Applications for the Master's Programmes of the Joint Center of Urban Systems, "Urban Culture, Society and Space (MA)" and "Sustainable Urban Development (MSc)", are not possible for the winter semester 2021/22. We are currently working on a newly designed Master's Programme developed further from these two programmes.

Master's Degree Programmes Urban Systems

The complexity of urban systems touches on spatial, geographical, artistic, functional, infrastructural, cultural and social dimensions and can only be grasped adequately by means of interdisciplinary approaches. Solutions to key urban problems can no longer be developed sectorally, i.e. in discreet academic disciplines alone. Thus, it is necessary  that social studies and cultural studies as well as natural and engineering sciences join urban research and practice for the purpose of interdisciplinary cooperation.

So far, however, there are hardly any coherent academic teaching programs in the field of ‘Urban Studies’. Such programs would allow students to combine, within a single curriculum, courses from planning-technical areas and natural sciences with courses in cultural studies and social sciences. Furthermore, there has been little opportunity for students to practically apply aspects of arts and design in advanced scientific contexts.

Bearing in mind this need for interdisciplinary courses, the two closely-linked Master's Degree Programs ‘Urban Culture, Society, and Space’ (MA) and ‘Sustainable Urban Development’ (MSc) have been developed as part of the main research area ’Urban Systems’. These programs mediate and combine in their curricula competences from diverse academic disciplines central to the comprehension and sustainable design of urban systems. Such curricula require, above all, that students gain knowledge of specific disciplinary codes,  which are of utmost important for effective interdisciplinary collaborations in urban research and practice.

Key Characteristics of both Master's Degree Programmes

Every disciplinary approach on the subject of urban affairs is wrapped up in inherent urban complexity and thus in an interdisciplinary context. On this basis, integrative and complementary modules provide project-related, integrative orientation and interconnection of both Master's Programmes in order to expand the interdisciplinary field:

From a total of 9 modules (including the Master's thesis) 4 are chosen from the other Master's Degree Programme

• An internship of at least three months at a regional, national, or international business, organisation, public authority or association
• Eight participating faculties provide a wide selection of compulsory module options
• The Master's Programmes receive up-to-date research findings as a result of close connections with the  doctoral programme ‘ARUS’ (Advanced Research in Urban Systems)