Development Planning Unit MPhil/PhD

UCL (University College London)

The Development Planning MPhil/PhD offers opportunities for pursuing independent research that challenges the political, economic, social and institutional dimensions of contemporary development planning. The critical research skills you gain on this course will help you analyse the potential of governments, NGOs, aid agencies, community organisations, and businesses working towards socially just and sustainable development in the Global South. The Development Planning MPhil/PhD supports research that makes a distinct contribution to knowledge and deepens understanding of how to address inequalities and injustices shaped by the nature of ‘knowledge’ itself on patriarchy, capitalism, urbanisation, climate change and governance. It does so through an interdisciplinary approach, engaging with urban planning, urban design, economic development, social development, gender relations, housing and land, migration and displacement, disasters, transport and urban food systems. Socially grounded and reflexive research is central to the learning approach at The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, where theory, methodology and practice come together to explore international development. The MPhil/PhD enables you to develop specialist knowledge and conduct in-depth empirical research. Our distinctive, values-driven focus on cities and territories in the Global South emphasises the relationship between theory and practice in a collaborative and intellectually stimulating environment. You join a network of academics, students and researchers critically examining how injustices emerge from development interventions, while working with practitioners focused on policies and practices across many different contexts. In your first year as an MPhil student, you are introduced to the department’s research culture through weekly seminars, selected modules offered across The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, and structured opportunities to develop your thesis. After this first year, you may apply to transfer to PhD status and begin your fieldwork. The Development Planning MPhil/PhD has a thriving international community of independent thinkers who make an original contribution to knowledge in their fields. This diversity fosters an environment where knowledge exchange can flourish through both academic and practitioner networks. We aim to grow this community by welcoming applications from both immediate graduates and practitioners wishing to reflect on their experiences.

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