Urban Studies PgCert
Economics of Planning and Development Lab URBAN5037
- Academic Session: 2025-26
- School: School of Social and Political Sciences
- Credits: 10
- Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
- Typically Offered: Semester 1
- Available to Visiting Students: Yes
- Collaborative Online International Learning: No
Short Description
The course addresses the economic rationales and challenges facing regulators, investors and developers of the urban environment. It sets out economic theories underlying urban planning and the development of land and real estate, drawing on these to explicate the development process, viewed from state and market perspectives.
Timetable
18 hours of timetabled on-campus teaching in Semester 1 delivered in 3 hourly blocks (1hr lecture + 2hr workshop), once per week, over 6 consecutive weeks
Excluded Courses
None
Co-requisites
None
Assessment
Professional-style report, 2,500 words (100%)
Students complete a development proposal for a real world site in Glasgow, interpreting market and regulatory rationales, and encompassing the stages of the development process.
Course Aims
The course's main aim is to enable students to understand urban planning and development using theories and concepts from economics. This entails an introduction to the development process and its constituent stages, together with an exploration of the economic effects of planning interventions as well as of the economics of land and property markets in the context of development. Also considered are the main actors in the development process and the role played by design and placemaking.
Intended Learning Outcomes of Course
Upon completion this course students will be able to:
■ Define and relate the economic reasoning underpinning, and effects of, planning interventions in land and property markets.
■ Recognise and describe the stages of the land and property development process from the perspectives of both state and market.
■ Comprehend and analyse the relationship between state and market actors in land and property markets, identifying instances where this is competitive and those where it is complementary.
■ Interpret and apply knowledge of the economic rationales of land and property market actors to a real world development context.
Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits
Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.
Minimum requirement for award of credit for students on MSc City Planning, MSc City Planning & Real Estate Development, MSc International Real Estate & Management and MSc Real Estate is D3 or above.
University standard regulations apply for students on all other qualifications.