Overview

Founded in 1966, the Master of Regional Planning at METU is Türkiye's first graduate program in regional planning, originally established to help address regional inequalities. As socio-economic conditions and governance approaches have evolved, the program has expanded from a classical regional planning focus toward a contemporary framework emphasizing regional development under conditions of economic restructuring, spatial inequality, environmental pressures, and multi-level governance. Its mission is to equip planners to design regional policies and strategies, guided by four objectives: sustainable regional economies, adaptive learning capacity and competitiveness, liveable environments, and governance systems that empower local actors while connecting to national and global networks.

Program requirements commonly include a structured set of core and elective courses and a thesis. Coursework supports specialization in areas such as regional economic development, rural–urban linkages, migration and settlement systems, regional resilience, transportation and logistics corridors, environmental planning, and governance and institutional design. The thesis component enables students to conduct rigorous research or applied planning studies under faculty supervision, contributing to both academic knowledge and policy-relevant practice.

Curriculum

Course Descriptions

RP501 Regional Planning Studio I (2-2)3 

Regional Planning Studio is designed for graduate students interested in understanding regional planning, development and analysis. The course provides a theoretical and practical framework to address challenges in regional planning, including territorial development, land use and preservation, transportation networks, economic development, and environmental sustainability. Throughout the course students will explore the history, institutional practices, limitations and current challenges of regional planning. There will also be a strong focus on governance issues related to regional planning. Participants will engage in class activities, case studies, and group discussions to develop strategic solutions that balance growth with sustainability in diverse regional contexts.

RP546 Workshop on Regional Economic Restructuring (3-0)3 

In this course, graduate students explore theories and case studies on deindustrialization, innovation-based economies, service-sector transitions, regional disparities, and post-growth strategies, while examining the spatial consequences of economic transformation, including changes in labor markets, investment flows, and territorial cohesion. The course also evaluates institutional frameworks and governance mechanisms for managing economic restructuring across multiple scales and supports students in developing inclusive and sustainable regional development strategies that prioritize equity, resilience, and long-term competitiveness.