Metropolitan Studies

Globalisation, de-industrialisation, the rise of information technology and migration have changed metropolitan life and the urban fabric of major cities. Contemporary cities are both internally divided social worlds and economic nodes in worldwide networks of capital and information, posing unforeseen challenges in terms of governance. The Research Master in Metropolitan Studies deals with the complex reality of urban centres from a number of perspectives drawn from

• urban and regional planning (planologie)
• urban and economic geography (stads- en economische geografie)
• and urban sociology (stadssociologie).

Students of the programme have the opportunity to develop their own internationally comparative, fieldwork-based research projects in the field of Metropolitan Studies. The curriculum includes a semester of study abroad, which is central to its internationally comparative approach. 

Studying Metropolitan Studies at the University of Amsterdam

The programme makes full use of its location in the thriving metropolis of Amsterdam through organising excursions to projects and neighbourhoods in the city and other Dutch urban centres, which are intended to acquaint students with urban praxis in the Netherlands. Student exchange agreements with foreign universities offer students the opportunity to study in cities such as New York, London and Berlin and to become familiar with other university cultures and city life in other countries. The programme has strong ties with the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research: the leading professors of four of AISR's research groups are responsible for the core courses of the MSc; students will work together with these professors in a research apprenticeship and a research article; and students are invited to attend academic activities at AISR.

Metropolitan Studies as a part-time programme

Part-time study is not possible in this programme.