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Urban Design

Program Overview

The Master of Urban Design (MUD) program prepares architects and landscape architects for design-based research and professional practice at the urban and regional scales. The MUD curriculum capitalizes on the wealth of resources at the University of Toronto to establish interdisciplinary and inter-professional collaboration, initiating forms of research and practice that are suited to the breadth of urban design. The program also draws on the largest pool of expertise and talent in Canada by involving leading figures of the Toronto urban design community in teaching, external reviews, and special events.


Quick Facts

Domestic International
Application deadline MUD:

Fall 2024 Entry

03-Jan-2024

MUD:

Fall 2024 Entry

03-Jan-2024

Minimum admission average MUD:

Mid-B

MUD:

Mid-B

Direct entry option from bachelor's to PhD? MUD:

NA

MUD:

NA

Is a supervisor assigned by the graduate unit or secured by the applicant? MUD:

NA

MUD:

NA

Is a supervisor identified before or after admission? MUD:

NA

MUD:

NA

If a supervisor is identified after admission (as per question above), is admission conditional upon securing a supervisor? MUD:

NA

MUD:

NA

Is a supervisor assigned by the graduate unit or secured by the applicant? MUD:

NA

MUD:

NA

Are any standardized tests required/recommended? MUD:

NA

MUD:

NA


Master of Urban Design

Program Description

The Master of Urban Design (MUD) is a post-professional program that prepares architects and landscape architects for design-based research and professional practice at the urban and regional scales. The MUD program is committed to design as a primary medium of operation and research in a broad intellectual framework that includes geography, environmental studies, social sciences, media studies, economics, and engineering. It aims for responsible and creative design in the context of contemporary city and region building, with attention to new paradigms of urbanization, global economic restructuring, and information technology. The program emphasizes a coherent intellectual approach that is committed to analysis and critique and seeks to become the central Canadian forum for advanced research, design innovation, scholarship, criticism, and debate in urban design.

MUD Program (2-Year)

Minimum Admission Requirements

  • Applicants are admitted under the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies. Applicants must also satisfy the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design's additional admission requirements stated below.

  • A professional degree in architecture (BArch or MArch) or landscape architecture (BLA, MLA). Applicants with a degree in urban planning (MCP, MUP, or MScPl) may be considered for admission if they are able to demonstrate design potential in their application portfolio. Applicants may be required to complete design and/or visual communication workshops before they begin the MUD program, to prepare them for the design studio component of the MUD curriculum.

  • All applicants must submit a portfolio of design work for review. Admission is based on the merits of the applicant's overall academic background and strength of design portfolio as evaluated by the admissions committee.

  • Applicants whose primary language is not English and who graduated from a university where the language of instruction and examination was not English must demonstrate proficiency in English. See General Regulations section 4.3 for requirements.

Program Requirements

  • Students study full-time, taking all required courses in each given session. An FZ (fail) in any one course, or a B– grade in two studio courses or in any three courses normally results in a recommendation to the School of Graduate Studies to terminate the student's candidacy for the degree program.

  • There is no additional language requirement other than proficiency in English on admission. Writing support is integrated into the program to develop specialized skills that are essential to effective learning and communication in the design fields.

  • Progress in the program is dependent upon satisfactory completion of studio and required core courses in sequence. Exceptions can be made at the discretion of the Program Director, and in consultation with the Office of the Registrar and Student Services in the case of accessibility.

  • Coursework. Students must complete a total of 10.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) as follows:

    • 7.5 FCEs in core courses:

      • 1.0 FCE: Design Studio

      • 2.0 FCEs: Option Design Studio

      • 0.5 FCE: Thesis Preparation and Research

      • 1.5 FCEs: Design Thesis

      • 1.0 FCE: History, Theory, Criticism

      • 1.5 FCEs: other courses

    • 2.5 elective FCEs, of which 1.5 FCEs must be selected from offerings in the History, Theory, Criticism category.

Program Length

4 sessions full-time (typical registration sequence: F/W/F/W)

Time Limit

3 years full-time

Florence Ashley

““Florence is the model of an engaged scholar, doing high-quality research and always looking for new ways to reach out to the wider world through popular writing, policy work, and community engagement"”

Florence Ashley
SJD student, Faculty of Law , 2021–22 Adel S. Sedra Distinguished Graduate Award
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