global urban development

 Linked to universal population growth, economic polarization and globalization most nations are urbanizing at an increasingly rapid pace. The velocity of this process has never been experienced in history before. Conventional wisdom of urban planning was based on other pre-conditions; this is why the professions concerned with urban development planning are faced with a constant redefinition of tasks and paradigms. Day-to-day practices of city formation outpace the formulation of reliable rules and theories, and the retrospective appraisal of so called ‘best practices’ form a shaky patchwork of progressive urban planning wisdom to orientate urban experts and academics today. For professionals the challenge lies in accumulating both a profound understanding of global urban development processes and adequate practical skills to make cities work on the basis of a forward looking vision for future human conviviality.
 
urban development studies Urbanization, especially in the countries of the South, will continue to advance over the next decades. Much of that development is unplanned and not systematically co-ordinated by the responsible authorities. This circumstance results in serious urban problems in the fields of housing, infrastructure provision, environment, conviviality among others. Whereas conventional urban planning and design skills prove unsuitable to cope with this process, an integrated and co-ordinating strategic approach is required to skilfully guide urban development in those countries and to mediate between the concerned stakeholders’ and achieve the most productive outcome.

In a rapidly globalizing world this task requires an in-depth understanding of the international setting and economic, political and cultural linkages. Many interventions imply the integration of multinational expert teams and may involve the participation of foreign or international funding and development co-operation agencies.

Different from some other European countries there are no established academic careers preparing for such a task in Germany - and this has been repeatedly criticized by co-operation agencies such as the GTZ or the KfW. Given this deficit and considering the growing need for well prepared professionals in the sector, experts who have completed an adequate practice oriented training course will encounter excellent job opportunities in Latin America, Asia and Africa. This can be illustrated by the success of a similar master course in other disciplines.

Similarly, students from these regions in the South often want to obtain further qualifications in Europe not only in order to benefit from the excellent academic infrastructure and to obtain a diploma from an internationally renowned university but also to become acquainted with a different culture, efficient organizational practices and to expand their personal international network.
   
focus The University of Darmstadt offers different postgraduate education options for further academic and professional qualification in forward looking urban development studies. A new and master’s course in international co-operation and urban development will start in spring 2006. It is designed to prepare to upcoming planning tasks especially in cities and regions in the South. It draws on a large and pool of highly renowned lecturers and experts in their fields of teaching coming from five continents. This – together with a term abroad – is making it a truly international course.
   
flexibility The programme is being complemented by options for PhD studies and short courses for professional training of continuous education. These courses allow integration in the academic landscape of other universities and institutions in geographical proximity, such as the famous Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, the Gutenberg University in Mainz, the German Bank for Reconstruction and Development (KfW) and the German Agency for Development (GTZ).