Urban Design and Landscape Architecture in Turkey: the short answer
Urban Design and Landscape Architecture (Kentsel Tasarım ve Peyzaj Mimarlığı) is a four-year, studio-based design degree that shapes public spaces, parks, streets, waterfronts and city districts. İstanbul Medipol University teaches it in Turkish for $4,500 a year in 2026/27 ($4,050 paid in advance). For graduate study, Işık University lists Turkish-taught master's programmes in Landscape Architecture at $3,500 without a thesis and $4,000 with a thesis.
The programme combines two disciplines that many countries teach separately: landscape architecture, with its focus on ecology, plants, terrain and water, and urban design, with its focus on the form of streets, squares and neighbourhoods. Bilkent University in Ankara describes its department, founded in 1991, as Turkey's first undergraduate programme to bring the two together.
The core of the degree is the design studio: every semester you develop projects from site analysis to drawings, models and a public presentation, and receive critique from tutors and juries.
What you study, year by year
- Basic design studio
- Technical drawing and representation
- Introduction to ecology and plant materials
- History of gardens, landscapes and cities
- Landscape design studio: parks and open spaces
- Topography, grading and site engineering
- Digital design: CAD, GIS and 3D modelling
- Plant design and planting technology
- Urban design studio: streets, squares and neighbourhoods
- Urban planning and zoning principles
- Construction details and materials
- Internship in a design office
- Large-scale design studio: waterfronts, regional landscapes
- Professional practice and legislation
- Ecology or botany field internship
- Graduation project
Bilkent's department, for example, requires two internships, one in professional design practice and one in ecology and botany. Ask each university how internships are organised and whether studio projects use real sites in the city.
Entry requirements for international applicants
- a completed secondary-school certificate and transcript; good grades in mathematics, geometry and art help;
- Turkish at the level the university sets, or its Turkish preparatory programme; Medipol's 2026/27 list charges $1,390 for its Turkish foundation school;
- a portfolio of drawings, sketches or photographs is not usually required but helps you decide and can support a motivation letter;
- a passport and translated documents, then the equivalence certificate (denklik) after admission;
- for a master's, a bachelor's in landscape architecture, architecture, urban planning or a related design field.
Application steps and timing
- A year before. Try freehand drawing and a basic CAD course; visit parks and public spaces and photograph what works and what does not.
- Six to nine months before. Start Turkish, gather school documents and shortlist programmes.
- Application. Apply online; the university decides admission.
- After acceptance. Pay the deposit, apply for a student visa (the consulate decides) and budget for a laptop that runs design software.
- On arrival. Register, obtain denklik and apply for the residence permit, which the migration authority decides.
How to compare programmes
- Studio culture. Studio hours, tutor-to-student ratio and the jury system.
- Balance. Some programmes lean to ecology and planting, others to urban form and architecture; read the studio topics.
- Digital tools. GIS, parametric design and visualisation software taught in the curriculum.
- Internships. Design offices, municipalities and nurseries or ecology sites.
- Professional path. Practice in Turkey is organised through the TMMOB Chamber of Landscape Architects; ask the university how graduates, including foreign nationals, register.
Common mistakes: expecting mainly gardening or mainly architecture, and underestimating the workload of studio projects with frequent overnight deadlines.
Universities and published tuition
Programmes with a published international fee. Bilkent's department in Ankara is another option; ask the university for its current international fee.
| University | Programme as listed | Degree | Language | Published tuition | Fee year and basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medipol University | Urban Design and Landscape Architecture | Bachelor | Turkish | $4,500/yr | 2026/27 · per year |
| Isik University | Landscape Architecture (Turkish) (non-thesis) | Master | Turkish | $3,500 | 2025/26 spring-semester list · whole programme |
| Isik University | Landscape Architecture (Turkish) (with thesis) | Master | Turkish | $4,000 | 2025/26 spring-semester list · whole programme |
Sources: İstanbul Medipol University, Işık University. Medipol shows a lower advance-payment price ($4,050). Işık had not published its 2026/27 graduate fees for international students when this page was checked; the latest list is for the 2025/26 spring semester.
Add model materials, printing, software, field trips, housing, insurance and the residence permit to your budget.
Careers in urban and landscape design
Graduates work in landscape-architecture and urban-design offices, architecture and planning firms, municipal parks and urban-design departments, real-estate and infrastructure developers, and environmental consultancies. Specialisations include public-space design, ecological restoration, green infrastructure and climate adaptation, and visualisation.
Your portfolio decides the first job. Keep your best studio projects, competition entries and internship work in a clear portfolio. Working in Turkey after graduation requires a work permit, applied for by the employer.
Who this programme suits
A strong fit if you…
- you enjoy drawing, design and spending time outdoors;
- you care about cities, climate and how public spaces are used;
- you can take critique and work to studio deadlines;
- you are comfortable studying in Turkish.
Think twice if…
- you want to design individual buildings, where Architecture fits better;
- you prefer policy and statistics, where Urban and Regional Planning fits better;
- you need an English-taught programme with a published international fee.
Plan your Urban Design and Landscape Architecture application
During the free initial consultation, we clarify your goal, profile, timing, and budget and identify the next realistic step. A personal strategy, requirement checks, selection of agreed options, document preparation, applications, and support are provided under an agreement with StudyU. The university decides admission, the consulate decides the visa, and the migration authority decides the residence permit.
Frequently asked questions
It is a four-year design degree covering landscape architecture (ecology, plants, terrain, water) and urban design (streets, squares and neighbourhoods), taught mainly through design studios.
İstanbul Medipol University lists $4,500 a year for 2026/27, or $4,050 with advance payment. Işık's latest graduate list (2025/26 spring semester) shows $3,500 and $4,000 for its Landscape Architecture master's programmes.
Medipol's programme is taught in Turkish, as are Işık's master's programmes. Ask other universities, such as Bilkent, about their language and current international fee.
Architecture focuses on buildings. Urban Design and Landscape Architecture works on the spaces between and around them, from parks and streets to whole districts and regional landscapes.
Usually not for the programmes on this page, but drawing practice helps you judge whether studio work suits you and prepares you for the first-year design studio.
Under an agreement with StudyU, we compare programmes, check language and document requirements and prepare the applications. The university decides admission.
Official sources
- YÖK Atlas: official program catalogue — program availability, institution and stated language of instruction. International quotas and tuition require the university's own current source.
- YÖK: official international-student information — the official university search route and general international-student guidance. The chosen university still owns its admission requirements.
- ÖSYM: official TR-YÖS exam (2026) — the official calendar and application route for TR-YÖS/1 in 2026. Each university publishes whether the result is required for the selected program.
All tuition figures on this page are published by the universities in US dollars, so no currency conversion was applied. YÖK Atlas lists landscape and urban-design programmes with their language of instruction; fee sources are linked under the table.
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