New Design in Old Settings explores the architectural approaches, conservation methodologies and planning issues relevant to situations when new meets old in the built environment. The unit highlights architecturally innovative reuse projects, exemplary additions and alterations to historic places, and architecturally distinguished new buildings in historic precincts and landscapes. We also examine historic theming, facadism and some of the design ideas and planning compromises that have blighted historic places.
The aims of the unit are to develop an understanding of the history of designing and building new buildings in old settings; to develop an understanding of the major theoretical and practical issues of designing new buildings in old settings; and to develop an ability to assess critically the appropriateness of new development in culturally significant places. Students will develop analytical skills in assessing design strategies and develop confidence in making critical judgements about design propositions in historically significant settings.

This introductory unit of study will provide students with the necessary skills to participate effectively in the urban design studios and integrated urbanism studio. The unit will include site, spatial and public domain analysis, map and plan reading, visual, verbal and written communication techniques, and basic computer-based 3 dimensional modelling and numerical analysis. It will introduce students to the objectives and principles of urban design by analysing a number of public spaces, the spaces between buildings and the public domain and urban conditions in Sydney.

This unit aims to prepare you for professional practice as a strategic or development assessment planner. It focuses on social, economic and environmental principles for contemporary planning practice; the systems for land use planning and environmental management in Australia, and the practice of statutory planning and development assessment in NSW.
By the end of this unit of study you will: understand the social, economic, and environmental principles underpinning contemporary planning practice; appreciate key legal and institutional processes for environmental planning in Australia and internationally; be familiar with the various planning state, regional, and local planning instruments in NSW, and understand when and how they apply to planning proposals. You will also be able to assess the social, economic, and environmental impacts of basic planning proposals, and justify these recommendations in professional planning reports. In preparing for professional practice you will gain an understanding of the principles, techniques and requirements for public participation in environmental planning and assessment; and the ethical responsibilities of land use planners, including respect for diversity and the importance of social equity, in guiding decision making processes and assessing planning proposals.

This unit is in two overlapping modules, each of which is assessed.
Module one enables students to understand how the main concepts and practices of urban planning and development have evolved; appreciate different perspectives about the roles and purposes of planning; undertake basic historical research about Australian urban planning and development issues, and prepare basic stories and arguments about practical planning issues and current theories. There is a strong emphasis on enriching the ability of students to better appreciate urban form, structure and planning practice generally by analysing such form, structure and process through the lens of history (as 'snapshots' in time), and the understanding of planning theory as drivers that shape and express such urban change such as Garden City values. Interpreting planning practice, places and spaces at different scales and what this reflects (such as underlying theory, values, norms attitudes, public interest, etc.) is a key element of this module.
Concurrent with module one, module two familiarises students with the main ideas and methods that have influenced urban design practice from the late nineteenth century to the present. It covers the dominant urban design theories, principles, conceptual and physical models, analytical methods and drawings from key contributing authors over the period, and explores critically how and why these arose, their interrelationships, spheres of influence, and continuing validity. In this module, the work of key urban planning and design idealists and visionaries are discussed such as Ebenezer Howard and Le Corbusier.
Students will be able to: critically review and interpret key planning and urban design texts/papers; construct and present basic arguments orally and in conjunction with graphics/images in illustrated documents; access and engage with key literature and other sources of knowledge; and use basic conceptual frameworks about planning arguments and stories for both the overlapping fields of urban planning and urban design. Interpreting the built form around you from an historical lens is an important learning outcome.

This unit will introduce students to key controversies, theoretical propositions and practical innovations that have driven the historical development of heritage conservation. The unit covers ideas and examples from the ancient world until the present, with the main focus being on the period from 1850 until today.
The aim of the unit is to help students to arrive at a clear understanding of the concepts and practices that define heritage conservation and to promote a strong historical perspective on the field. Students will consider, for example, the meaning of, and differences between, conservation, restoration and reconstruction; the different forms of historical value that inform our place protection efforts; the function of conservation protocols such as the Venice Charter, Burra Charter and Hoi An Protocols; the importance of advocacy and activism; the growth of world heritage and its relationship to human rights and cultural rights; and the ideas of cultural landscape and historic urban landscape. The unit also challenges students to think about areas of practice and theory that challenge traditional approaches and knowledge such as indigenous heritage and the conservation of modernism.

The unit explores the complexity and evolution of city form and the influences of planning and design processes and practice.
Using Australian and international case studies, the unit will investigate how urban functions, cultural values; technological, socio-economic and political circumstances; and design theory and practice shape the form of specific cities over time. The morphological elements of the city including: ecological systems; settlement and landownership patterns; transport, open space and street networks; urban infrastucture; open space, street and building typologies - are investigated to reveal often distinct local characteristics and the forces that shaped them.
The ability to recognize, investigate and respond to the forces that shape the city lies at the heart of good urban design. On completion, a student will be better able to: recognize structures and patterns, and key building and spatial typologies that contribute to overall city morphology; record and describe these, investigate and explain their origins, and discuss informatively their place in the evolving city and contemporary design.
It complements the History and Theory Planning and Design (PLAN9068) which emphasises the theories and models underpinning the forms that are covered in this unit. It is a core unit that supports the Urban Design Studios in the Urban Design program and the Integrated Urbanism Studio in the Urbanism program and an informative elective for students enrolled in or intending to enrol in the Urban Architecture Research Studio.

This unit will introduce the conceptual bases for sustainable development and explore how principles of sustainability can be introduced into land use planning and urban design, including environmental management and multi-criteria evaluation methodologies in three modules. The unit will examine the evolution of urban areas in relation to their biophysical setting. This will lead to an understanding and appreciation of the urban ecology of a city in terms of the flows of materials, resources and energy, and the challenges presented by climate change and peak oil. The principles of sustainability and the history and development of concepts of urban sustainability will be demonstrated through case studies. Assessments will explore a student's learning of the methods and frameworks for evaluating and measuring sustainability that are introduced in this unit.

Integrated Urbanism Studio is a capstone unit for the Master of Urbanism. The studio will be focussed on "real world" strategic urban issues and the need for urbanists to formulate a compelling 'urban proposition' to convince the public, stakeholders, politicians and investors of the benefits of a particular approach or scheme. The studio will emulate practice by working with or being exposed to community groups, developers, politicians and practitioners to develop an appreciation of the strategic, economic, social and environmental context in which urban design and planning occurs. The specific intention will be to recognise and overcome the limitations imposed by professional 'silos' and give regard to, and reconcile the multitude of perspectives that are characteristic of the urban condition. Students will be working to develop abilities and skills (investigation, analysis and interpretation, design development and presentation) that enables them to prepare strategies, frameworks, concepts and master plans in a professional and visionary manner. Familiarity with economic, social and environmental factors, analytic and communication techniques will be assumed from previous units.

The Urban Report is a substantial project involving research conducted over one semester. It will usually take the form of an illustrated report (between 5,000 and 10,000 words) on an approved subject of the student's choice. The aim of the unit is to allow students to deepen their understanding, and methodological approach in relation to an aspect of urbanism of the student's choice and with the approval of the program director. The subject may be of a practical bent (e.g. review or preparation of an urban design, or urban development project) or more theoretical (e.g. review of a conceptual viewpoint), or it may occupy the middle ground (e.g. exploration of a contemporary issue or review/testing of a method). If of a more practical nature, its theoretical underpinning should be explicit. If more theoretical, it should refer to its practical implications. The report is an opportunity to advance knowledge and skills in a particular area of urbanism and so develop a 'professional edge'. The aim of the report is to enhance abilities and knowledge essential to the practice of urbanism.

The aims of this unit are to develop skills in the methods and practices of conservation at an accepted professional level, and to interpret and apply the theory taught in the mandatory core of the course in practical, on-site projects. The unit focuses on culturally significant structures and cultural landscapes and includes: methods of survey and documentation (locating, describing and recording components with possible heritage value; identifying and reading historic fabric; historic and archival research methods; thematic history methods; pattern recognition; natural systems; settlements; cultural mapping; aesthetic analysis; material and stylistic analysis); evaluation methodology (assigning heritage significance); assessment methodology (establishing conservation priorities); and appropriate conservation actions (conservation and management plans, policies and strategies). At the end of the unit the student will successfully demonstrate: an understanding of the Australia ICOMOS Burra Charter and the ability to prepare, in accordance with current accepted professional practice, a conservation plan of a place or places of cultural significance; skill in methods and techniques of analysis, assessment and documentation of cultural significance; and the ability to develop relevant policies and strategies for the conservation of a variety places of cultural significance. The intended outcomes are achieved through inquiry, individual study and research and are demonstrated by each student upon the successful completion of set assignments. The assignments are constructed to allow each student to demonstrate his or her level of understanding of the accepted professional methodology and practice in the preparation and presentation of a conservation plan. Assessment criteria based on unit outcomes are used for the examination of the assignments.

In this unit students will become familiar with the system of legal protections and policy instruments that underpin heritage conservation activity. They will explore the idea of cultural property and of shared environmental resources and the ways in which these are balanced with private property rights in heritage policy and law. Classes will address the varying levels at which heritage protections operate, from international protocols down to local planning schemes. Students will become familiar with legislation, regulations, planning instruments and policies as well as the use of registers, inventories and other records of significant items. The unit will also address the roles of various government agencies involved in heritage conservation and develop an understanding of how such agencies utilize heritage studies and assessments, and how they develop heritage law and policy. Students in this unit will consider how different instruments and heritage protections relate to different scales and types of place including landscapes, streetscapes, archaeological resources, gardens and individual buildings. They will also consider how different sanctions and incentives achieve policy aims and support statutory obligations. Finally, together, staff and students will explore innovative legal and policy mechanisms for preventing or redressing the destruction of historically significant places and encouraging the meaningful protection of culturally significant places.

The aims of the course are to introduce students to broad range of specialists from the related fields of architectural conservation and related disciplines who specialize in the conservation of traditional building fabric; to introduce students to the appropriate and accepted methods traditional construction and of the conservation traditional architectural materials; and to familiarise students with the relevant literature pertaining to the domain. The objectives of the course are to allow the student to develop a broad understanding of excellent contemporary conservation practice in the conservation of traditional materials; to develop a broad understanding of traditional building methods; to develop an understanding of good and bad practice in the conservation of traditional materials. Students will be expected to demonstrate the ability to research and prepare an academic paper related to the domain.
Class preparation: 1 hour/week; assessment preparation: 15-20 hours/semester

The aim of the unit is to engage in an interdisciplinary collaboration to realise an innovative and culturally senstive new design project in a way that mirrors professional teamwork and meets best practice heritage and conservation standards. Students from the Heritage Conservation program will work together in teams with students from the Master of Architecture degree to realise the project. Each group will develop a sustainable strategy for the place that protects and enhances its heritage value. Heritage conservation students will then act as advisors on the design project considering possible impacts to significant buildings and historic landscapes. At the end of the semester heritage students will complete a Statement of Heritage Impact at professional level that accords with the guidelines established by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage.
The unit objective is to analyse a given site with an existing building of identified heritage value and for the design-based students to prepare, with a given brief, a contemporary addition that is both a credible work of contemporary architecture whilst at the same time a sensitive and appropriate addition that respects the cultural significance of the existing building. The non-design based students will act as heritage consultants, in accordance with best professional practice and concurrently prepare for the proposed design a Heritage Impact Statement that conforms with the NSW Heritage Branch guidelines and standards of practice.
Class preparation: 2 hours/week

Design studios are the heart of the urban design program. Values, knowledge and skills acquired in other units and from previous experience are supplemented and enhanced, and applied creatively to both the investigation and development phases of design projects at an urban scale.
Urban Design Studio: Urban Precinct is concerned with developing design propositions that respond to the changing environmental, economic and social context of the city and that challenge 'business as usual' practice. Projects are carefully chosen to explore large complex urban areas, such as urban centres, waterfront precincts, renewal precincts, institutional campuses or major infrastructure interventions. The studio will generate proposals for major urban structures, spaces and forms which are rigourously informed by design methodologies.
Inter-disciplinary group work is an essential part of the studio and integrates the broad range of backgrounds and skills of the students while mimicing the reality of practice.
The central aim of this unit is to develop illustrative, writing and verbal skills which will enable students to carry out urban design projects such as the preparation of strategies, frameworks, master plans and public domain concepts in a professional and visionary manner. Students will be expected to demonstrate appropriate problem recognition, investigative, analytical, interpretative, design and presentation skills and abilities on projects of major urban scale. Assessment may also embrace abilities to prepare and interpret project briefs, program proposals and work in groups.

Design studios are the heart of the urban design program. Values, knowledge and skills acquired in other units and from previous experience are supplemented and enhanced, and applied creatively to both the investigation and development phases of design projects at an urban scale.
Urban Design Studio: Urban Project is concerned with the design development for a local urban project that explores how a specific design intervention can be a catalyst to broader urban change. Projects are carefully chosen to explore complex local urban sites or groups of sites and to generate proposals for public and private building types, streets, spaces and transport infrastructure that are rigourously informed by design methodologies. Implementation through staging, development controls and guidelines will also be addressed.
Inter-disciplinary group work is an essential part of the studio and integrates the broad range of backgrounds and skills of the students while mimicing the reality of practice.
The central aim of this unit is to develop illustrative, writing and verbal skills which will enable students to carry out urban design projects such as the preparation of frameworks, master plans and public domain concepts in a professional manner. Students will be expected to demonstrate appropriate problem recognition, investigative, analytical, interpretative, design and presentation skills and abilities on projects of local urban scale. Assessment may also embrace abilities to prepare and interpret project briefs, program proposals and work in groups.

This elective unit will help build the skills and knowledge to design and implement forms of dialogue, deliberation and engagement that are most effective. In the context of major changes to the way planning and design is carried out in NSW and more widely, this is an opportunity to develop independent study skills and perspectives on engagement and collaboration in planning and urban design. The unit allows for a visiting academic to teach a subject related to their speciality. Students will participate in lectures, tutorials, or other activities as needed to pursue the elective topic. Students will develop an understanding of a special topic through reports, projects, and/or tutorial exercises. The workshop format is a stimulating combination of practical experience and scholarly learning, involving people working in the field of community engagement and public participation - planners, urban designers, consultants, change agents, community development practitioners, policy makers, government staff - who have an interest or a requirement to engage citizens or communities.

This unit is concerned with using GIS to analyse planning problems and undertake policy analyses. The unit will include a comprehensive introduction to mapping and the use of GIS: data structures, topology, projections, spatial and non-spatial queries. Australian census products will be described and students will be expected to analyse census statistics using GIS maps. The role of GIS in coordinating various forms of information for policy analyses, preparing master plans, in presenting information for development control, impact analyses and wider management purposes will also be covered. The use of GIS to support visualisation will be covered, using examples about designing development projects and planning instruments. Finally, the various forms of distributing maps to the public and policy-makers will be discussed. The unit integrates the hands-on learning of GIS software with a `research-based` approach. Teaching will involve short lectures, studios and workshops. Assessment will be on a series of smaller assignments and a larger report prepared by each student that integrates GIS-based (and other) graphics into a coherent policy analysis. In addition, each student will make oral presentations on their work in studio sessions.

The aim of PLAN9063 Strategic Planning and Design is to provide students with grounding in the core knowledge and skills needed to practice as a contemporary planner. A key emphasis in the unit is understanding the skills needed to undertake strategic planning at a range of levels (both process and content). Strategic planning in one form or other is a generic process that underpins much of the work that planners and urban designers are involved in at varying spatial levels. This course will provide students with the basic skills required to function as a planner and it will also act as an introduction to a number of other units in the program by highlighting the connection between the work of a planner and the need to understand a range of different knowledge and skill areas. Basic skills may include basic demographic analysis, graphic presentation, governance audits, consultation strategies and survey tools, economic analysis, and GIS. In addition, this Unit of Study will enable students to develop generic skills such as group discussion, productive group work and organisation, negotiation skills and information literacy skills. This is an introductory core unit for the Urban Planning degree, a specialisation unit for the Master of Urbanism and an elective for the Urban Design degree.

The aim of PLAN9045 Economics for the Built Environment is to introduce the key economic theories, processes and techniques used by contemporary urban planners. This unit of study has two parts. In the first part of the unit, students are introduced to the economic drivers shaping city and regional development outcomes, and the location and form of different land uses and how they evolve. The second part of the unit equips students with core technical skills, including project evaluation, economic impact analysis, development feasibility, and introductory aspects of public finance. A key focus of the course is to equip students with a very good working knowledge of property feasibility analysis.

This unit is concerned with planning, land use and infrastructure within the built environments. It emphasises conceptual knowledge with examples and case studies to demonstrate the application of concepts in practice. Students are encouraged to think independently, creatively and critically in developing understanding and practical knowledge about environmental planning at the metropolitan and local level. This unit is in two modules, each of which is assessed.
1. Land use, infrastructure planning and urban development: different forms of infrastructure and the role of infrastructure in creating good environments and urban development; transport and the space economy; accessibility, the emergence of transport technologies and their influence on urban form; the impacts of car travel on densities, dispersion, congestion, etc.; orthodox transport planning; transport systems management; mobility and accessibility; networks, centres, and development corridors; transit-oriented development and implications on urban form and structure. The Sydney Metropolitan Strategy and concepts and ideas associated with the current work of the Greater Sydney Commission are used as a main focus for this module.
2. Land use planning, development control and plan making: within the context of more effective land use planning, this module examines the process of assessing a local area (such as structure, form and understanding character), developing local vision and neighbourhood strategies and structure plan, translating the strategy and structure plan into basic land use and planning controls (such as building height, floor space ratio, heritage, and other local area provisions) and producing a basic plan for development control purposes. A case study is used for group work so as to understand how the plan making process evolves and is constructed for both the private and public realms. In 2015 and 2016, this involved working with an inner city local government on priority urban renewal issues. Questioning the assumptions and values that underpin planning controls and guidelines is a key skill emphasised in the unit via the group work.

This unit is designed to fill a significant gap in the evolution of the urban and regional planning curriculum by focusing on the concept of informal urbanism in a developing country context. This unit is designed for planners and urban designers who may wish to work in the field of international development and/or who have an interest in better understanding urbanisation, especially informal urbanism in the Asia and Pacific Region. The unit is run as an international field trip with the highly esteemed Insititute of Technology Bandung (ITB), Indonesia, and is based around the theme of informal urbanism as expressed in a kampung (informal settlement). By the end of this unit of study you should have an understanding of the (i) key readings on the dimensions of informal urbanism, (ii) key policy themes of poverty, spatial justice, and environmental sustainability, (iii) tools to explore the nature of informal urbanism, including understanding patterns and types of urban form and structure and their adaptation and transformation at the local level, and (iv) cross-cultural considerations in planning and urban design. The unit reflects the increasing internationalisation of Australian planning practice in contributing to better managing urbanisation, especially within the Asia and Pacific Region. It caters to the needs of local and international students intending to work on urban and regional planning projects internationally and wishing to better understand how the city is made and shaped including understanding dimensions of urban complexity in the formal and informal city.

This unit is concerned with using GIS to analyse planning problems and undertake policy analyses. The unit will include a comprehensive introduction to mapping and the use of GIS: data structures, topology, projections, spatial and non-spatial queries. Australian census products will be described and students will be expected to analyse census statistics using GIS maps. The role of GIS in coordinating various forms of information for policy analyses, preparing master plans, in presenting information for development control, impact analyses and wider management purposes will also be covered. The use of GIS to support visualisation will be covered, using examples about designing development projects and planning instruments. Finally, the various forms of distributing maps to the public and policy-makers will be discussed. The unit integrates the hands-on learning of GIS software with a `research-based` approach. Teaching will involve short lectures, studios and workshops. Assessment will be on a series of smaller assignments and a larger report prepared by each student that integrates GIS-based (and other) graphics into a coherent policy analysis. In addition, each student will make oral presentations on their work in studio sessions.

This elective unit will help build the skills and knowledge to design and implement forms of dialogue, deliberation and engagement that are most effective. In the context of major changes to the way planning and design is carried out in NSW and more widely, this is an opportunity to develop independent study skills and perspectives on engagement and collaboration in planning and urban design. The unit allows for a visiting academic to teach a subject related to their speciality. Students will participate in lectures, tutorials, or other activities as needed to pursue the elective topic. Students will develop an understanding of a special topic through reports, projects, and/or tutorial exercises. The workshop format is a stimulating combination of practical experience and scholarly learning, involving people working in the field of community engagement and public participation - planners, urban designers, consultants, change agents, community development practitioners, policy makers, government staff - who have an interest or a requirement to engage citizens or communities.

The discipline of Science of Cities examines relationships between the physical form of cities and the social, cultural, economic, technological and spatial processes that give rise to this form. As technology evolves and changes, so do the ways in which we make and think about our cities. In this era of unprecedented and fast-accelerating changes, digital technologies are reshaping the ways in which we measure, sense, conceive of, design and plan for our cities. As a result, we collect and store large amounts of data on every aspect of the urban environment, but it is as yet unclear how this data can be used to inform evidence based planning and urban management. This unit of study will introduce the principles of science of cities and the tools, methods, algorithms and techniques on big urban data that enable transformative ways of thinking about, designing and planning for a fast urbanizing world. Emphasis will be placed on developing understanding of urban structure and fast and slow dynamics shaping this structure. This transdisciplinary unit of study will be relevant for designers, planners, geographers, economists, physicists and data scientists interested in modelling urban systems.

The unit's primary aim is to develop international and intercultural perspectives on design and planning practices affecting spatial organisation across multiple scales (from building to city), and the transferability of these between different cultures. The studio will introduce aspects (culture, values, beliefs, history and geography) of a case country and may be undertaken in collaboration with a university of that country that have influenced spatial predispositions and practices. The urban structures, patterns and building types, and design and planning approaches, including regulatory principles arising from a different cultural setting will be explored. Theories and analytical approaches concerned with interactions between form, use and movement at urban and architectural scales particular to the country will provide an inherent critique of many of Australia's ideas and methods. The unit will offer the challenge of developing architectural, urban design and urban planning proposals in a different context.

The aims of the internship are to provide a direct link between the academic core of the course and the disciplines and methods of practice; to enable candidates to experience aspects of practice and provide the opportunity for them to work in areas of the field outside their specific expertise; to enable candidates to observe, analyse and comment on the interaction between theoretical and practical issues of their Program as it is practiced, and to establish connections between practice and the development of relevant research programs. The internship is intended to provide the opportunity for students to work in various situations in their Program's area. A secondary intention is that students use the opportunities of placement to broaden their own experience beyond the limitations of their chosen discipline. Candidates must find a suitable professional placement. Permission to enrol is given after the proposed placement has been approved by the Program Director. The host organisation will nominate a supervisor for the student for the internship. The student must complete at least 120 hours of full or part-time experience, supervised by a practicing designer (or other professional depending upon the field). A log-book of each day's work, signed by the supervisor must be submitted on completion. A 2000-word report on the benefits of the internship must also be produced. At the end of the internship the student will: demonstrate that they have completed a program of work (through a log-book); present a report; analyse their experiences and compare these to the theoretical content of the units they have completed, and suggest appropriate research directions so as to improve the complementarity of theory to practice.

In an urban society, cities form the locus for critical public policy challenges. This unit considers the multi-level, co-governance of cities in the comparative context of Western democracies. It considers the validity of contending theories of urban governance and explores the systemic tensions between public policy goals, such as subsidiarity and solidarity. It seeks to equip students with a critical understanding of the complexities and challenges of urban politics and policymaking in real world application.