Masters Degrees in Rural Planning, Netherlands

The cities of today are complex with interrelated economic, social, environmental and physical challenges which need to be balanced in the ever-changing urban environment.

The intensive 12-month MSc in Urban Management and Development is designed to equip participants with the knowledge and skills to become competent urban managers by offering an in-depth insight into urban issues, policies and trends around the world through a blend of lectures with case studies, discussions, working groups, group assignments and field visits and field work. More specifically, you will be looking into questions like (but not limited to):

What are the dynamics of urban growth? How do you manage a city in a holistic way? What about creating urban land and space use policies that reflect the “New Urban Agenda” goals? What are the theories that underpin good urban governance? Under what conditions are Public Private Partnerships (PPP) successful vehicles for urban development? How can local governments finance urban infrastructure? What is the right way to assess a social policy in the view of a paradigm shift?

The master programme is divided into three main periods: a core period, a specialization period and a thesis period. Visit our website or download the brochure to find more information about the programme structure and the knowledge you will gain during each period.

Training methodology

Throughout the course, students participate in interactive lectures, workshops and discussions, engage in group and individual exercises, analyse cases, give presentations and write papers and essays which aim to deepen their knowledge about the concepts and theory. The training methodology of the programme includes field visits, fieldwork, simulation games, discussions, best practices and case studies.

Why this programme?

• Get your degree from a top 100 university.
• Study in a international environment with people from over 45 different countries.
• Follow courses and guest lectures offered by leading scholars from various disciplines in the field urban management.
• Benefit from a unique methodology of interactive role-playing games where use your theoretical knowledge to solve real-life examples of urban issues.
• Tailor your study with one of six different specialisations.

IHS, the Insitute for Housing and Urban Development Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam was honoured in 2007 with the UN-HABITAT Award for ‘leading the way as a global center of excellence and knowledge through its high quality teaching programmes in urban management and planning’ and over 60 years of experience in educating and training local and national governments officials.

Spatial planners are fascinated by on-going and future changes in cities and regions and take on the role as managers of those spatial transformations - think of: regenerating shopping districts or old industrial sites; designating water retention areas; shaping urban mobility concepts for the future. Related challenges vary in scale, from individual property to European policy making.

The Master's in Spatial Planning has the subtitle ‘managing smart cities and regions’. This reflects the challenges of current and future urban societies, at a time that ambitions for a ‘New Urban Agenda’ for the 21st century are formulated, with policies and strategies to create more sustainable and equitable urban spaces.

Master's specialisations

You can choose a specialisation that best reflects your passion for spatial planning:

• Cities, Water and Climate Change: Gain all necessary knowledge and skills for working on the nexus between urban planning, water and environmental management.
• European Spatial and Environmental Planning: Become a spatial planner who understands EU policies, can cooperate with planners across borders and engages with other sectors like environment and economic development.
• Planning, Land and Real Estate Development: Discover new perspectives on urban development which you can use in a future role as city developer, either in the public or private sector.
• Strategic Spatial Planning: Focus on the strategic and visionary elements of what might be called the ‘new’ planning enterprise.
• Urban and Regional Mobility: Look into different integrated mobility systems or transport modes at different spatial scales. Discover new practices and strategies to provide innovative mobility sollutions.
• Flexible specialisation: We also offer you the opportunity to make your own combination of courses from a list of relevant electives, next to completing the core courses of the programme.

Find out more on our website: http://www.ru.nl/masters/spatial

Why study Spatial Planning at Radboud University?

• We’re a small, almost ‘family-like’ department that covers a broad range of topics with a strong track record in related research. This means that you’ll have the advantage of enjoying plenty of one-on-one contact with expert supervisors while pursuing a topic that is of personal interest to you.
• While English is the main language of communication and all lectures are in English, you have the choice to complete assignments, exams and your thesis in either Dutch or English.
• You're trained to think outside given boxes, by combining well-established core courses with electives providing state of the art specialist knowledge.
• Together with lecturers and practitioners, you'll develop smart and sustainable solutions for actual and future planning problems.
• Best Master’s programme according to the Elsevier magazine’s survey Beste studies 2017.

If you are interested in developing a different understanding of planning and forms of practices and you want to create socially, environmentally, economically just places, come study our Master's in Spatial Planning!