Master of Urban Policy and Strategy launched
Published on the 13 May 2014
UNSW’s Master of Urban Policy and Strategy (MUPS) program, running for the first time in 2014, is aimed at policymakers and others in fields such as planning, transport, architecture, property and treasury.
MUPS is Australia’s first program focused on the challenging policy issues our cities face, and the tools needed to address them. The explicit aim is to mix theory and practice and the courses foster active discussion around the issues taught.
"I love the fact that MUPS courses are collaborative and discussion based, with small class sizes. It's very interesting to hear about real life examples alongside the theory" (Lisa - MUPS student 2014)
Inaugural core courses this Semester 1 2014 are Decision Making and Governance, with Emeritus Professor David Wilmoth, Julie Walton and Meredith Sussex AM; and Development Economics and Finance, taught by Dr Marcus Spiller and Martin Hill. These have been well-received:
"The interaction with quality lecturers and informed students reminds me of the extraordinary opportunity we have to positively influence our cities" (Brendon - MUPS student 2014)
The courses are taught intensively to facilitate those who want to continue working, and most students are doing the program part time. So each course is three full Friday and Saturdays each semester. This also allows students to attend from other States and territories, which is strongly encouraged.
For Semester 2 the two core courses will be: Professor Mark Tewdwr Jones from University of Newcastle in the UK will lead the first weekend of the Strategic Urban Policy and Planning course, and Professor Alan Peters will convene a course on Policy Analytics.
Guest lecturers from the industry feature every day of the course, bringing experience and challenging issues to the table.
City Futures is working closely with Professor Sue Holliday on this program. Professor Hal Pawson convenes a Housing Policy elective, and Hazel Easthorpe leads on Research Methodology. Professor Michael Neuman is teaching the History of Urban Development and Design, and an elective on Infrastructure and Transport.
A final comment by a current MUPS student:
“Urban policies do not make themselves. Someone makes them. This course provides the tools to evaluate those policies and enable better urban policy making” (Hendry Wan).
For more about MUPS click here.