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Colorful miniature city model with high-rise buildings, roads, vehicles, and railway tracks showcasing urban infrastructure and planning.

Online Master of Design Studies in Urban Design

Online Master of Design Studies in Urban Design

The new Online Master of Design Studies in Urban Design curriculum is designed to help professionals think and operate at the scale where cities are shaped. Students move beyond isolated projects to understand how urban form, policy, economics, and communities interact—and how design can influence those systems.

Through a sequence of studios, seminars, and applied coursework, students develop the ability to analyze urban conditions, frame complex problems, and propose implementable strategies for sustainability, equity, housing, and climate resilience. The curriculum balances conceptual rigor with practical tools, preparing graduates to lead urban design work in real-world professional contexts.

Curriculum Courses*

The curriculum progresses from foundational design principles to advanced studios and a capstone project focused on real urban challenges. Students build critical thinking and technical skills through site analysis, stakeholder engagement, and strategic planning, producing actionable proposals for transit-oriented development, housing equity, and community regeneration.

Integrating design with economics, law, and environmental strategy, the program emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration and applied learning. Graduates complete the curriculum prepared to lead urban design initiatives that balance heritage, innovation, resilience, and social equity.

*The MDS-UD curriculum is still being finalized and is subject to change.

Urban design in action of a modern business district outdoor plaza with geometric paving, shaded walkways, trees, and glass skyscrapers under clear sky.
Introduction to Urban Design
Architect working on building plans with blueprints, calculator, notebook, and residential scale model, illustrating urban economics concepts.
Urban Economics, Strategy, and the Competitive City
Urban street with zebra crossing, modern glass buildings, elevated transit structure, traffic lights, and pedestrians under a bright blue sky.
Site, Story, Stakeholders
Historic and modern cityscape blending classical architecture with contemporary structures, illustrating urban theory and experience since Enlightenment.
City Since the Enlightenment, Theory, and Experience
Close-up of hand using stylus on digital tablet to create architectural floor plan for modern building design in advanced urban representation.
Advanced Urban Representation
Boston skyline at sunset with historic Faneuil Hall in foreground and modern skyscrapers in background, symbolizing law and built environment.
Law and the Built Environment
Detailed miniature cityscape surrounded by greenery showcasing sustainable urban planning principles for future cities in design studio.
Urban Design Studio
Aerial view of an urban park under development with circular plazas, green spaces, and surrounding cityscape for capstone research in design.
Urban Design Capstone Research
Person designing colorful miniature buildings within scaled urban neighborhood layout featuring trees and streetscape elements for capstone studio.
Urban Design Capstone Studio