Urban Studies Leiden University

Overview

Do cities fascinate you? Would you like to gain insights into the nature and origin of problems and learn more about, and help solve, cities' health, safety, multicultural and sustainability issues?

Are you unfazed by statistics and economics and excited at the prospect of following an international, English-taught programme? If all these questions elicited a “yes”, then our Urban Studies bachelor's is definitely for you.

Currently, around 50% of the world's population lives in cities and knows all about the opposing aspects of urban life. In the Urban Studies programme you will learn how cities are currently coping with economic growth, social cohesion, safety and sustainability, and how they'll do so in future. And all this in an international classroom in the Netherlands' political capital, The Hague.

What you will learn

Labour market surveys show an increasing demand for graduates in the field of Urban Studies. Particularly those graduates who have been trained in a broad programme with social and cultural perspectives on cities and urbanisation processes are sought after by employers. As a graduate of our programme, you will be equipped with knowledge and valuable skills such as:

• independent thinking;
• communication;
• working in teams;
• analysing and using information fromvarious sources;
• methodology, such as understanding andusing statistics and spatial analysis (GIS);
• designing research programmes that relateto urban problems and their solutions.

A selection of the jobs in which Urban Studies-related knowledge and skills are relevant:

• policy advisor for urban issues at a local government or consultancy firm;
• crime specialist at a local government;
• strategic research officer for sustainability at the central government or an NGO;
• researcher of health-related urban issues at a university.

Career prospects

Job market surveys have highlighted an increasing demand for students in the field of urban studies, particularly those who have been trained in an interdisciplinary programme that includes social and cultural perspective on cities and urbanisation processes.

After graduating as an urban specialist you will acquire invaluable skills that can be applied in private, public and non-profit sectors alike. These skills include critical thinking, communication, data collection and analysis, methodology, and designing research programmes that relate to urban problems and their solutions.

You could, for example, work for a consultancy firm as a policy advisor for urban issues or as a financial crime specialist with local government. Alternatively, you could be a strategic researcher in sustainability with central government or a researcher of medical urban issues with a university.

Accreditation

Accredited by NVAO, the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders.