Spatial Planning for Regions in Growing Economies (SPRING) TU Dortmund University

The SPRING programme combines teaching in urban and regional planning as well as related fields of housing, infrastructure and land management with field studies aimed at elaborating urban and regional plans in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Employing a postcolonial lens on spatial planning, SPRING enables students to understand planning as an activity that is context dependent and place specific. Furthermore, SPRING students acknowledge the broad range of planning systems and approaches globally, as well as multiple everyday practices of city-making. They are able to reflect on existing urban and regional planning systems and approaches as well as informal practices in a comparative manner. Based on this, they are able to manage participatory processes and devise planning strategies and concepts that are scientifically sound, locally adapted and future oriented.

The SPRING programme provides students with the following set of competences:

• to understand concepts, strategies and practices of urban and regional planning, and to critically reflect on their transferability to other places based on postcolonial planning approaches
• to critically assess planning processes against the backdrop of globalisation, rapid urbanisation and climate change
• to translate the needs of target groups — differentiated by gender, age and socio-economic situation — into spatial plans, projects and programmes
• to draw up spatial plans and shape policies on the basis of comprehensive knowledge in the fields of land management, housing, and infrastructure systems
• to understand the practices of everyday city-making and incorporate them into planning processes

SPRING is a two-year Master's programme. The first year of the programme takes place at TU Dortmund University, followed by a second year at one of the five partner universities in Ghana, Tanzania, the Philippines, Brazil or Chile.

The SPRING curriculum consists of nine modules. The corresponding courses of the modules are offered as lectures, seminars, exercises, workshops and excursions.

The first year of the SPRING programme at TU Dortmund University consists of the modules one to five. Modules six to nine are offered by the SPRING partner universities.

First year (total 60 CP)

Module 1 Rapidly Urbanising Regions: Planning and Governance (7 CP)

Module 2 Project Planning Practice (12 CP)

Module 3 Climate Change, Land, Infrastructures in Rapidly Urbanising Regions (24 CP)

Module 4 Spatial Planning in Germany in a Comparative Perspective (9 CP)

Module 5 Planning Tools & Methods (8 CP)

Second year (total 60 CP)

Module 7 Planning and Research Methods

Module 8a) Policy Planning and Implementation in Ghana

Module 8b) Policy Planning and Implementation in the Philippines

Module 8c) Urban Planning and Management in Tanzania

Module 8d) Planning, Governance and Public Policies for Sustainability in Brazil

Module 8e) Policy Planning and Implementation in Chile

Module 9 Development Planning Workshop

Module 10 Master's thesis

Detailed information about courses and course contents can be found in the SPRING Module Handbook (https://raumplanung.tu-dortmund.de/storages/raumplanung/r/Downloads/Modulhandbuecher/Module_Handbook_SPRING_2026.pdf).

• Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana
• Ardhi University (ARU), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• University of the Philippines (UP), Manila, The Philippines
• Universidad Austral de Chile (UACh), Valdivia, Chile
• Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), São Paulo, Brazil

• Bachelor's degree or its equivalent with significantly above-average grades in either spatial planning, regional planning, urban planning, or a discipline with a planning-relevant focus
• professional experience in a planning-related field
• a strong commitment to further work in regional development planning is desirable

• TU Dortmund: 340 EUR per semester, incl. "Deutschlandticket"
• Universidade Federal do ABC: no semester contribution
• Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology: 1,681 EUR (administrative charges)
• Ardhi University: 95 USD (registration/examination)
• University of the Philippines: 710 EUR (registration/examination)
• Universidad Austral de Chile: 460 EUR (matriculation/degree fee)

Include: living expenses, accommodation and health insurance

Germany: approx. 1,000 EUR per month
Brazil: approx. 985 USD per month
Ghana: approx. 730 USD per month
Tanzania: approx. 785 USD per month
Philippines: approx. 640 EUR per month
Chile: approx. 724 EUR per month

Part-time employment is not advisable because the SPRING programme is a full-time study programme.

At all SPRING universities (except for Brazil and Chile), accommodation in student hostels on campus is organised by SPRING for all participants who have formally expressed their desire to stay in these facilities. This is organised well in advance in order to provide students with an affordable place to stay the very moment they arrive in Dortmund, Kumasi, Dar es Salaam, and Manila. Rent for a single room in a student residence is approx. 50 to 340 EUR per month, depending on the country. The universities in São Paulo and Valdivia provide special support to find accommodation via the private housing market.

A university with a unique profile:
Since its founding in 1968, TU Dort­mund Uni­ver­sity has developed a special profile encompassing 17 departments ranging from science and engineering to social sciences and cultural studies. The uni­ver­si­ty has around 29,500 students and more than 6,500 employees, in­clu­ding 340 professors. 6,400 of all students have an international background, which constitutes 19.5% of the total student body.

TU Dort­mund Uni­ver­sity has a strong focus on re­search. The uni­ver­si­ty’s departments – e.g. mechanical engineering (with its emphasis on production and logistics), physics, biochemical and chemical engineering, statistics and computer science, and education re­search – are well known for their outstanding re­search achievements both nationally and internationally.

Students at TU Dort­mund Uni­ver­sity can choose from classical subjects and in­no­va­ti­ve courses of study such as medical physics or degree programmes in spatial planning, statistics, and journalism. A particular focus is on teacher train­ing. TU Dort­mund Uni­ver­sity is one of only a few universities in Germany that offers professional teaching qualifications for all types of schools.

TU Dortmund University is part of the Uni­ver­sity Alliance Ruhr (UA Ruhr). Together with its partner universities, Ruhr University Bochum and the University of Duisburg-Essen, the UA Ruhr is one of the largest and most powerful university alliances in Germany. The alliance is strong in international research and offers students the opportunity to participate in courses offered by all three universities and earn credits with minimal bureaucratic effort.

With more than 6,500 employees, TU Dort­mund Uni­ver­sity is one of Dort­mund’s largest employers and has helped drive the transformation of the city and the Ruhr region from Europe’s largest coal mining and steel production area into a high-tech and service location as well as a cultural metropolis.

Dortmund is located in the heart of Europe. It is the largest city in the Ruhr region and is home to the Borussia Dortmund (BVB) soccer club. All of this contributes to the many advantages that will make studying in Dort­mund an unforgettable experience. Apart from destinations for football fans, there are many other places of interest to discover in Dort­mund and the Ruhr region.