Development Planning

The Master of Science in Development Planning (MSc DP) is a one-year/two-year part time planning degree accredited by the South African Council for Planners (SACPLAN). It enables graduates to register as professional planners with SACPLAN once they have completed the degree and have acquired at least two years’ relevant work experience. The degree is designed to enable students holding the Postgraduate Diploma in Planning or equivalent to qualify as professional planners. Students with an Honours degree or equivalent from an accredited urban and regional planning programme may also undertake the degree. 

The MSc DP stresses the interdisciplinary diagnosis/analysis and prognosis for planning issues across all scales, and it provides graduates with an interdisciplinary base from which to approach the diverse issues involved in development planning. The objective of the programme is to ensure that learners have the knowledge and skills to conduct research and, in a professional capacity, guide processes of change in urban and rural domains. Its purpose is also to educate and train planning practitioners, researchers, scholars and policy makers.

The qualification gives learners the opportunity to develop a critical awareness of the social,economic and management issues underlying socio-economic change; build their critical, analytical, and integrative skills for resolving human and environmental development challenges; enhance their knowledge for informed decision and policy-making on development issues; as well as providing operational skills pertinent to working in the public, private or community domains; and practical research experience and opportunities for reflection.

The MSc DP consists of coursework and research. The coursework focuses on planning theory and issues of governance, with particular attention paid to municipal planning. Learners are also able to select courses from a range of options within the School and outside of it. Where learners have covered the material dealt with in particular courses at a requisite level, they may be allowed to substitute those courses with others of relevance to development planning. The research report is a very important element of the degree, accounting for half the degree credits.

The courses offered by the School include the following:

• Philosophies, Theories and Methodologies of Development Planning 
• Municipal Planning and Finance  
• Research Report 

The above courses are compulsory, but students may take elective courses from other degrees, such as Master of Science in Construction and Management, Master of Built Environment, Masters in Urban Studies, Masters of Urban Design, Master of Public Administration, or any combination of existing units that Senate may approve. In addition, the unit, Specialised Topics in Planning, which deals with a range of theories and issues relevant to understanding specialised topics in the planning field may be taken as one of the electives. 

• A Bachelor of Science Honours in City/Town/Urban and Regional Planning (BSc Hons URP) with an average of at least 60%; or
• The Postgraduate Diploma in Planning (PG Dip) with an average of at least 60%.
• Certified copies of all your degree certificates and a full academic transcript covering all periods of registration. Include all details of courses undertaken and the marks obtained. Certified copies must bear the original Commissioner of Oaths’ stamp and signature. Any documentation not in English must be translated and sworn to by an authorised translator. Credit certificates are not acceptable. 
• Curriculum vitae. 
• An applicant to a postgraduate programme who holds a foreign qualification, is required to submit proof of evaluation of the qualification by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).
• Attach certified copies of all your programme certificates and a full transcript of your academic record, to your application form. If you have applied for Financial Aid, obtain a separate copy for their records;
• Include all details of courses undertaken and the marks obtained. Any documentation not in English must be translated and sworn to by an authorised translator.
• A pass in the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) with a score of at least 7.0. 
• A non-refundable application fee of R200 is required.