Sustainable Urban Environments (Two-Year Program)

The Master of Design in Sustainable Urban Environments program seeks to supply graduates for the rapidly growing field of sustainable urbanism. Through a dynamic curricular mix of design, dialogue, and technical courses enriched by diverse interdisciplinary electives, students will learn to be innovative and entrepreneurial creators and managers of next-generation public spaces.

The two-year MDES-SUEN is appropriate for students wishing to develop graduate-level design and planning skills. Instructors lead students through fundamental visualization, representation, and implementation techniques, introductory to advanced history/theory themes and urban ecology and technologies. Studio courses introduce fundamental design and planning principles in the first year and advance to design research and application in the second year. Interdisciplinary dialogues between the students’ diverse disciplinary backgrounds enriches the studio content and enables development of customized study areas.

More Details

Northeastern’s Master of Design for Sustainable Urban Environments (MDes) brings together the allied professional fields of environmental design, landscape architecture, and urban planning. The program offers advanced study and research opportunities in the design of ecologically and economically productive urban environments.

Admissions Dates

Fall Admission:

Once your application is submitted, received, and processed, you will be able to access your Application Status Check. If you are required to provide further information regarding your proficiency in English, you will be able to complete the requirement in several ways, depending on your familiarity with English, and the frequency with which you use English each and every day:

• Non-native English-speaking applicants will be required to submit official and valid results from one of the following English Language Tests:
  • C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency (Cambridge English)
  • Duolingo English Test (DET)
  • IELTS Academic
  • PTE Academic
  • TOEFL Internt-based Test (CEEB Code: 3667) Northeastern will accept either the in-person version completed in a test center, or the TOEFL iBT Home Edition
• However, based on your academic environment and the primary instructional language in either your high school or university, you may be eligible for a waiver. All waivers must be submitted through your Application Status Check. For additional information and to determine whether or not you are eligible for a waiver, please read the section below on waiving the English proficiency requirement.

Please note: Northeastern’s Admissions Committee reserves the right to request proof of English language proficiency from any applicant, regardless of citizenship or first language, at any time during the evaluation process.

• 1.Create your application

  Submit your application through The Common Application or the Coalition Application (both are accepted). Once you have created your application, please select Northeastern University to directly submit your application to us. Application fee of $75 or need-based fee waiver* *Northeastern accepts need-based fee waivers from the Common Application, the Coalition Application, as well as organizations such as the College Board and ACT, or in a written request from a school official.

• 2.Submit all required materials

  Double check to make sure that you have submitted all required materials. Even if your application has been submitted, we cannot begin reviewing your file until all of your required materials have been received. For applicants applying for the 2022-2023 academic year, Northeastern University is test-optional and does not require standardized testing to complete an application for admission.

• 3.Check your application status

  Within seven days of applying, you should receive a confirmation email containing your Northeastern University ID number and instructions for setting up your Application Status Check account. To ensure all of the necessary documents have been submitted, and for updates or information about your application, visit your application status check.