Sustainable Urban Management: One-year master programme

Programme - second cycle - 60 credits

Overview

Content

What is Sustainable Urban Management about?

Sustainable Urban Management is a one-year master's programme for professionals and students who want to be part of planning, developing and managing urban projects that lead to more sustainable development.

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City housing projects like this one will be analysed in class with regard to how to make cities like it more sustainable.

What makes Urban Sustainability unique?

Cities and urban areas face many challenges including their environmental impacts. Cities have also become increasingly important for society's well-being and for economic development and social integration. All over the world, strategies are developed and initiatives taken to influence the development of urban sustainability. The knowledge of how to build and manage sustainable cities, infrastructure, urban planning and architecture, is vital.

Malmö, well known for its support of urban projects, will be the starting point for discussions, analysis and critique of current issues. The city’s many urban sustainability projects will be visited, studied and compared to projects and cities worldwide, such as Vancouver and Mumbai.

This programme combines lectures and group work with field trips and individual written exams.

Interviews

Voices on the Programme

Olga Belorusova, student

Olga Belorusova, 28, comes from Belarus. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Information and Communications in 2005. After graduating from university Olga worked in the PR-department of Priorbank, JSC and in 2008 she joined the United Nations Population Fund Country Office in Belarus.

- During my work as a communicator for the UN I came in contact with challenges concerning the planning of growing cities and became interested in studying sustainable urban planning. I studied communication in Sweden for one semester in 2003 and since then I thought I should take my Master’s degree in Sweden. I enjoy the way students and professors interact in Sweden and like that students do a lot of work together in groups here.

- The combination of ecological and economical aspects in this Master´s programme gives a holistic view to urban development. We have a lot of study visits and guest lecturers, combined with case studies this allows us to experience what our future jobs could be like.

Olga succeeded in receiving a scholarship from the Swedish Institute for her Master’s studies in Sustainable Urban Management in Malmö. Now Olga is a member of the Swedish Institute Network of Future Global Leaders. After completing her studies Olga would like to use her knowledge and experience in communications in promoting social, environmental and economic sustainability issues, smart city planning, sustainable development or socially responsible business.

Per-Olof Hallin, Urban Studies

Rapid urbanisation transforms countries and regions worldwide. Mega-cities are merging into conurbations known as "mega-regions", difficult to manage and improve. Yet these urban regions are the homes to millions of urban dwellers. Developing and managing sustainable urban agglomerations are major challenges on a global scale, and the demand for professionals with a competence in sustainable urban management will be great.

Per Olof Hallin is professor in Human Geography, Faculty of Culture and Society at Malmö University. His main research interests are sustainable urban development and municipal risk and vulnerability analysis.

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Career

What career will I be prepared for? 

After completing the Sustainable Urban Management master's programme you will have a detailed knowledge of urban development processes and will be able to work on issues of urban sustainability across disciplines and organisational boundaries.

Sectors you may work in include: municipal, regional or governmental agencies, the private construction sector, real estate development, the energy sector, or in consultancy services focused on sustainable urban development. Another option is to continue studies at PhD-level.

Syllabus

Programme Code: SASUM

Institution:
Department of Urban Studies
Revision:
5

Other set versions

  • Version 2
    approved 2009-12-10
  • Version 2.1
    approved 2010-03-11
    For students admitted fall 2010  
  • Version 4
    approved 2010-12-09
    For students admitted fall 2011  
  • Version 5.1
    approved 2012-02-28
    For students admitted fall 2012  
  • Version 6
    approved 2012-02-28
    For students admitted fall 2013  

Approval

The programme was established 18 November 2009.
This programme syllabus (version 5) was approved 09 December 2010 by the Board of Studies at Faculty of Culture and Society.
The syllabus is valid from 03 September 2012.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding
After the successful completion of the programme Sustainable Urban Management students will:
  • have the knowledge, ability and approach needed to independently work with sustainable urban development projects
  • have knowledge of the scientific basis of environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable urban development and have a comprehension of present research and practice within the field
  • have a broad understanding of sustainable urban development and a profound knowledge of sustainability and urbanization processes together with a profound knowledge of management processes that influence urban development

Skills and Competencies
After the successful completion of the programme Sustainable Urban Management students will be
able to:
  • critically and systematically identify, formulate and manage complexity in projects and processes of sustainable development
  • critically and constructively prepare, analyze and assess projects and processes for sustainable urban development
  • relate different theoretical perspectives of sustainable urban development to practical examples and compare the effect of different indicators of sustainability in evaluations of urban development projects
  • elaborate and motivate forms of collaboration between important stakeholders for the development of sustainable solutions in the urban environment
  • describe and discuss - both orally and in writing - conclusions, knowledge and arguments associated with the subject matter in dialogue with various parties

Judgement and Approach
After the successful completion of the programme Sustainable Urban Management students will be
able to:
  • show the ability to ethically relate her/his work to the different needs of society and various groups of people as well as to the interaction between people and the built environment
  • demonstrate insight and ability of teamwork and collaboration between groups of different composition and create motivation for strategies for sustainable urban development
  • identify their individual need for further knowledge and recognise the importance of continuous development of their competence

    • Organisation

    Evaluations and analysis of urban projects and case studies are pronounced elements in the education. Case studies, fieldwork and study visits form the basis for encounters and discussions with different specialists in sustainable urban development. Different educational and professional student backgrounds constitute an important resource in the education. The Autumn semester (September to January) contains one 30 credit fulltime course and the Spring semester (January to July) contains two fulltime 15 credit courses.

    Sustainable Urban Development (30 credits) assess the concept of sustainable urban development, it’s theoretical basis and practical application, with the aim to create a profound understanding of sustainable urban development projects and processes. The course outlines the challenges and possibilities of urban areas and analyzes sustainability in relation to urban development projects from Asia, Africa and Latin America. The concept of sustainable urban development and its implementation in practice in Malmö and the Öresund region is introduced, analyzed and discussed.

    Project and Process Management for Sustainable Urban Development (15 credits) deals with leadership, organization development and learning processes. Theories and tools for organizing and leading processes of change with a focus on sustainable urban development are introduced and assessed.

    Thesis in Sustainable Urban Development (15 credits) is an advanced study in the field of Built Environment and is regarded as the degree project of the programme. Students identify and analyze a problem area of relevance to sustainable urban development.

    Degree

    Master of Arts / Science (60 credits).

    Master of Science with a Major in Built Environment (one year).


Contact

Further information

Åse Falk, student services assistant
Phone: 040-66 58039
E-mail: ase.falk@mah.se

Karin Grundström, programme responsible
Phone: 040-66 57285
E-mail: k.grundstrom@mah.se