

Urban Planning

Urban planning is the study of land use. The goal is to ensure sustainable economic development and a better environment. You will consider physical form, social impact, economics priorities and the context of the landscape.
Study planning and you can literally make the world a better place. You'll use your creativity, empathy and analytical skills to create improved living environments for thousands of people drawing on the fields of sociology, politics, engineering and architecture.
Digging deeper into subject interests can help you in a number of ways:
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Confirm whether this is (or isn't) something you would be interested in enough to want to study it at university either as the focus of your degree or a minor/elective
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Give you some inspiration to use when creating your questions and topics for IA's (coursework) and your Extended Essay
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Provide you with content for your university application writing in the future, enabling you to reflect on the things you've been doing to explore your interests in a way that is academically relevant to the course or institution you are applying for.
Useful Resources
The Urban Intelligence Blog from Urban footprint | Blog | A blog focused on looking at the data and reports on everything related to sustainable cities. | Click Here > | |
the Civil Engineer Blog | Blog | E-Magazine | Published on the British Institution of Civil Engineering's site, this blog aims to post on topical issues across all the disciplines within civil engineering. There are also resources about becoming a civil engineer elsewhere on the site. | Click Here > | |
The Planner | E-Magazine | The sector e-magazine for planning | Click Here > | |
National Geographic | E-Magazine | Podcast | Website | Starting as a print magazine, National Geographic are now a multi-channel platform focused on inspiring passion for our natural world. You will need to subscribe for full access, but there are also a lot of free resources on the site. | https://www.nationalgeographic.com/ | |
Summer Schools in Europe | Events | The most complete directory of summer courses in Europe. It includes courses for high school, undergraduate and graduate students, so ensure you read the descriptions to find options right for you. | Click Here > | |
Coursera | Online Course | Coursera is an online platform for distance learning. They have a range of free courses delivered by universities. Search in this section to find courses of interest to you, often these are courses you can follow at your own pace. | Click Here > | |
EdX | Online Course | The X Series courses on the EdX platform are free online courses delivered by universities and aimed at helping you explore areas of interest. | Click Here > | |
FutureLearn | Online Course | FutureLearn is a free online platform where universities from around the globe host FREE online courses you can undertake in your areas of interest. Browse courses by categories or use the search bar to find courses relevant to your interests | Click Here > | |
Oxford Martin School: Public Lectures and Seminars | Podcast | Recorded Lecture | Public Lectures and Seminars from the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford. The Oxford Martin School brings together the best minds from different fields to tackle the most pressing issues of the 21st century. | Click Here > | |
CommunityPlanning.net | Website | This is a website designed to help people in communities shape where they live. Useful features are the Case Studies and Scenarios that will help you think about how this engagement works in practice. | Click Here > | |
Royal Town Planning Institute Discussion Topics | Website | Blog | Read discussions, blogs and news updates on current topics relevant to Town and Country planning such as Housing, Climate Change, Transport and the Economy. | Click here > | |
Town and Country Planning Association | Website | Blog | Journal | Webinar | The website of this voluntary body and educational charity which campaigns for change in UK planning policies and practice focused on sustainable development and public participation, has an interesting blog, news on current topics and information on their upcoming webinars. you can also access archived copies of the Town & Country Planning Journal. | Click Here > | |
21st Century Challenges: Informed discussion from the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) | Website | Blog | Video | Recorded Lecture | Events | 21st Century Challenges considers the big social, environmental and economic challenges of our time. Join us at events; read articles and commentary informed by the latest geographical research; watch videos, be inspired, think critically, build your networks and share your ideas. | Click here > | |
HE+ | Website | Podcast | Blog | Video | The HE+ website has supercurricular resources created and written by Cambridge students and academics including challenging activities, engaging videos, reflective questions and much more. | Click Here > | |
LIS Learning Hub | Website | Webinar | Recorded Lecture | Blog | Podcast | This is an open source area full of webinars, articles, videos, short reads, mini-lectures, podcasts and more from the London Interdiscipinary school. | Click Here > |