Urban planning courses

Urban planning courses, which are sometimes called town planning courses, teach you how to plan and create new spaces for the good of the public.

You cover a variety of disciplines, including architecture, public policy, economics, geography and sociology. This gives you the skills required to work on projects like suburban housing developments, public transport infrastructure, and recreation spaces, while keeping the community’s needs in mind.

Graduates know how to protect a town or region’s unique heritage and ensure environmental sustainability is integrated into every aspect of its future.

Depending on your course, you’ll explore the history of urban planning, theory and best practices in urban planning, and how to plan urban and regional areas for the future.

Urban planners need to guide the development of public space while taking into account:

• The needs of the community, including proximity to daily essentials
• Environmental sustainability
• Economic factors
• Government legislation and relevant laws
• Accessibility for people of all abilities

To help you do this, you’ll learn about applicable laws and regulations, sustainability, planning ethics, and project management. You’ll need these skills to create public spaces that allow people to live healthy and enjoyable lives.

It depends on the course and whether you choose something short or long-term. Here’s a general guide: 

If you study a degree in urban planning through Open Universities Australia, you have the flexibility to choose how many subjects you take per term. This means you can complete your qualification at a faster or slower pace than you would on campus.

If you’re passionate about creating public spaces that celebrate nature, are enjoyable to use and make people’s lives better and easier, studying urban planning could be just the thing for you.

As well as being a fascinating field of study, urban planning is experiencing significant growth in demand, and the unemployment rate for urban planners is below average.

A well-known urban planning concept is the 15-minute city. The 15-minute city concept is based on people being able to access their daily needs, such as shopping, childcare, healthcare, and work in 15 minutes or less on foot or by bicycle.

If you’re interested in concepts such as the 15-minute city, you should consider an urban planning course. 

With an online urban planning course, you won’t have to attend in-person lectures or tutorials. This flexibility is essential if you’re working while studying, because you can fit your coursework around your other commitments.

Enrolling in an online course through Open Universities Australia also allows you to choose how many subjects you complete per study period, meaning you can enjoy your course at a slower pace or speed towards your qualification.

There are a lot of reasons to study your course online through us.

• You can enrol without entry requirements 
  We have a unique open-door policy that makes it possible for everyone to enrol in university study, no matter their academic history. If you don’t meet the entry requirements for a degree, we’ll help you get in through single undergraduate subjects and transition into a qualification from there.
• You have total control over how you study
  Upskill without committing to a whole degree upfront. Or enrol in a full degree, but take it a subject at a time. We’ll introduce you to flexible study options you didn’t even know about, so you can fit uni around what matters to you.
• You’ll graduate with the same qualification as an on-campus student
  Once you enrol through us, you’ll study online with the university that provides your degree. This means that when you complete your qualification, you’ll graduate with the same degree as on-campus students.
• We’ll help you navigate the university world
  Our friendly student advisors will be your guide every step of the enrolment journey. They'll help you compare universities, choose a course, provide documentation and understand your finance options.

As an urban planner, you’ll play a critical role in the future direction of your town, city, or region. Urban planners work for a range of employers, including:

• Federal and state government
• Cities and councils
• Private companies
• Non-government organisations

Once you’ve completed a course in urban planning, you can look forward to working in fields including:

• Town planning
• Urban and regional planning
• Urban design
• Spatial planning
• Transport planning
• Traffic planning
• Social or community planning
• Environmental consulting
• Heritage conservation
• Policy development

Enrol in a single subject to get a taste of the content for any qualification you’re interested in. The subjects available through us are covered by HELP funding, which means eligible students aren’t obligated to pay for their studies upfront.

Or book a free phone consultation with a student advisor to discuss your available study options. We’ll help you find the course that suits you best.

Before starting an enrolment, it’s important to read the entry requirements for your chosen course to ensure that you’re eligible to apply. If you don’t quite meet the requirements, we may be able to help you find a pathway into your course through open-entry subjects, which anyone can study.

Chat with us to find out more.

Here at Open Universities Australia, we make enrolling online as straightforward as possible. To get started, find the course for you by browsing the options on this page. You can also compare different qualifications using our handy comparison tool, or request help from one of our student advisors.

When you’ve made your choice, click ‘Apply now’ on the relevant course page and follow the prompts to begin your enrolment. We’ll ask you to supply some supporting documentation, including proof of your identity, your tax file number, and a unique student identifier (USI) during this process.

Your university will get in touch with you via email to confirm whether or not your application has been successful.

Please note that enquiries and applications for some courses are handled directly by the university. If this is the case, it will be indicated on the course listing page.  

For more information about enrolment, read our online self-service enrolling instructions. If you get stuck at any time, reach out to us and we’ll talk you through it.