OU-Tulsa / Urban Design / Master of Urban Design
The Master of Urban Design degree prepares students to meet the meet the demands of the future to create environmentally sustainable and socially just places. The Urban Design Studio, located on the OU-Tulsa campus, is a flexible learning environment bringing students of different backgrounds, disciplines, and skills together to explore urban issues and develop design abilities. Our students come from a variety of backgrounds, including architecture, landscape architecture, city planning, civil engineering, real estate, public administration, and other allied fields.
Urban design is not a separate discipline, rather it is the intersection of several disciplines involved in the art and science of creating cities, including architecture, planning, civil engineering, landscape architecture, real estate development, public administration, public health, and others. The Master of Urban Design degree at OU-Tulsa instructs students in all of these disciplines, providing a well rounded education suitable to fill positions in several growing fields.
We are the only Urban Design program in Oklahoma and the only program in Tulsa devoted to the design of the built environment. We use a reciprocal service-learning model that allows students to learn by working with community partners on real urban design and community planning projects.
Our curriculum is broken down into three types of courses: Core Studio Sequence, Core Curriculum, and Elective Courses. The first-year students work in the studio as a team on multi-dimensional urban projects. The second-year students research, define and complete a professional project.
Typically, it takes two calendar years to complete the program taking six credit hours per semester.
Summer 1
ARCH 6643 – Urban Design Theory
Fall 1
ARCH 6680 – Urban Design Studio Part A
ARCH 5713 – Real Estate Fundamentals*
Spring 1
ARCH 6680 – Urban Design Studio Part B
ARCH 5813 - Real Estate Development*
*- Course is part of Graduate Certificate in Design Entrepreneurship and Real Estate curriculum. Master of Urban Design students can complete the certificate concurrently or the certificate can be pursued separately.
Summer 2
ARCH 6590 – Professional Project Research
Fall 2
ARCH 6690 – Professional Project Part A
ARCH 5743 – Legal Framework for Urban Design*
Spring 2
ARCH 6690 – Professional Project Part B
RCPL 5033 – Sociology of Housing*
ARCH 5763 – Landscape Architecture for Urban Design
*- Course is part of Graduate Certificate in Design Entrepreneurship and Real Estate curriculum. Master of Urban Design students can complete the certificate concurrently or the certificate can be pursued separately.
Our students have taken many paths after graduation. Some go on to careers in traditional architecture and planning practice. Others work in allied fields from public service to private real estate development. Still others choose to continue their education and pursue doctorate degrees and/or teaching.
Some typical career paths include:
The Urban Design Studio awards 4 to 6 Christopher C. Gibbs Scholarships each year. Studio students also receive the Urban Core Art Project scholarship and one of the Joe and Jayne Buskuhl Scholarships.
Our program’s value is well demonstrated through the employers our graduates have worked for: (italics denotes company founded/owned by an Urban Design graduate)
Your degree in Urban Design from OU-Tulsa can open doors that set you off on a journey of a lifetime.
