Study Urban Studies in Europe

This two-year master's degree takes an interdisciplinary approach to rethinking cities and socio-environmental change, focusing on urban nature, housing, and infrastructure. Students engage with materials, architecture, landscapes, and technology against the backdrop of global capitalist dynamics and persistent social hierarchies, with the program centering affordability and reparative action as tools for transforming planning, policy, and society.

The program brings together students with diverse backgrounds, including architects seeking a broader perspective, social studies graduates aiming to ground theory in real neighborhoods, and artists interested in engaging with urban life, united by a shared concern for social equity across both built and natural environments. Students develop skills in critical thinking, institutional literacy, strategic planning, community engagement, fieldwork, and academic writing, along with foundational methods in design, mapping, and geographic information systems, often through project-based work, site visits, and small-group, student-led learning closely supported by tutors.

In the first semester, students engage with the concept of urbanization through studio work, urban history and theory, creative urban research methods, debates in planning, and urban geography, alongside foundational drawing and software skills. The second semester turns toward urban futures, exploring urban models, ecological perspectives on the built environment, and the design and politics of housing, continuing the study of urban history and theory. The third semester centers on the production of urban space through an urban design studio and a related seminar, alongside coursework examining how cities are contested and observed, while beginning preparation for the master's thesis. The fourth and final semester is dedicated entirely to the master's thesis.

Throughout the program, students are immersed in the everyday life and infrastructural surroundings of their host city, complemented by field trips to other cities that emphasize urban justice and everyday urban life. A central concern throughout the program is geographical difference and positionality, with students encouraged to develop non-extractive ways of engaging with communities across diverse geographic contexts, particularly during their thesis research, which has previously addressed topics such as anti-gentrification movements, urban river regulation, post-disaster recovery, and the impact of development pressures on coastal fishing communities.

Suitable applicants hold a bachelor's degree or equivalent qualification in a field such as architecture, landscape architecture, geography, construction, art history, sociology, urban planning, political science, or another arts and humanities discipline, along with English proficiency at the B2 level. The application includes a CV of up to three pages, a motivation letter of up to 500 words explaining the applicant's interest in the program and understanding of concepts such as city, urbanism, and urbanization, and either a portfolio, a writing sample, or a combination of creative and written work, depending on the applicant's background.

Selection takes place in two rounds. In the first round, applications are evaluated based on the CV, prior academic performance, motivation letter, and portfolio or writing sample, with particular attention to intellectual curiosity, an imaginative grasp of urban questions, a strong academic record, and a clear sense of how the applicant's education and experience have prepared them for the program; while published or realized work is not required, it is considered an advantage. Shortlisted candidates are then invited to an in-depth interview, conducted via video call, which forms the basis for the final admission decision.

This bachelor's program trains professional sociologists, building a solid grasp of the concepts, principles, and methods of sociology and the ability to identify and interpret social problems meaningfully. Teaching combines traditional lectures and seminars with project-based learning, including one semester of intensive project work, and is well suited to students interested in understanding how social roles and norms organize cooperation, how conflicts emerge and are managed at both individual and societal levels, and how new technologies shape everyday life. It is delivered over three years, entirely in English.

Foundational coursework in sociology, social theory, and social history runs through most of the program, including multiple introductory sociology courses, the study of family and society, a three-part sequence on social history, coursework on social structures and processes, the major currents of social thought, and the history of sociology itself.

Alongside this theoretical foundation, students build quantitative research skills through coursework in sociological research methods, data analysis, and statistics, culminating in an intensive, multi-semester project seminar. Students also complete elective coursework in qualitative methods, choosing from options such as interviewing, narrative interviewing, the hermeneutical analysis of narrative interviews, or the analysis of historical sources.

The program draws on related disciplines through coursework in psychology, cultural anthropology, philosophy for social scientists, social psychology, and the history and theory of international society, with further electives available in areas such as citizenship and nationalism or human rights.

Students also complete a substantial block of elective coursework in specific subfields of sociology, with options including inter-ethnic relations, urban studies, the sociology of youth, culture, or communication, social theories of modernity, the sociology of illness and the body, social media research and big data, network research, the study of organizations, and readings in memory, identity, and microsociology, among others. Students wishing to deepen their expertise in a particular area can pursue specializations such as data analysis or criminology, which group coursework within a focused subfield and lead to an additional certification upon completion.

The program requires a supervised internship and dedicated coursework in academic communication, and concludes with a thesis, supported by both a thesis-writing course and thesis consultation.

Graduates go on to work across teaching, research, politics, public administration, media, social and health services, advertising, journalism, law, publishing, industry, and marketing, in roles such as community officer, social worker, youth worker, equality and diversity officer, or positions in marketing, research, public relations, recruitment, and human resources. The program also prepares students to continue into a master's degree in sociology or a related field.

Applicants must submit their secondary school certificate, records from their final two years of secondary school, a motivation letter describing their background, interests, and goals for the program, and a valid passport copy.

English proficiency must be demonstrated at B2 level, through an IELTS score of at least 5.5, a TOEFL iBT score between 46 and 59, a Cambridge English Scale score of at least 162, or another recognized certification; if no certificate has been obtained, proficiency will instead be assessed through a required video submission. Applicants who completed their prior education entirely in English are exempt from this requirement if they submit a notarized attestation and a detailed academic transcript confirming this.

As part of the application, applicants must submit a short video, approximately five to six minutes long, discussing social problems they observe in their personal life or society and reflecting on their possible causes; this video also serves as the program's entrance exam. Admission is based on a combined evaluation of academic performance, as reflected in the submitted documents, and the results of this video assessment, and a passing result on the assessment is required for admission.