MRes Architecture (Reading the Neoliberal City)

This multi-disciplinary course analyses the impact of capitalist neoliberalism on development. It examines neoliberal policies over the last 30 years and their effects on urban layout, property markets, architectural form and social justice. Although sited within the architecture department we welcome applicants from a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines.

The course is comprised of four modules: Reading the Neoliberal City; Psychogeography and Situationism; Ethical Development and the Digital City. Topics for study include the housing crisis and the privatisation of cities, investigating the financialisation of the urban environment, polarisation and the consequences for citizens in terms of trust and fear. The modules on Ethical Development and the Digital City focus on potential alternatives to the neoliberal city. 

Download our yearbook to view examples of our students' work.

Architecture at UEL is based in our Docklands campus, in a pioneer area for neoliberal development and a key study site for the course. But while London is the focus, the global impact of these processes, which are relevant across the world, provides the context.

The MRes in Architecture course is aimed at a range of professionals and students from around the world who are engaged in the built environment - from architects and planners to developers and activists. 

It is geared towards working professionals but is also a means for practitioners seeking new employment pathways, or re-entry to the job market, to improve their skills base in critical thinking and writing, both of which are crucial to successful practice.

The compact attendance commitment and the flexibility of tutorial engagement within the Production of Place module is especially suitable for working professionals, providing a blended, part-time learning experience.

The course offers you a critical perspective on the development of cities, challenging conventional orthodoxies about growth in cities and critiquing familiar concepts such as 'regeneration' and 'sustainability'.

Your studies will focus on London's Docklands from the 1980s to the developments associated with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

By contrasting the roll-out of neo-liberal policies with their impact on social justice, it will offer lessons for cities around the UK and internationally.

• Bachelor's degree: GPA of 2.5 / 4 or overall classification of "Good" or higher
• UK Bachelor's degree with Honours: Second Class, Second Division or higher
• US Bachelor's degree: GPA 2.5 / 4

Extended Diploma or Diploma

FROM

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE

Diploma with 24 points including a minimum of 15 points at Higher Level

Any practitioner contemplating a part-time or full-time career in teaching would benefit from this course.

Existing academic staff on fractional contracts within built environment programmes will also benefit from a sound academic writing qualification that is valued by universities.

This course is designed to gives the opportunity to enhance your current thinking, writing and communication skills to a level suitable to commence doctoral study for a PhD.

The precision this requires is an asset in the professional marketplace, and by focussing the themes of urban regeneration and the political mechanisms of the city, the course delivers invaluable insights into urban practice.

Through active participation in the course, you will acquire critical insights and practical experiences of urban regeneration in its widest sense.

As part of UEL's Place Production Research Group, we aim to be Britain's leading centre for critical thinking about cities. Our programme of research for the coming academic year includes a one day conference on the housing crisis, co hosted with Birkbeck and the academic journal City. 

Our partners also include Guardian Cities, the Cities website of The Guardian newspaper and The Chisenhale Gallery in Mile End, East London.

Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal.