Planning for tomorrow today
complex underlying issues that impact cities and regions, and who are holistic in the analysis and critique of them.
Students will learn to be strategic in the physical planning and spatial design; to consider both the overall structure and individual elements of the territory; and to adopt an integrated approach in developing multidisciplinary planning solutions. Underpinning all of this is the clear ethos of sustainable urban development.
In addition, the programme will focus on the Asian context, where the challenges of sustained high rates of population growth, coupled with the rural-to-urban migration have led to the growth of high-density cities and “megapolitan” regions.
Consequently, Asia has become the melting pot for the development of innovative urban solutions for high-density environments.
“The need for good urban planning has never been greater or as critical,” said NUS MUP programme director associate professor Ng Wai Keen.
“The urban challenges that we face demand urban planners committed to working in and improving our cities and regions.
“The MUP programme is designed to produce well-rounded planning professionals who are also global citizens and responsible members of society who make ethical choices in matters of the environment and society,” added Ng.
Master of Science (Integrated Sustainable Design)
The Master of Science (Integrated Sustainable Design) is a post-professional, multi-disciplinary programme for architects, engineers, planners and policy-makers committed to the cause of sustainability and tackling challenges posed by climate change and urbanisation in Asia.
Buildings contribute more than 40% of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide, use 40% of the world’s energy requirements, 16% of available water, 40% of raw materials, and generate waste amounting to 30% of landfills.
The problem of consumption and waste can be traced to decisions made at the drawing board.
The design-construction process, as we know it, is fragmented.
“Experts and professionals work in isolation, short-term spending overrides long-term costs, project goals do not balance all stakeholder needs and perspectives,” said NUS Master of Science (Integrated Sustainable Design) programme director Dr Nirmal Kishnani.
“The failure to deal with these issues early becomes a failure of performance of buildings in operation.”
Asia needs new mindsets; project teams, educators and policy makers must actively rethink how they frame the challenges of a sustainable future, how to integrate overlapping inputs from stakeholders, how to forge collaborations between building and city, design and technology, marketplace and policy.
The Master of Science (Integrated Sustainable Design) programme equips candidates with the insight, knowledge and skill sets for a holistic approach to sustainability with which they can assume a role of leadership in their respective discipline and organisation.
It offers them an opportunity to acquire the mindset of integrative thinking which, in the quest for sustainable solutions, is “the convergence of planning, design, technology and policy towards strategic outcomes”.
“There are three things that differentiate this programme from others that carry the label sustainability.
“It focuses on upstream thinking, early decisions at the drawing board which fundamentally shapes building performance.
“We teach this through project-based learning in studios that are multi-disciplinary and highly intensive.
“Secondly, the programme is Asia-centric; the world is our classroom.
“Singapore is the city-lab through which we engage the issues and critically understand application.
“Lastly, the programme gives attention to both the building and the urban scale of the problem.
“To address sustainability, there is no option but to see how things connect across different scales,” added Dr Nirmal.
For more information on this and other postgraduate programmes offered by the NUS School of Design & Environment, such as the Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) and M.Sc (Environmental Management), visit www.sde.nus.edu.sg