ ABB

A Levels + a fourth Level 3 qualification : BBB + B in a social science related EPQ; BBB + B in Core Maths

International Baccalaureate : 33; 32, with B in a social-science based extended essay

BTEC Extended Diploma : DDD

BTEC Diploma : DD + B at A Level

Scottish Highers : AAABB

Welsh Baccalaureate + 2 A Levels : B + AB

Access to HE Diploma : The award of the Access to HE Diploma in a relevant subject, with 45 credits at Level 3, including 30 at Distinction and 15 at Merit

Routes for mature students

Other requirements

Access Sheffield offer

The A Level entry requirements for this course are:\ BBB

A Levels + a fourth Level 3 qualification : BBB + B in a social science related EPQ; BBB + B in Core Maths

International Baccalaureate : 32

BTEC Extended Diploma : DDM

BTEC Diploma : DD + B at A Level

Scottish Highers : AABBB

Welsh Baccalaureate + 2 A Levels : B + BB

Access to HE Diploma : The award of the Access to HE Diploma in a relevant subject, with 45 credits at Level 3, including 24 at Distinction and 21 at Merit

Routes for mature students

Other requirements

English language requirements | 

You must demonstrate that your English is good enough for you to successfully complete your course. For this course we require: GCSE English Language at grade 4/C; IELTS grade of 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each component; or an alternative acceptable English language qualification

Equivalent English language qualifications

Visa and immigration requirements

Other qualifications | UK and EU/international

Pathway programme for international students

If you're an international student who does not meet the entry requirements for this course, you have the opportunity to apply for an International Foundation Year in Business, Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Sheffield International College. This course is designed to develop your English language and academic skills. Upon successful completion, you can progress to degree level study at the University of Sheffield.

If you have any questions about entry requirements, please contact the school.

Graduate careers

This degree prepares you for a broad range of careers. It provides you with the ability to understand and address complex social, political and cultural challenges. You may go on to a career in policy development and social research or use your enhanced data handling and analysis skills to go into data science and data visualisation.

Graduates also commonly choose to apply their knowledge of people and place to planning or a related career in the built environment, including housing, real estate, development control, environmental sustainability, regeneration, urban design, heritage and conservation.

Recent graduates have secured roles with employers such as the AECOM, Arup, CBRE, Channel 4, Deloitte, Harrow London Borough Council, the NHS, Sheffield City Council, the Peak District National Park Authority, Shelter and Transport for London.

Throughout your degree, you’ll develop the Sheffield Graduate Attributes – the academic, professional and personal skills that enhance your confidence, wellbeing and employability. You’ll also be supported by specialist staff to take up an optional placement year, gaining valuable experience, professional connections and insight into graduate-level employment.

Learn more about careers in the School of Geography and Planning, including support around work placements and career development.

School of Geography and Planning

Geography and Planning building

At the School of Geography and Planning we explore how people, places, and environments shape the world. We collaborate with professional bodies, alumni, policy makers, practitioners, and communities, together contributing towards creating a more just and sustainable future.

We’re internationally recognised for our expertise in tackling the global challenges of climate and environmental change, urbanisation, sustainability and social justice. Our teaching and research connect the human and physical processes that are woven through natural and built environments, helping to build understanding and knowledge, and to respond to the complex relationships between society, nature and the built environment.

You will join a vibrant, supportive community of scholars and practitioners committed to making a real difference.

Teaching at Sheffield is research-led and practice-informed, drawing on our world-leading work across multiple subject areas. Our programmes focus on developing your analytical, ethical, professional and wider employability skills. We'll help you engage critically with the most pressing issues of our time - from managing and developing our urban and natural landscapes, to environmental governance, climate resilience and global development.

We place our students at the centre of everything we do. You’ll be supported by dedicated staff, benefit from excellent fieldwork opportunities, and have your voice heard in shaping your experience. Our inclusive culture ensures that everyone can thrive academically and personally.

Graduates from our programmes go on to careers that make a positive social and environmental impact. They work in government, international organisations, consultancy, NGOs and research. If your interests are in managing and developing our natural and built environments, by studying with us you’ll gain the knowledge and confidence to shape more sustainable, equitable and resilient futures.

Join us at Sheffield - where geography and planning come together to help us understand the world and change it for the better.

Facilities

The School of Geography and Planning has its own dedicated school building, where you will spend time with other students, meet your tutors and have some of your classes. You’ll have access to flexible study areas and your own common room, shared by our community of undergraduate, postgraduate and research students. You'll be able to access course-related software such as geographic information systems (GIS), as well as cutting-edge facilities, including our virtual reality (VR) studio.

Our Urban Design Studio supports learning and teaching across our suite of undergraduate urban design modules.

Explore our facilities

School of Geography and Planning

University rankings

A world top-100 university\ QS World University Rankings 2026 (92nd)

Number one in the Russell Group (based on aggregate responses)\ National Student Survey 2025

92 per cent of our research is rated as world-leading or internationally excellent\ Research Excellence Framework 2021

University of the Year for Student Experience\ The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2026

Number one Students' Union in the UK\ Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2024, 2023, 2022, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017

Number one for Students' Union\ StudentCrowd 2025 University Awards

20th in the UK targeted by the largest number of Top 100 Employers in 2025-26\ High Fliers 2026

Student profiles

[I wanted to get some experience of how planning works in real life

Maisie Colloby

Placement at Pegasus Planning, \ BA Geography and Planning with Placement Year](https://sheffield.ac.uk/geography-planning/undergraduate/profiles/maisie-colloby) [I went to Perth, Australia for my second year of my degree, and this was of incredible value to my personal development

Orla Downs

Transport Planner for WSP, \ BA Geography and Planning](https://sheffield.ac.uk/geography-planning/undergraduate/profiles/orla-downs)

Fees and funding

Fees

Tuition fees

Fee status help

Additional costs

The annual fee for your course includes a number of items in addition to your tuition. If an item or activity is classed as a compulsory element for your course, it will normally be included in your tuition fee. There are also other costs which you may need to consider.

Examples of what’s included and excluded

Funding your study

Depending on your circumstances, you may qualify for a bursary, scholarship or loan to help fund your study and enhance your learning experience.

Use our Student Funding Calculator to work out what you’re eligible for.

£2,500 per year scholarships for international students

We're offering automatic scholarships worth up to £10,000 to overseas fee-paying students starting their studies in September 2026 - no additional application required.

Placements, field trips and study abroad

Placement

You may have the opportunity to add an optional placement year as part of your course, converting the three-year course to a four-year Degree with Placement Year.

A placement year will help you to:

Field trips

In your second year, you’ll usually take part in a week-long residential field class in a European destination. Recent trips have explored urban transformation, political ecology and sites of memory in Berlin. In your third year, you will have the opportunity to attend an optional UK based residential field class. Recent trips have explored cities such Liverpool.

Field class destinations may vary each year to reflect our latest research, student feedback and global developments. We will contact students in advance of any changes to our field classes. Cancellation policies may apply and could require students to reimburse the school for field trips, following non-attendance after booking.

Study abroad

Spending time abroad during your degree is a great way to explore different cultures, gain a new perspective and experience a life-changing opportunity that you will never forget.

You can apply to extend this course with a year abroad, usually between the second and third year. We have over 250 University partners worldwide. Popular destinations include Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Find out more on the Global Opportunities website.

Visit

University open days

We host five open days each year, usually in June, July, September, October and November. You can talk to staff and students, tour the campus and see inside the accommodation.

Open days: book your place

Online events

Join our weekly Sheffield Live online sessions to find out more about different aspects of University life.

Sheffield Live online events

Subject tasters

If you’re considering your post-16 options, our interactive subject tasters are for you. There are a wide range of subjects to choose from and you can attend sessions online or on campus.

Upcoming taster sessions

Offer holder days

If you've received an offer to study with us, we'll invite you to one of our offer holder days, which take place between February and April. These open days have a strong school focus and give you the chance to really explore student life here, even if you've visited us before.

Campus tours

Our weekly guided tours show you what Sheffield has to offer - both on campus and beyond. You can extend your visit with tours of our city, accommodation or sport facilities.

Campus tour: book your place

Events for mature students

Mature students can apply directly to our courses. We also offer degrees with a foundation year for mature students who are returning to education. We'd love to meet you at one of our events, open days, taster workshops or other events.

Lifelong learning events for mature students

Apply

Make sure you've done everything you need to do before you apply.

How to apply When you're ready to apply, see the UCAS website:\ www.ucas.com

Not ready to apply yet? You can also register your interest in this course.

Contact us

Start a conversation with us – you can get in touch by email, telephone or online chat.

Contacts for prospective students

School of Geography and Planning

The awarding body for this course is the University of Sheffield.

Recognition of professional qualifications: from 1 January 2021, in order to have any UK professional qualifications recognised for work in an EU country across a number of regulated and other professions you need to apply to the host country for recognition. Read information from the UK government and the EU Regulated Professions Database.

Any supervisors and research areas listed are indicative and may change before the start of the course.

Our student protection plan

Terms and Conditions upon Acceptance of an Offer

2026-2027

Make sure you've done everything you need to do before you apply.

How to apply When you're ready to apply, see the UCAS website:\ www.ucas.com

Not ready to apply yet? You can also register your interest in this course.

Combining human geography with planning, this course allows you to tackle issues of environmental and social justice within the context of urban development.

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