Course overview
- Study period
- Semester 1, 2026 (23/02/2026 - 20/06/2026)
- Study level
- Undergraduate
- Location
- St Lucia
- Attendance mode
- In Person
- Units
- 2
- Administrative campus
- St Lucia
- Coordinating unit
- Architecture, Design and Planning School
The focus of this course is on both the theory and practice of planning. In particular, this course intends to provoke students to think about what "good planning" means and of ways and means of improving the theoretical base and the practical operation of planning. Understanding planning theory will help future planners to understand how planning is practiced, why planning is done in particular ways, and provide them with a perspective about the roles that planners play. Critical questions will be explored, including: (a) should planners create utopian visions of how cities could be or to pragmatically deal with cities as they are, (b) should plans be grand and comprehensive or cautious and incremental, (c) should planners assist or resist the private market, (d) should planners be neutral professionals or social advocates, (e) should planners think like architects, social critics or private developers, and (f) should planners develop complex theories of urbanisation and decision-making, or simply deal with immediate practical and professional challenges? The course is structured around an exploration of recent approaches to citymaking, planning theory, and how they have given shape to planning practice. It also considers the professional status of planning and the ethical standards of the profession.
Offered in the final year of the BUPlan/BRTP program, Citymaking: Theory and Practiceﾠaims to provide a framework that brings together the knowledge accumulated in previous years. As well as introducing new readings and discussions, the course will cover some of the readings and concepts discussed in earlier courses in order to find out how they fit and/or inform contemporary planning.
Lectures will be delivered in two blocks: (1) THEORY:ﾠMainly focused on feminism and justice; (2) PRACTICE: how planning theory, policy and practice is influencing the shape of our cities through strategic metropolitan planning, supported by interactive workshops using a range of engagement techniques to apply the concepts learned during the course. This course is co-badged with PLAN7120.
Course requirements
Assumed background
This course assumes maturity and a deeper understanding of planning issues. The course will be taught jointly with PLAN7120, which is offered in the first year of the MURP program. The assessments will be different between the two courses, including more challenging questions on written tests in the postgraduate course.
Incompatible
You can't enrol in this course if you've already completed the following:
PLAN7120
Course contact
Course staff
Lecturer
Tutor
Mrs Helen Caswell
Timetable
The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.
Aims and outcomes
The overarching aim of the course is to develop an understanding of the linkages (or lack of them) between planning theory, planning policy, and planning practice. Related to this, the course aims to give students a deeper understanding of planning practice by showing how different theories can give extra understanding of the objectives, processes, and outcomes of planning. The underlying intention is to provide an opportunity for each person to develop their own understanding of what planning is and how planning should be conducted, as well as to identify the ethical issues raised through these different approaches.
Learning outcomes
After successfully completing this course you should be able to:
LO1.
Develop a comprehensive understanding of various planning theories that have shaped urban planning practices
LO2.
Evaluate different planning practice approaches and assess their effectiveness in addressing contemporary urban challenges
LO3.
Demonstrate an appreciation of the ethics and ethical standards of the planning profession
LO4.
Exhibit a comprehensive understanding of the processes involved in strategic planning, showcasing the ability to apply strategic thinking to urban development challenges
LO5.
Work both in groups and independently to effectively communicate your understanding of planning theories and practice to others
LO6.
Critically evaluate your own approach to planning that consciously takes into account the various planning theories and practice approaches covered in class
Assessment
Assessment summary
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay/ Critique, Reflection |
Reflective Writing & Critique
|
40% |
Submission 2/04/2026 1:00 pm Reflective writing critique held during workshops 13/04/2026 |
| Paper/ Report/ Annotation, Presentation |
Strategic Futures Report & Presentation (Group)
|
60% |
Presentation 1 slides due 24/04/2026 1:00 pm Presentation 1 in class 27/04/2026 Presentation 2 slides due 22/05/2026 1:00 pm Presentation 2 in class 25/05/2026 Report 29/05/2026 1:00 pm |
A hurdle is an assessment requirement that must be satisfied in order to receive a specific grade for the course. Check the assessment details for more information about hurdle requirements.
Assessment details
Reflective Writing & Critique
- Hurdle
- Identity Verified
- Mode
- Oral, Written
- Category
- Essay/ Critique, Reflection
- Weight
- 40%
- Due date
Submission 2/04/2026 1:00 pm
Reflective writing critique held during workshops 13/04/2026
Task description
Assessment Rationale:
This individual assignment is in two parts:
Part 1: Reflective Writing + Part 2: Reflective Writing Critique.
This reflective writing assignment aims to encourage students to critically analyse and reflect upon their understanding and experiences in the course. Students will choose four topics from the five covered in the course, integrating relevant literature and providing evidence to support their reflections. For each chosen topic, reflect on your key learning, understanding and experiences gained during the corresponding week through lecture content, workshop activities and reading materials. You must provide reflections in your entries, NOT summaries, of what you did in each week.
Note: The Reflective Writing Critique is assessed on a pass/fail basis. Students who do not pass the critique will receive a fail for the entire assessment.
Complex / authentic assessment using AI and/or MT to support learning:
This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI and/or MT technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance. A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI and MT tools.
Hurdle requirements
A hurdle is an assessment requirement that must be satisfied to receive a specific grade in the course. This assessment item is designated as a Hurdle in this course. This means a minimum achievement of 50% (a grade of 4) is required for this assessment item in order to pass the course. Meeting the hurdle requirement for a course does not guarantee a passing grade for the course and to pass this course, students also need to achieve a minimum grade of 4 overall.Submission guidelines
The School of Architecture, Design and Planning uses Blackboard and Turnitin for assessment submission. Turnitin is accessed through the course Blackboard site. Turnitin also checks for plagiarism or instances where the original work of others is not appropriately acknowledged. Uploaded files must contain readable text and not be rasterised. Students are advised to commence assignment uploads with sufficient amount of time (consider possible technical problems with computers, internet speed, etc). After successfully submitting an assignment through Turnitin, a ‘Submission Complete!’ screen will be displayed. It is the student’s responsibility to check assignment preview and confirm successful submission. If the ‘Submission Complete!’ screen isn’t displayed, the student should regard the submission as unsuccessful. Students should download a copy of the digital receipt as proof they have submitted the assignment. Students who are experiencing upload issues must advise the Course Coordinator immediately by email and should include screenshots and a copy of the assessment for submission. To meet professional accreditation, public engagement and quality assurance obligations, digital copies of all course assessment items must be submitted in addition to any hard copy submission requirements specified in individual Course / Studio Outlines. Any physical models should be photographed and a minimum of two photographs describing the complete and full model must be included in the digital submission.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
Discretionary extensions are not available for this task.
The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.
If a student wishes to apply for an extension, they must apply online on or before the assignment due date. When possible, it is suggested that requests are submitted 2 business days prior to the submission due date for the assignment to allow processing time. Students with outstanding applications for extensions are advised to submit their assessment by the original due date, irrespective of whether the work is complete, so that what has been done can be graded.
No Discretionary Extension will be available for the presentation or associated component of this assessment (e.g. Presentation Slides submitted the day before).
Critique panels cannot be reconvened for the presentation component of assessment when an extension has been approved. Students with granted extensions (or pending extension applications) are able to attend but are not permitted to participate in the design review.
Late submission
The late penalty for this assessment item will be calculated as follows:
Part 1- Reflective Writing:
Standard 10% (or 1 grade) per day for 7 days
Part 2- Reflective Writing Critique:
100% Late Penalty. No grace period.
Consistent with industry practice around presentations to clients/industry partners, no late submissions will be accepted and a 100% late penalty applies. This has been approved by the Associate Dean (Academic).
Strategic Futures Report & Presentation (Group)
- Team or group-based
- Mode
- Oral, Written
- Category
- Paper/ Report/ Annotation, Presentation
- Weight
- 60%
- Due date
Presentation 1 slides due 24/04/2026 1:00 pm
Presentation 1 in class 27/04/2026
Presentation 2 slides due 22/05/2026 1:00 pm
Presentation 2 in class 25/05/2026
Report 29/05/2026 1:00 pm
Task description
Assessment Rationale:
This group assessment is in two parts:
Part 1: Strategic Futures Report – 40%
Part 2: Strategic Futures Presentations – 20%, divided into:
- Presentation 1 – 5% of the course total grade
- Presentation 2 – 15% of the course total grade
Students will form groups of four to six members, depending on final enrolment numbers. A confirmed list of groups will be posted on the course Blackboard site, and students will remain in the same groups for both the report and the presentation components of the assessment. Your Consultancy Team (your group) has been commissioned by Brisbane City Council to develop a strategic document titled Brisbane Healthy City Strategy. The Council has selected your team based on its recognised expertise in citymaking, metropolitan strategy, and sustainable development. Brisbane City Council intends to use this strategy to inform and engage stakeholders about the community health issues facing Brisbane, to seek cooperation and funding from other levels of government for major healthy-planning initiatives, and to support and collaborate with the private sector in building an understanding of, and capacity for, transitioning to healthy planning practices.
A nominated team leader from each group will submit a Group Report (3500 words ±%10 - excluding tables, figures, diagrams, images, references, appendices, endnotes and footnotes)– one copy per group.
Group Presentation 1 - each team will present the key findings from their review of the literature on healthy planning and their analysis of Brisbane’s challenges and opportunities. Teams will develop and justify a strong argument for their proposed vision of a healthy Brisbane. This presentation provides a valuable opportunity to receive feedback on each team’s progress before the final presentation and submission of the report.
Group Presentation 2 - serves as an opportunity for each team to showcase and elaborate on their strategies for developing a healthy Brisbane, building upon the content submitted in the previously completed group report. The objective is to communicate, defend, and engage with the proposed strategies, fostering a deeper understanding of healthy planning.
If, for whatever reason, you find that your group is not functioning effectively, please contact your Course Coordinator for support.
Complex / authentic assessment using AI and/or MT to support learning: This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI and/or MT technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance. A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct. To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI and MT tools.
Submission guidelines
The School of Architecture, Design and Planning uses Blackboard and Turnitin for assessment submission. Turnitin is accessed through the course Blackboard site. Turnitin also checks for plagiarism or instances where the original work of others is not appropriately acknowledged. Uploaded files must contain readable text and not be rasterised. Students are advised to commence assignment uploads with sufficient amount of time (consider possible technical problems with computers, internet speed, etc). After successfully submitting an assignment through Turnitin, a ‘Submission Complete!’ screen will be displayed. It is the student’s responsibility to check assignment preview and confirm successful submission. If the ‘Submission Complete!’ screen isn’t displayed, the student should regard the submission as unsuccessful. Students should download a copy of the digital receipt as proof they have submitted the assignment. Students who are experiencing upload issues must advise the Course Coordinator immediately by email and should include screenshots and a copy of the assessment for submission. To meet professional accreditation, public engagement and quality assurance obligations, digital copies of all course assessment items must be submitted in addition to any hard copy submission requirements specified in individual Course / Studio Outlines. Any physical models should be photographed and a minimum of two photographs describing the complete and full model must be included in the digital submission.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.
If a student wishes to apply for an extension, they must apply online on or before the assignment due date. When possible, it is suggested that requests are submitted 2 business days prior to the submission due date for the assignment to allow processing time. Students with outstanding applications for extensions are advised to submit their assessment by the original due date, irrespective of whether the work is complete, so that what has been done can be graded.
Part 1: Report
If one student has an extension then this student will receive the same mark as their other group members (with agreement from at least 50% of the members of the group, and recognition of potential impacts on the other group members). If 50% of group members do not agree, the extension will not be approved and the student will be required to undertake alternative assessment. Group requests must fill out the group member acknowledgement form: https://my.uq.edu.au/files/35533/extension-to-group-assessment.pdf with at least 50% in agreeance.
Part 2: Presentation 1 and Presentation 2
Extensions for oral groupwork are typically not available as this impacts on all members of the team. If one student has an extension then this student will receive the same mark as their other group members.
Late submission
The late penalty for this assessment item will be calculated as follows:
Part 1: Report
Standard 10% (or 1 grade) per day for 7 days
Part 2: Presentation 1 and Presentation 2
100% Late Penalty. No grace period. Consistent with industry practice around presentations to clients/industry partners, no late submissions will be accepted and a 100% late penalty applies. This has been approved by the Associate Dean (Academic).
Course grading
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Grade | Cut off Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (Low Fail) | 0 - 24 |
Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 2 (Fail) | 25 - 44 |
Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 3 (Marginal Fail) | 45 - 49 |
Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes |
| 4 (Pass) | 50 - 64 |
Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 5 (Credit) | 65 - 74 |
Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 6 (Distinction) | 75 - 84 |
Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 7 (High Distinction) | 85 - 100 |
Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes. |
Additional course grading information
Identity verified assessment with a hurdle (IVAH)
To meet assessment validity and integrity obligations, this course includes at least one piece of individual Identity Verified Assessment with a Hurdle (IVAH) that is unambiguously completed by that student, and in which a minimum level of achievement is reached. IVAH assessment item(s) contribute at least 30% towards the final grade. Examples of IVAH items include any activity in which a student’s individual performance is directly monitored, such as performances, fieldwork, oral assessment (including design critiques), design studio project work and invigilated exams. In order to pass this course students must achieve a minimum grade for the IVAH designated assessment item(s) as stated in the Assessment Task Description in the ECP.
Supplementary assessment
Supplementary assessment is available for this course.
Learning resources
You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.
Library resources
Library resources are available on the UQ Library website.
Additional learning resources information
The blackboard site for this course will contain each week's learning resources. Further reading material and other useful links will be added to the course blackboard site throughout semester. They will supplement the other learning strategies in the course. Students are advised to check regularly for new material. They are also required to view the course announcements before coming to lectures each week.
Learning activities
The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.
Filter activity type by
Please select
| Learning period | Activity type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
Multiple weeks From Week 1 To Week 13 |
Lecture |
Lecture Refer to details in Blackboard. |
Multiple weeks From Week 2 To Week 12 |
Workshop |
Workshop Refer to details in Blackboard. |
Policies and procedures
University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:
- Student Code of Conduct Policy
- Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
- Assessment Procedure
- Examinations Procedure
- Reasonable Adjustments for Students Policy and Procedure
- AI for Assessment Guide
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.