Master in Urban Design, started and was formerly known as the concentration of Design for Built Environment, Master in Architecture, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), has become an independent study program. The Design for Built Environment concentration was initially developed in 1999 as one of the concentrations of Master in Urban and Regional Planning. The term built environment means a built area that becomes a living and working environment for the public. The built environment can be located in urban or rural areas.
The name of the concentration of Design for Built Environment emphasizes the environment design that focuses on urban problems and rural areas that face development problems. Since its beginning, this concentration has been the department’s collaborative program, between two fields of architecture and planning, agreeing to support the development of urban design study. In 2000, based on the Director Letter of the Postgraduate Program at Universitas Gadjah Mada No. 4305/J01.4/PP/99, the Design for Built Environment concentration was transferred from Master in Urban and Regional Planning to the Master in Architecture. The transfer decision was taken due to management issues and the suitability of core curriculum development. The shifting process did not change the support from the lecturers team who had pioneered the urban study.
Throughout 1999-2019, the concentration of Design for Built Environment, both under the Magister in Urban and Regional Planning and Magister in Architecture, has succeeded in graduating 332 graduates from 34 batches. These graduates have filled the job market as urban designers (staff consultants and design consultant owners); government employees (Department of Spatial Planning, Department of Public Works, Department of Regional Development and Planning, et cetera.); lecturers and teaching staffs in various Indonesian universities; property experts; parliament members; et cetera. The contribution of graduates’ numbers has been quite prominent because they have been in various professional lines related to urban design and built environment design.
In 2016, the Alumni Association of Urban Design Gadjah Mada “KARTAGAMA” was established. The urban design alumni association from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) “ARKI” was also formed in the same year. The year 2016 was an important year for the concentration of Design for Built Environment UGM and Master in Urban Design ITB to initiate the forum for establishing ASARKI (Asosiasi Sekolah Rancang Kota Indonesia or association of Indonesian urban design schools). The first meeting was held at the Department of Architecture and Planning Universitas Gadjah Mada on 24 August 2016, inviting Indonesian universities that carry out urban design study (ITB, ITS, and UNDIP). In 2018, USAKTI joined this initiation forum. For two years, the initiation forum has held meetings with discussion topics: Positioning of Urban Design Study Program in the DIKTI Nomenclature, Benchmarking of Urban Design Curriculum between Schools, Initiating the Formation of IARKI, et cetera. At the beginning of 2019, the ASARKI forum provided support and encouragement for the Declaration of the Indonesian Urban Design Experts Association in Jakarta on 11 January 2019. The role of the two alumni associations of UGM and ITB has also been very important, because KARTAGAMA and ARKI, as well as the urban designers, have collaborated the efforts for the formation of national professional associations.
In 2019, the Director-General of Learning and Student Affairs issued the Decree of the Director-General Belmawa No. 46 of 2019 concerning List of Study Program Names in Higher Education and the Decree of the Director-General Belmawa No. 47 of 2019 concerning Guidelines for Adjusting and Proposing Study Program Names. This Decree of the Director-General Belmawa is an implementation of Permenristekdikti (Regulation of the Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education) No. 33 of 2018 concerning Naming Study Programs in Higher Education and Decree of the Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education No. 57 of 2019 concerning Names of Study Programs in Higher Education. The Master in Urban Design has been listed in the Decree of the Director-General Belmawa No. 46 of 2019. It confirms the need for urban design expertise to become an area of study of its own and becomes a strong reason for the concentration of Design for Built Environment to develop into the Master in Urban Design.
