Master of Urban Design
The Master of Urban Design (MUD) at CU Denver is a STEM-designated graduate degree program for individuals with an educational/professional foundation in architecture, urban planning, or landscape architecture who seek interdisciplinary professional training in urban design.
Urban Design Program Overview
Our MUD program is the national leader in practice-based urban design education.
Our MUD faculty is comprised of distinguished urban designers and allied professionals in architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture, and civil engineering who are passionate about sharing their expertise and engaging you in virtually every aspect of urban design practice through a rigorous, immersive curriculum.
As a student in our MUD program, you will have frequent, direct, and meaningful interaction with many of the region’s and nation’s top urban design practitioners. Additionally, you will connect with dozens of planning/design experts, community stakeholders, civic leaders, and project clients—both in and out of the classroom—while working on real-world issues and projects and using local and global urban landscapes as your learning laboratory.
After you graduate, use your MUD degree to:
- Pursue a career in urban design practice where your primary work focuses on producing urban designs that holistically integrate buildings, parks and public spaces, streets and mobility infrastructure, and diverse uses into thriving and sustainable places.
- Incorporate urban design knowledge, perspectives, and skills into your architecture, urban planning, or landscape architecture practice, making you a better architect, urban planner, or landscape architect as a result, and giving you a competitive advantage over your peers.
The MUD program welcomes applications from individuals who hold (or will hold by program start) one of the following degrees:
- An accredited professional master’s degree in architecture, urban planning, or landscape architecture
- An accredited professional bachelor's degree in architecture, urban planning, or landscape architecture
- A pre-professional, studio-based bachelor’s degree in architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture, or environmental design
For more information on our application and prerequisite degree requirements, please visit our MUD Admissions page. If you are a current CU Denver M.Arch, MLA, or MURP student, please see the MUD Dual Degree section below for more information about joining the MUD program.
Urban Design Faculty
Our urban design faculty boasts nationally and regionally renowned urban design practitioners and professionals with expertise in architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture, and civil engineering. Click the links below to learn more about the amazing faculty you will learn from in our MUD program.
Urban Design Advisory Council
In addition to our faculty practitioners, you will also have direct contact with the members of our Urban Design Advisory Council (UDAC) that was established in 2019 to support CU Denver’s MUD program and its students. The UDAC is a “who’s who” of urban designers in Colorado, and you will interact with them not only in the classroom and studio, but through mentorships, internships, and networking
The MUD program curriculum features a mix of lecture and studio courses that comprehensively cover the spectrum of urban design theory and practice and emphasize hands-on experiential learning and skills development.
The MUD curriculum consists of nine courses totaling 36 credits: one studio and three lecture courses in the fall, one studio and three lecture courses in the spring, and our global travel studio. You can complete the program in a single calendar year as a full-time immersive experience, or you can pursue the degree on a part-time basis over a longer timeframe. To earn the MUD degree, you must successfully complete all 36 credits.
Program Hallmarks
The following four Program Hallmarks distinguish the MUD program at CU Denver and are at the heart of our urban design curriculum:
Our Master of Urban Design program prepares students for professional practice and positions them for career advancement through ongoing engagement and partnerships with distinguished practitioners in urban design, architecture, city planning, landscape architecture, and related fields.
The curriculum draws significantly from practicing faculty to elevate the professional competency of students and prepare them for long-term career success. Students are exposed to the many issues that cities currently face, including planning policy; zoning and development regulations; public realm design; mobility and transportation; economics; social equity and environmental sustainability; and community engagement. This allows students to develop a deep understanding of the role of urban design in the city-building process and learn from practitioners who are actively crafting and implementing urban design plans.
Our Master of Urban Design program develops sustained partnerships with local communities and organizations to work together to advance the goals of the MUD program, urban design practice, and the broader community through the exchange of ideas and the exploration of creative design concepts. It is critical that the design of cities and the spaces and places that urban designers help shape have people as their central focus.
For urban designers to best design cities as people-centered places, they must engage with the community in meaningful ways. These partnerships recognize the wealth of resources and wisdom that already exists within communities and focus on understanding their issues, problems, and challenges. These community partnerships require students and faculty to approach engagement with a “listen and learn” attitude, foster mutually beneficial relationships, and ultimately create lasting positive impacts for all people and places.
Our Master of Urban Design program focuses on the connections between urban form, public space, social equity and justice, ecological systems, environmental quality, and public health that exist at multiple scales. From the street to the neighborhood and from the city to the region, students explore the complex infrastructure systems, social networks, and ecosystems that affect our built and natural environments and look to develop new paradigms and design solutions that fight against environmental degradation, climate change, and social and racial inequities.
Emphasizing the need for multidisciplinary approaches, the MUD program focuses on social, economic, and environmental sustainability and resilience in our cities and towns and the critical role that urban design plays in addressing climate change, inequities in underserved and historically marginalized communities, and public health.
Our Master of Urban Design program is structured to train students how to communicate confidently with other disciplines, facilitate effective teamwork, and tackle complex urban issues to create the next generation of civic and design leaders. Urban design is positioned at the intersection of multiple professions that participate in the city-building process including architecture, landscape architecture, city planning, civil engineering, and public policy and finance.
A strong urban designer has a working knowledge of these allied disciplines and applies a breadth of knowledge to their professional work. The MUD program curates a student’s skillset to position them to play critical leadership roles guiding multi-disciplinary teams and to advance the careers of those already working in urban design as well as provide a rigorous and comprehensive platform for those newly embarking on an urban design career.
MUD Dual Degrees
The MUD Dual Degree option allows you to earn the MUD degree along with either the Master of Architecture (M.Arch), the Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP), or the Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) degree.
Each of these dual degrees represents a “two-degrees, one-curriculum” arrangement that meets the requirements for both degrees while double-counting course credits that apply to both programs, saving you time and money.
You may add MUD as a dual degree if you are already a member of the M.Arch, MURP, or MLA program. Or you may apply to MUD concurrently with applying to the M.Arch, MURP, or MLA program. For more information, click on one of the tabs below.
How It Works. The M.Arch + MUD Dual Degree reduces the total credits required to earn both degrees by double-counting up to four MUD lecture courses as M.Arch electives.
As an M.Arch + MUD Dual Degree student, you take up to four MUD lecture courses as you progress through the M.Arch program. After you’ve completed the M.Arch degree requirements, you take the three MUD studios and the remaining MUD lecture courses to conclude the MUD program. You are then eligible to graduate and receive both your M.Arch and MUD degrees.
For more information, please review the M.Arch + MUD Dual-Degree Info & Advising Sheet or contact your academic advisor.
How to Apply. You may may apply to the M.Arch and MUD programs at the same time, or you may apply to MUD after you have already been admitted into the M.Arch program.
If you apply to the M.Arch and MUD programs concurrently, you must be admitted into both programs in order to take advantage of the M.Arch + MUD Dual Degree option. If you apply to both programs but are not admitted into the M.Arch program, you cannot be admitted into the MUD program unless you already possess a professional or pre-professional degree in a planning/design field that would independently qualify you to be admitted into MUD.
If you apply to the MUD program after you’ve already started in the M.Arch program, you must have a minimum 3.00 cumulative GPA in the M.Arch program to be admitted into the MUD program.
Unless you already possess a professional or pre-professional degree in a planning/design field that would independently qualify you to be admitted into the MUD program, completing the M.Arch program is required in order to earn the MUD degree, as the M.Arch degree serves as the qualifying professional degree for the MUD. If you voluntarily or involuntarily leave the M.Arch program, you cannot graduate from the MUD program unless you already possess a qualifying professional or pre-professional degree in a planning/design field.
How It Works. The MLA + MUD Dual Degree reduces the total credits required to earn both degrees by double-counting three MUD lecture courses as MLA electives.
As an MLA + MUD Dual Degree student, you take up to three MUD lecture courses as you progress through the MLA program. After you’ve completed the MLA degree requirements, you take the three MUD studios and the remaining MUD lecture courses to conclude the MUD program. You are then eligible to graduate and receive both your MLA and MUD degrees.
For more information, please review the MLA + MUD Dual-Degree Info & Advising Sheet or contact your academic advisor.
How to Apply. You may may apply to the MLA and MUD programs at the same time, or you may apply to MUD after you have already been admitted into the MLA program.
If you apply to the MLA and MUD programs concurrently, you must be admitted into both programs in order to take advantage of the MLA + MUD Dual Degree option. If you apply to both programs but are not admitted into the MLA program, you cannot be admitted into the MUD program unless you already possess a professional or pre-professional degree in a planning/design field that would independently qualify you to be admitted into MUD.
If you apply to the MUD program after you’ve already started in the MLA program, you must have a minimum 3.00 cumulative GPA in the MLA program to be admitted into the MUD program.
Unless you already possess a professional or pre-professional degree in a planning/design field that would independently qualify you to be admitted into the MUD program, completing the MLA program is required in order to earn the MUD degree, as the MLA degree serves as the qualifying professional degree for the MUD. If you voluntarily or involuntarily leave the MLA program, you cannot graduate from the MUD program unless you already possess a qualifying professional or pre-professional degree in a planning/design field.
How It Works. The MURP + MUD Dual Degree reduces the total credits required to earn both degrees by double-counting four MUD lecture courses as MURP electives.
As a MURP + MUD Dual Degree student, you take up to four MUD lecture courses as you progress through the MURP program. After you’ve completed the MURP degree requirements, you take the three MUD studios and the remaining MUD lecture courses to conclude the MUD program. You are then eligible to graduate and receive both your MURP and MUD degrees.
For more information, please review the MURP + MUD Dual-Degree Info & Advising Sheet or contact your academic advisor.
How to Apply. You may may apply to the MURP and MUD programs at the same time, or you may apply to MUD after you have already been admitted into the MURP program.
If you apply to the MURP and MUD programs concurrently, you must be admitted into both programs in order to take advantage of the MURP + MUD Dual Degree option. If you apply to both programs but are not admitted into the MURP program, you cannot be admitted into the MUD program unless you already possess a professional or pre-professional degree in a planning/design field that would independently qualify you to be admitted into MUD.
If you apply to the MUD program after you’ve already started in the MURP program, you must have a minimum 3.00 cumulative GPA in the MURP program to be admitted into the MUD program.
Unless you already possess a professional or pre-professional degree in a planning/design field that would independently qualify you to be admitted into the MUD program, completing the MURP program is required in order to earn the MUD degree, as the MURP degree serves as the qualifying professional degree for the MUD. If you voluntarily or involuntarily leave the MURP program, you cannot graduate from the MUD program unless you already possess a qualifying professional or pre-professional degree in a planning/design field.
What is Urban Design?
The MUD program views urban design as the holistic integration of architecture, urban planning, and landscape architecture, and embrace urban design as:
The Design of the Public Realm that includes the form of the city and its places, focusing on the processes that produce thriving communities and shape public life over time. Thriving communities are sustainable and resilient and prioritize human-scaled design and result from inclusive and equitable design and decision processes.
An Integrative Discipline that requires strong leadership and collaborative skills to solve complex problems and guide multi-disciplinary work at various physical and temporal scales where design is the common thread. Urban designers must have strong skills in spatial and physical design as well as systems and process thinking.
An Implementation-Focused Practice that requires a clear understanding of the relationships between design, policy, regulations, economics, and culture and the potential of collaborative partnerships and community engagement in the delivery and evolution of urban places over time that are sustainable and equitable.
Our Mission and Vision
Our MUD program’s vision: We are an international model for training the urban designers of tomorrow that works closely with urban design professionals and the community to create places that enrich people and the planet.
Our MUD program’s mission is to:
- Teach and train students to become exceptional urban design thinkers, practitioners, and leaders in their communities.
- Collaborate with urban designers to advance the profession and position it at the intersection of the city-building disciplines.
- Engage with the community to create great places that are sustainable, inclusive, equitable, healthy, and inspiring, while providing students with real-world learning experiences.
Study Abroad Opportunities
Our Master of Urban Design program is a proud partner in the academic agreement between CU Denver and the University of Chile’s Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo (College of Architecture and Planning) in Santiago, Chile. This special relationship between CU Denver and the University of Chile provides MUD students the opportunity to study urban design in Chile for URBN 6700 - Urban Design Global Studio, among other potential engagements and collaborations.
Urban Design Program News
A Green Corridor Plan Comes to Life in Santiago, Chile
A corridor through Lo Espejo—a municipality in Santiago, Chile—offers an opportunity to increase connectivity and community. The 2026 Public Spaces Studio traveled to Santiago and worked in collaboration with local public officers and community members to prepare a plan for a new urban greenway.
Urban Design Studio Recap: Small-Scale Urbanism for Big Impact
Urban Design Studio Im led by Adjunct Associate Professor Peter Park, simulates a professional, cross-disciplinary consultant–client experience, emphasizing design excellence and implementation while preparing students to collaborate across disciplines and translate design thinking into practical strategies for complex, real-world, urban challenges.
Urban Design Global Studio Chile 2025 Recap
The Master of Urban Design (MUD) and Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) programs’ focus for their summer study abroad program is on Santiago, Chile, which shares many commonalities with Denver and Colorado in terms of settlement patterns, culture, language, and urbanism, while still allowing students to experience and study urban design and urban planning from diverse and unique perspectives.
Urban Design STEM Designation
The Master of Urban Design (MUD) program at the University of Colorado Denver is now a STEM-designated degree program. This designation, F-1 STEM OPT (Optional Practical Training) effective June 2024, makes it possible for international students possessing an F-1 visa to extend their time working in the U.S. after graduation from one year to three years.
Tuition & Fees
The University of Colorado Denver has one of the most affordable tuition rates in Colorado. Our tuition and fees are set by the Board of Regents, the governing body of the University of Colorado. Tuition is based on student classification (undergraduate, graduate, academic program, resident or nonresident) and you can find out what rates will apply to your situation here.
All CAP Graduate Programs have WICHE-WRGP (Western Regional Graduate Program) status, which grants in-state resident tuition to students from 15 western states including California, Washington, Oregon and Arizona.
Living in Denver
MUD Program Contacts
College of Architecture and Planning
CU Denver
CU Denver Building
1250 14th Street
2000
Denver, CO 80202
303-315-1000
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