Global Urban Change (IHS)

The 12-month English-taught MSc in Global Urban Change at IHS equips students to tackle urban challenges through flexible specialisations in climate or socio-spatial transformations.

Cities are changing fast, but each city changes in its own unique way. To address this, IHS is moving beyond the conventional disciplinary boundaries of traditional urban development, planning, and policy. The Global Urban Change programme requires students to look past these labels and rethink how cities are studied, shaped, and sustained. You don't just study what a city is; you investigate how it changes.
Participants explore integrated, sustainable approaches such as harnessing nature-based solutions, navigating circular economies, and managing vital resource flows. The curriculum also examines the social, economic, and technological forces shaping cities, evaluating housing policies, identifying innovation as a growth driver, and analysing financialisation processes.
This international master's degree equips students to connect urban problems on the ground, convene key stakeholders to make a positive impact, and turn ideas into actions that make cities resilient and future-proof. Driven by a global perspective, participants acquire the cross-disciplinary skills necessary to shape the forces that define our urban future.