Study programme

Urban and Economic Geography is a one-year Master’s programme taught in English that includes both courses and research, awarding a total of 60 point in the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). This Master's is also offered as a part-time programme. The curriculum is then spread over a period of two years. On this page you will find information concerning the curriculum, specialisations, courses, educational methods, examinations and extracurricular opportunities.

Curriculum

Please note: There may be minor changes to the programme.

All students start with a introduction course Urban Futures, which focuses on socio-spatial and economic developments in urban areas. This course includes lectures, working groups, urban walks and bike tours. Later on, you will build on this course by doing an international fieldtrip.

In the first block, you will take the course Advanced Urban Geography or Advanced Economic Geography as the academic and more theoretical basis of your Master’s programme, and you follow a methods course.
In the second block, you will take three courses of 5 ECTS. Two courses reflect your specialisation. Your third course can either connect to your specialisation, or be an elective that combines disciplines, or it can be a course from the other specialisation.

Two specialisations

The Urban or Economic Geography programme offers two specialisations: urban geography and economic geography. Read more about each specialisation and their differences on our specialisation-page.

Two specialisations

Courses

Below you can find an overview of the courses per specialisation.
Please note: There may be minor changes to the programme.

Full-time study programme

Part-time study programme

If you are interested in following the master Urban and economic geography part-time, please contact the programme coordinator: Dr. Martijn Smit at m.j.smit@uu.nl.

Compare and/or combine specialisations

Did you know that it is possible to create a customised curriculum based on courses from both specialisations? Use the overview below to compare both specialisations and to see what a mixed programme would look like.

Specialisation	Economic Geography	Urban Geography	Mixed programme
Description	Become an economic geographer, with knowledge of evolutionary economic geography, and skills to analyse innovation, entrepreneurship, and/or regional development.	Become an urban geographer, with knowledge of current theoretical trends in the field, and the skills to analyse public spaces, urban inequality, and/or transportation.	Become a full-fledged human geographer, with knowledge of both economic and urban geography, and cross-cutting skills in various topics.
Courses in period 1	Advanced Economic Geography (with prof. Ron Boschma) Advanced Methods Introductory Course	Advanced Urban Geography Advanced Methods Introductory Course	One of the advanced theoretical courses; this will be your main specialisation Advanced Methods Introductory Course
Courses in period 2	Three Economic Geography courses: Entrepreneurship, Multinationals, Innovation Alternatively, swap one course for an elective, such as Real Estate	Three Urban Geography courses: Public Space, Diverse Cities, Mobilities alternatively, swap one course for an elective focusing on (for example) Migration or Crime	Choose two courses from your main specialisation Add a third from the other specialisation (some supplementary reading may be required)
Courses in period 3	Choose a methodological elective close the heart of Economic Geography as we do it in Utrecht, such as Network Analysis or Spatial Econometrics Go on a fieldtrip with staff and students from both specialisations	Choose a methodological elective close the heart of Urban Geography as we do it in Utrecht, such as Discourse Analysis or Walk-along Interviews Go on a fieldtrip with staff and both specialisations	Choose a cross-cutting methodological elective, such as GIS (always useful on the labour market!), or Discourse Analysis (when your specialisation was Economic Geography) Go on a fieldtrip with staff and both specialisations
Thesis	Write on a topic of your choice, from complexity theory to sustainable entrepreneurship, perhaps in the context of an internship at an embassy, at the OECD, at the province, or at a (major or local) consultancy	Write on a topic of your choice, from green roofs to the impact of tourism on the sense of place, perhaps in the context of a internship at the municipality, at an NGO, or at a (major or local) consultancy	Write on a cross-cutting topic of your choice, from a price analysis of urban renewal architecture to a network analysis of European projects on socio-economic inequality

Thesis, internship and research methods

Your choice of graduation subject provides a great way for you to present yourself to future employers. If you wish, you can write your thesis in the context of an internship - recommended, but not compulsory. Read
more about all thesis opportunities below.

Educational Methods

Lectures, tutorials, seminars and computer practicals
Guestlectures (e.g. alumni or professionals in the field)
Site visits
Practical assignments in cooperation with the professional field
Peer feedback meetings and student group meetings
International fieldtrip
Master's thesis project
Internship (integrated with Master’s thesis project)

Examinations

Written exams
Oral presentations
Papers and essays
Master's thesis proposal and report

Difference with the two-year research Master’s

The Faculty of Geosciences also offers a two-year research Master’s programme in Global Urban Transformations. Students in the two-year Master’s programme are generally interested in a PhD programme in the Netherlands or abroad.

Extra opportunities

Utrecht ľ�ϸ��Ӱ�� offers several honours programmes for students looking for an extra challenge. Honours education is followed on top of your regular Master’s programme and goes beyond the regular curriculum. Honours programmes are available at interdisciplinary level and allow you to go deeper into subjects or work on projects that transcend your own discipline.

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Study programme

Curriculum

Two specialisations

Courses

Full-time study programme

Urban Geography

Period 1

Period 2

Period 3

Period 4

Economic Geography

Period 1

Period 2

Period 3

Period 4

Part-time study programme

Compare and/or combine specialisations

Check the comparison overview

Thesis, internship and research methods

Read more about the thesis

Educational Methods

Examinations

Difference with the two-year research Master’s

Extra opportunities

Feedback

Contact

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