MSc Urban Planning

• Two-year TU IOE master’s program focused on urban development, spatial planning, land-use systems, and planning policy.
• Builds capacity to analyze, design, and manage sustainable urban environments through theory, studio work, and research.

• Designed to produce technically skilled urban planners able to address urbanization challenges through evidence-based planning and interdisciplinary analysis.
• Covers core paradigms of planning theory, city planning techniques, urban sociology, demography, regional planning, design conservation, and infrastructure planning.
• Integrates practical studio work, planning projects, and thesis research to apply theory to real urban contexts.
• Includes multiple electives across governance, resilience, housing, transport, modeling, and geospatial technologies.
• Graduates occupy influential positions in public agencies, local governments, private consultancies, NGOs, and academia.

Curricular Structure (Table)

Elective Categories

Elective I
• Geospatial Technologies for Urban Planning
• Planning Legislation
• Urban Economic Theory
• Urban Housing & Real-Estate Development

Elective II
• Urban Resilience
• Energy for Sustainable Planning
• Urban Modeling & Simulation
• Project Development & Professional Practice
• Energy-Efficient Housing
• Transport Planning

Elective III
• Urban Governance & Planning Politics
• Urban Regeneration
• Urban Economics & Finance
• Urban Informal Sector
• Participatory & Community Planning
• Urban Ecological & Landscape Planning

Features
• Four-semester, 60-credit program.
• Strong emphasis on planning studios (Studio I & II).
• Theory + method + studio learning formats.
• Wide elective options across policy, modeling, resilience, GIS, energy, housing, and governance.
• Thesis in final semester (16 credits).
• Industry-relevant, problem-based learning.

Eligibility
• Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, Civil Engineering, or MA in Geography (or equivalent recognized by TU).
• Above-average undergraduate grades as required by IOE.
• Must secure qualifying score in IOE entrance exam.

Admission Process (Points)
• Deposit entrance exam fee in IOE-designated account via voucher.
• Apply online at ioe.edu.np/entrance or entrance.ioe.edu.np.
• Select correct entrance stream.
• Upload photo + ID (citizenship/passport/last exam admit card).
• Edits require additional fees; ID/photo correction requires ICTC visit.
• Admission decided by IOE merit ranking and seat quotas (total 20 seats: Regular, Reserved, Full Fee, Sponsored).

Job Prospects
• Urban planner
• City development specialist
• Land-use and zoning analyst
• Transport and mobility planner
• GIS and spatial planning specialist
• Housing and real-estate planner
• Urban resilience and disaster-risk planner
• Environmental and regional development planner
• Policy analyst in municipal/government bodies
• Consultant in urban development projects
• Researcher in planning, design, and urban systems