For best experience please turn on javascript and use a modern browser!
You are using a browser that is no longer supported by Microsoft. Please upgrade your browser. The site may not present itself correctly if you continue browsing.
Minor

Urban Studies

The minor Urban Studies is an interdisciplinary field in the Social Sciences. The growing importance of Urban Studies is prompted by the rapid urbanisation world-wide, implying a transition to new social-economic centers and peripheries and the emergence of 'world cities' as main nodes of a global network. Moreover, this large-scale urbanisation urgently requires dealing with polarisation processes, solving sustainability issues and reflecting on the impact of the multisensory experience of the urban environment.

This minor is for students who are interested in the complex problems of metropolitan development in a globalising world.

COURSES SEM 1 SEM 2 SEMESTER 1 SEMESTER 2 EC
  • Cities and Change
    6
  • Amsterdam: Sense, Space and Public design (previous name: Perspectives on Amsterdam)
    6
  • Restricted-choice electives:
    12
  • Urban planning: Contesting the city
    12
  • Placemaking
    9
  • Urban planning: Building the city
    12
  • Urban planning: Moving the city
    12
  • Free-choice electives:
    6
  • Urban Places and Social Problems
    6
  • The Identity of the City in Latin America
    6
  • Capstone: Interdisciplinary Literature Review
    6
Compulsory course
Elective
Read more in the Course Catalogue (2024-2025)

Get a taste of the atmosphere

Video Minor Urban Studies

Continue your studies with a Master's programme

Depending on which courses you choose in the minor Urban Studies, this minor may serve as a good preparation for some academic Bachelor’s students who want to apply for admission to the Research Master's programme in Urban Studies or the Master's programmes in Urban and Regional Planning and Urban Geography (Human Geography). In addition to the programmes mentioned above, our students also apply for admission to various Master's programmes in the field of sustainability at other Dutch universities. Always check the entry requirements of the Master’s programme you are interested in.

Entry Requirements

  • You can apply for this minor if you are a Bachelor’s student and have obtained at least 60 ECTS from university-level courses at the time of application.
  • With restriction open to students from universities of applied sciences (HBO).

Application and Admission

The registration period for a minor in the academic year 2025-2026 is 1 April - 13 May 2025.

You are guaranteed placement if you apply and meet the entry requirements. There is no limit on the number of places.

Non-UvA-students: This minor is part of the degree programme Interdisciplonaire sociale wetenschap. For your registration as an elective student, select the ‘Interdisciplinaire sociale wetenschap’ - elective degree programme in Studielink.

NB: Only Non-UvA students need to upload a transcript of grades.

Apply for this minor between 1 April and 13 May 2025

Contact

For questions about the Minor's programme, you can contact the Education Desk Social Sciences.

  • Email: edss@uva.nl
  • REC B7.00 (Mondays to Fridays 9:00-17:00 CEST)
  • Phone +31 205253777 (Mondays to Fridays 10:00-16:00 CEST).
Facts & Figures
Credits
24-30 ECTS, one year
Language of instruction
English
Conditions for admission
Preliminary training necessary
Starts in
September
Location
Roeterseiland campus