SPRING, which stands for Spatial Planning for Regions in Growing Economies, is an international professional postgraduate programme in Regional and District Development planning and Management founded in 1985. SPRING offers a joint Master of Science programme delivered through a partnership between six partner universities: Technical University Dortmund in German, Ardhi University in Tanzania, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, University of the Philippines in the Philippines, Universidad Austral de Chile in Chile, and the Federal University of ABC in Brazil.
The SPRING students come from around the globe and from various professions related to regional or urban planning. Admission to the program is handled centrally, involving all partner countries, with an emphasis on having professional experience prior to joining the program alongside previous academic scores.
SPRING students spend the first year of their studies at TU-Dortmund and the second year in one of the six countries. At Ardhi University (ARU), the SPRING programme is offered through a Master's Degree in Urban and Regional Development Planning and Management (MSc URPM) jointly offered with TU Dortmund. The Department of Urban and Regional Planning has run the program since 2002.
At ARU, the SPRING programme focuses on urban planning and Management. The programme philosophy centres on enabling candidates to identify, analyse, and develop remedial measures/strategies for addressing urban and regional development issues, focusing on the global south. The emphasis is on improving students' skills, knowledge, and competencies in managing urban informality, spatial data management, and urban development control.
SPRING students doing their second year at ARU are required to take six core courses and one elective course selected from three options. In addition, each student is required to write and submit a master's dissertation.
CORE COURSES
ELECTIVE COURSES
The instructional language is English. Teaching and learning activities include lectures, independent studies, and practicals for the studio project. SPRING students develop research proposals, write dissertations and a publishable journal article for disseminating their research findings under the supervision of senior lecturers from the department Click here to view more details about staff profiles
The SPRING programme awards a joint MSc in Urban and Regional Development Planning and Management. TU Dortmund University and Ardhi University jointly issue the certificate and transcript.
More information about the SPRING programme visit spring.tu-dortmund.de
Admission and entry qualifications
Tanzanian citizens interested in applying for the SPRING program must submit their application in English via e-mail to spring@aru.ac.tz. Applications are always open from May 1st to September 15th of each academic year.
For more information about applications and deadlines visit: SPRING Application Periods
Entry qualifications
For more details about SPRING Admission Requirements including required documents can visit: Application and Requirements
COURSE DESCRIPTION
UP 701 Urban Development and Management Studio
The course is the primary focus of the SPRING Programme in the second year at ARU. It is designed to equip students with practical skills, spatial planning approaches, and analytical tools that can be applied to manage informality in built-up planned and unplanned areas. It also aims to equip with capabilities for enforcing urban land development rules, regulations, guidelines, conditions, and standards for controlling informality in urban areas. Students will be exposed to the complexity of real-world urban development problems and learn to initiate spatial planning interventions by applying approaches, tools, and urban development models.
UR 721 Urban Development and Management
The course is designed to enable students to understand the concepts, approaches, theories, and dynamics of urban land development in order to guide proper urban land management in the global South. It offers a theoretical foundation for carrying out the studio project. Students will learn contemporary urban planning theories and concepts and urban development approaches for addressing the challenges of informal urbanism and urban informality.
UR 711 Digital Data and Spatial Planning
The course aims to equip students with skills and knowledge to collect and analyze digital spatial data to inform urban planning. It considers Spatial Data capture tools and methods and Geospatial Analyses, including land cover analysis, land cover change detection, urban densification trend, quantitative urban change analysis, and qualitative urban change analysis. It also stresses the application of big data in the planning and evaluating urban development projects using GIS tools and remote sensing data sets.
UR 741 Research Methods for Spatial Planners
The course is designed to equip students with skills in developing a comprehensive research proposal, collecting data, and analyzing and reporting the research findings. It also equips students with the ability to apply qualitative and quantitative research approaches, including descriptive, inferential, and spatial statistics and qualitative data analysis. The course sets the foundation for students to collect, analyse, and write their dissertation reports.
UR 722 Planning for Resilient Cities
This course aims to equip students with the skills and knowledge to address and manage risks associated with natural and climate change hazards in urban settings. It deals with the concepts of climate change resilience and disaster risk management and analyses city and community-level adaptation and mitigation options for building resilience. Mainstreaming climate change adaptation planning in urban planning and development is also central to the course.
UR 731 Financing and Budgeting of Development Projects
The course focuses on mobilizing and budgeting financial resources for development projects. It equips students with skills to identify and analyze various financing options for development projects. It also covers principles of development budgeting and equips students with skills to develop, implement, and monitor capital budgets for various projects. It covers topics such as local governance finance, land-based infrastructure finance costing of development projects, and development planning and annual budgeting.
UR 723 Gender Inclusive Planning
The course is designed to equip students with theories, concepts, and frameworks for analyzing and mainstreaming gender issues in urban planning to ensure inclusive and sustainable urban development. It includes Gender theories and frameworks and gender-sensitive urban governance and planning tools. Students are also exposed to analysing case studies around the world on a gender-inclusive approach in practice and inclusive management of urban land development.
UR 724 Integrated Land use and Infrastructure planning
The course aims to enable students to understand urban land use and infrastructure dynamics and apply planning instruments to manage urban growth to achieve sustainable, equitable, and efficient urban development. It focuses on the relationship between land use and infrastructure and analyses urban infrastructure challenges. It also includes options for infrastructure financing. The focus is on achieving integrated land use and transportation plans.
Course Title: UR 712 Spatial Data Models and Modelling
The course is aims to equip students with skills and knowledge in modelling spatial data. It introduces students to different types of spatial data models and fundamental principles of modelling. It focuses on developing spatial models for planning interventions. It includes 4-Ms in the spatial modeling process, analysis of big data from different forms and sources, and decision-support tools.
UR 742 Dissertation
The course is designed to enable students to conduct research and write dissertations independently in the field of urban planning and management. Students are guided to identify a research topic and undertake an independent study to deepen their understanding or solution to a specific planning issue. The course requires students to conduct research and write scientific reports, i.e., master's dissertations, as well as produce a publishable journal article.
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