Urban Studies (research MSc)

The Research Master in Urban Studies combines several disciplines to provide a multidisciplinary and comprehensive approach to study urban change and the opportunities and challenges this produces.

The 21st century will be an urban century. Since 2008, more than half of the world population lives in urban areas, and this is expected to rise to sixty per cent in 2030. This growth will be concentrated in cities in Asia, mainly China and India, and to a lesser extent Africa and the Middle East but also the largest cities and metropolitan regions of Europe and North America will keep growing, despite a general population decline. Cities are simultaneously considered to be engines of economic growth and social, cultural, and political opportunities, as well as places where problems and vulnerabilities such as insecurity and inequality concentrate. Consequently, we need academics who are able to conduct high quality research on urban processes. Adressing urban issues and processes as they occur in multiple and intersecting academic domains, requires a multidisciplinary approach. The Research Master in Urban Studies (RMUS) combines the disciplines of urban geography, economic geography, urban and regional planning, and urban sociology to provide a multidisciplinary and comprehensive approach to studying urban change and the opportunities and challenges this produces.