Master of Urban Design
Interested?
Our Master of Urban Design (M.U.D.) degree is a post-professional program focusing on research and speculation. You’ll learn how to conceptualize and share the complex global processes of urban transformation. We address a diverse range of urban design thought and experimentation within the context of national and international settings. International and national travel is an important part of the experiential learning initiatives in our studios. The M.U.D. degree is an interdisciplinary program tailored for those with professional degrees in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban & regional planning. It is structured around a sequence of three thematic semesters, positioning urban design as the central discipline of urban transformation.
- Justice
- Technology
- Climate
For admission, this degree requires a five-year bachelor’s degree or master’s degree in architecture, landscape architecture, or urban planning.
Receive personalized information about the degree, faculty, scholarships, facilities, employment outcomes, student life, and more.
Dual Degrees and Graduate Certificates
Dual degree options enable you to earn two degrees simultaneously. Learn more about our some of our other graduate degrees: Master of Architecture and Master of Urban and Regional Planning. Request information to learn more about dual degrees and graduate certificate options.
15/15 Top architecture firms have Taubman College graduates in architecture positions.*
A degree from Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning presents opportunities throughout your career. From the moment you join Taubman College, you have access to one of the world’s largest, most diverse, and most passionate alumni communities through the University of Michigan. We are one of the few architecture and urban planning schools with a full-time career and professional development team dedicated to assisting our students and alumni to find and grow rewarding, impactful careers. Our Career and Professional Development team offers career advising and professional development opportunities, as well as career fairs in November and February each year. Check out our latest employment report to learn more.
*Gensler, Perkins&Wil,l HKS, HDR, AECOM, Stantec, Jacobs, Corgan, Populous, HOK, CannonDesign, Aracadis, North America, Page, Perkins Eastman, PBK
Choose your own path with our studio track or thesis track. Opt for a studio track to graduate with a studio project or opt for a thesis track to embark on an independant research and graduate with a thesis project. A seminar on urban research methodologies will support your initial research investigations.
Core seminars on urban representation, history of urbanism, theories and methods, urban finance and development, and the humanities complement the curriculum. Adding to the offerings in the Architecture and Urban and Regional Planning programs at Taubman College, you can advance your personal academic interests by taking full advantage of courses in other units across campus.
Dynamic Design Culture
Studio Reassembled
Student Profiles
After researching the various urban design programs across the country, I chose to pursue my master’s degree at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor’s, Taubman College because of its highly regarded faculty and rigorous academic curriculum. The college offers classes exploring the full spectrum of urban design, from public policy to environmental science to architecture. I am confident that the Taubman College program will provide me with the strong foundation I need to become a successful urban designer. Additionally, the college is deeply engaged in the local community, which was important to me as I wanted to make sure that my studies would be relevant and applicable to real-world issues. Furthermore, the University of Michigan’s central location in Ann Arbor provides me with easy access to some of the best resources and opportunities in the country.
Taubman College was 100% the right choice for me. I was looking for a program that addressed food systems and sustainability, as well as celebrated the collaboration of urban planning and urban design. Taubman not only incorporates theory courses, but also practice-based courses and opportunities to fully prepare us to make a difference in communities upon graduation. What finally sealed the deal for me was that there were both courses and a Ph.D. student looking into the topics of my undergraduate thesis projects.
Faculty Highlights
His research and creative practice examines the urbanity of the internet, namely, the material, spatial, and social dimensions of urban life continually transformed by the internet’s pervasiveness. Trained as an architect, he rethinks formats for critical engagement, coexistence, and collaboration in order to design architecture for an ever-changing, digitally mediated world. Peñarroyo works creatively through different formats, including publications, multimedia installations, speculative design proposals and competition entries. His work has been featured in Ardeth, The Architect’s Newspaper, the edited volume Inscriptions: Architecture Before Speech, and other publications. He has exhibited at international venues and received several awards, including the Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers (2019) and two ACSA Faculty Design Awards (2019, 2020). Peñarroyo was also awarded residency fellowships at Akademie Schloss Solitude (2023) and Art Omi: Architecture (2024). In addition to his research and teaching, he is an editorial advisor for DISC, an experimental publication that explores media, technology, and environments through themed books, events, and products. He is a partner in the Ann Arbor-based design practice EXTENTS.
Kit Krankel McCullough is an architectural and urban designer and consultant to cities, institutions, developers, neighborhood and merchant groups around the country. Through her urban design practice and teaching Kit advocates for equitable and socially just development, healthy and sustainable environments, strong communities, and cities that promote wellbeing and happiness. At the University of Michigan, McCullough teaches courses on urban design and real estate development, design studios on housing and neighborhood development, and seminars on transportation and urban economics.
In her current practice, McCullough has developed strategies toward economic and environmental sustainability at a range of scales, from individual properties to entire regions; and for a range of clients, including cities, institutions, developers, and neighborhood groups. Her projects have included a redevelopment plan for the C.S. Mott Foundation for their properties in downtown Flint, Michigan, as a means to help catalyze a regional economic strategy; regional strategies for more sustainable development in Tucson; a plan for the redevelopment of an industrial corridor in Oklahoma City as a mixed-use district focused on eco-industries; and an economic development strategy for Forest City, North Carolina, that capitalizes on the town’s traditional urbanism and heritage.
Recognized consistently as one of the nation’s top college towns and places to live, Ann Arbor, is a lively urban oasis in southeast Michigan, 45 minutes from Detroit. The University of Michigan campus is woven throughout Ann Arbor, featuring a mix of historic and modern buildings, abundant green spaces, culinary delights, year-round events, and world-class arts and culture.
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