Program Overview
The Master’s Program in Landscape Architecture is rooted in landscape planning and design, aiming at both social application and cutting-edge academic research. Leveraging the university’s strong background in science and engineering, it embraces the interdisciplinary and integrative nature of the information age, and advocates an “industry-education integration” approach to education. With a focus on cultural heritage preservation and large-scale landscape restoration, the program cultivates high-level design and management professionals who possess a rigorous academic attitude, mastery of scientific methods, critical thinking, and innovative capabilities.
This program offers four research directions: Cultural Heritage Preservation and Engineering Technology, Large-Scale Landscape Planning and Ecological Restoration, Garden Design and Plant Application, and Recreation and Scenic Area Planning and Design. In recent years, it has actively explored the application of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data in landscape architecture practice, with a focus on enhancing students’ comprehensive practical abilities in addressing future living environments and sustainable development.
Faculty Strength
This program has a faculty team with extensive experience in both teaching and project practice. span various fields, including landscape architecture, architecture, urban and rural planning, and human geography. Most faculty members have hands-on project experience and have participated in international collaborations, demonstrating a broad professional perspective and strong cross-cultural communication abilities.
Several faculty members in the team have been selected for talent programs such as the Shanghai “Pujiang Talent Program” and the “Morning Light Program.” They have led projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation, the National Social Science Foundation, and the National Arts Fund. Their research areas cover urban and rural cultural heritage preservation, green and carbon-neutral landscapes, intelligent landscape system construction, and urban renewal design. Relying on abundant research resources and practical networks, the program promotes the integration of theoretical research and social service.
Teaching Philosophy
This program adheres to the teaching philosophy of “industry-education integration and unity of knowledge and action,” and aims to build a comprehensive talent cultivation system oriented toward engineering practice and industry needs: ① Moral education and talent cultivation: strengthening curriculum-based ideological and political education to develop professionals with a sense of social responsibility and landscape ethics; ② Integration of science and art: leveraging strengths in science and engineering to promote the application and innovation of technical tools in design practice; ③ Industry-education integration: aligning with industry and local development to enhance students’ hands-on abilities and systems thinking through practical projects.
In addition, the program expands students’ academic horizons and international communication skills through expert lectures, design workshops, and joint exhibitions between Chinese and international institutions.
Teaching Achievements
In recent years, the program has undertaken multiple national and provincial-level teaching reform projects, with several courses selected as first-class courses at both the national and Shanghai municipal levels. Graduate students have actively participated in research projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation, the National Social Science Foundation, and the Ministry of Education’s Humanities and Social Sciences programs, and have won numerous awards in domestic and international competitions such as Milan Design Week and “Shanghai Design 100+.” Graduates are primarily employed in design agencies, brand enterprises, research institutes, universities, and government or public institutions. Some students have gone on to pursue doctoral degrees at prestigious universities both in China and abroad. The program’s graduates enjoy high employment quality, strong development potential, and a positive reputation in society.
At the same time, the program has established multiple on-campus and off-campus practice bases and university–enterprise cooperation platforms. Leveraging deep collaboration with government and industry, students participate in projects such as urban and rural spatial transformation, ecological landscape design, public service facility improvement, and rural tourism brand planning. These efforts help promote the implementation and transformation of project outcomes, generate positive social impact, and fully demonstrate the applied value and social service capacity of landscape architecture education.
