Program Overview

Explore how building and infrastructure projects can be sustainably delivered in developing and emerging economies with our MSc Construction Management and International Development programme.

This interdisciplinary master’s course underscores the complexity of sustainable development, and focuses on development in countries undergoing rapid urbanisation.

Working with academics from our School of Construction Management and Engineering, you will learn how to manage construction programmes for sustainable development. You will also learn how to apply sustainable development principles in an integrated and holistic way across scales – from buildings, to neighbourhoods, to cities.

By understanding the frameworks that underpin the processes of design, construction, and implementation, you will be able to apply these processes in areas of rapid urbanisation – areas where there is an urgent need for infrastructure development projects to be responsive, inclusive, and sustainable.

During your studies, you will also consider the current state of the sector. For example, you will examine the capacity and capability of the construction industry – and individual companies – to manage and deliver international development programmes. As you study the changing nature and practice in the management, policy and environment of the construction sector – and specifically international development – you will develop an understanding of the challenges and opportunities currently facing the field.

A key component of this programme is engaging with the humanitarian issues associated with construction-sector activity, and you will examine:

• International construction labour markets
• The role of migrant workers
• The challenges of geographical and societal inequality, cultural dislocation and labour exploitation.

You will also learn how to effect successful construction sector reform through government policy, construction companies and their supply chains, and niche technologies.

Aimed at early- to mid-career professionals, this course is suitable for:

• Individuals who work in the international non-governmental sector in areas such as rebuilding
• Individuals who have a background in construction and work in an international context
• Individuals who work in central, local or regional government agencies in developing and emerging economies, and who are involved in construction related to development programmes
• Current undergraduate students with an interest in the role of construction, infrastructure and building programmes in developing and emerging economies.

At Reading, you will benefit from our renowned teaching and research. We are a respected, leading and innovative community at the very forefront of our discipline. Our academics are active researchers who incorporate their research – and its impact on industry – into their teaching, providing you with access to cutting-edge thinking.