Master of Urban Design Welcome to MORE 2026

David Mathewson (Course Leader), Krystallia Kamvasinou, Odysseas Diakakis, Luz Navarro, David Seex, Abubokkar Siddiki, Louise Thomas, Katerina Vezzali Karaga

The MA Urban Design course provides a coherent approach to challenges facing cities today, combining structured academic study with live design projects, allowing students to develop practical skills alongside a theoretical understanding and an informed approach to sustainable urban development.

As a multidisciplinary field, urban design overlaps with and incorporates elements of multiple disciplines, including: urban and regional planning, architecture, international development, infrastructure planning and geography, drawing students from diverse backgrounds.

A significant proportion of the world’s inhabitants make their homes and undertake their livelihoods in cities. They are the hubs of economic and social life where the majority of resources are consumed. 

Not all cities are the same: those in the Global North have evolved recognisable profiles and community identities over time, where the built forms and urban profiles attract investment and serve as cultural assets; while those in the Global South are experiencing a different pattern of growth and development. The pace of change in these regions is both dramatic and accelerating, creating new challenges for city design and management.

Drawing on the cultural and economic forces acting in the city, MA Urban Design focuses on understanding and shaping the physical setting in which these processes take place: the manner in which buildings, streets and urban spaces are combined to create distinct environments that nurture daily life, provide efficient urban systems and form memorable places valued by their inhabitants, is carefully considered. 

The work presented here is based on student dissertations and studio design projects in which particular impacts on the design of cities are identified and how, in the light of these effects, urban form can best be adapted to current and future needs. These studies represent a critique of current responses to urban challenges and provide a unique contribution to urbanism’s wide body of knowledge.

Guest Critics: Karan Bakre (HLM), Nick Bidgelow (LDA), Juliana Borowczyk Martins (Bartlett, UCL), Claudio Borsari (Momentum Transport), Neill Chauhan (Aroob Alatoom), Russell Collin (BDP), Evgeny Didorenko (Howells), Maxime Draaisma (Prior + Partners), Evangelia Giorgali (GLA), Zaki Hassan (Archimake), Hao-Wen Lin (Arup), Pei Chin Lin (Arup), Nicola Longland (LDA), Juan Oyarbide (Prior + Partners), Neha Tayal (Arcadis), Jérôme Thibault (Cowen + Partners), Mark Williams (LDA), Marcus Wilshere (The Collaborative City)

Students: