Discover Urban Studies at NYU

City Life at the Curriculum’s Core

At NYU, Urban Studies isn’t limited to the classroom. Instead, the program takes students into the streets, city buildings, and public spaces. In a core course called The City—offered at the New York City campus, NYU London, and NYU Sydney—students explore how people live, work, and move within urban areas through maps, art, photographs, and site visits. Then, they discuss relevant topics including racial segregation, economic development, and social movements. For their final project, students analyze challenges facing local neighborhoods before presenting their recommendations to city leadership.

Additionally, students can enroll in the Urban Lab, available at the New York City campus, NYU Accra, and NYU Sydney. In this innovative project-based course, students collaborate with local activists, artists, environmentalists, and cultural institutions to explore pressing urban issues. The class invites students to examine the city through a specific lens, such as museums and the urban public, immigrants and housing in Queens, or the urban environment and the arts. “Cities are in many respects the high point of culture and civilization. They also reveal some of society’s deepest struggles,” says Professor Thomas Sugrue. He’s the faculty director for the program in urban studies. “Climate change, immigration, inequality, and poverty are all playing out intensely in cities,” he adds. “That’s what makes urban life such a compelling and critical subject.”

Urban Studies Electives That Span the Globe

With one of the largest concentrations of faculty studying urban issues anywhere in the world, NYU offers more than 60 Urban Studies electives every year. These classes span departments, schools, and NYU global sites. To foster a global perspective, all Urban Studies majors take at least one elective centered on a city outside the United States.

“Even if you are super focused on New York City, you need places to compare and be inspired by. You can take ideas from what’s working or not working in other parts of the world,” reflects Miki Hertog-Raz, a double major in Urban Studies and Linguistics. Miki’s academic journey illustrates NYU’s global reach. His classes have taken him from researching under-resourced communities in New York City to studying the portrayal of Latin American cities at NYU Buenos Aires.

A Bright Future

NYU’s Urban Studies majors open many doors, connecting students with leading professionals in New York City and around the world. Plus, students receive training in geographic information systems (GIS), a mapping and analysis technology widely used in urban planning and other related professions.

“Urban Studies prepares you for a range of career possibilities,” affirms Professor Sugrue. Graduates go on to work as community organizers, city planners, nonprofit leaders, real estate professionals, policy analysts, journalists, and more. Some alumni pursue advanced degrees in areas like law, business, and public policy. According to Professor Sugrue, “NYU students gain marketable skills, hands-on experience, and an ability to think and write critically about some of the most important places in our world today.”

Take Your Study of Cities Global

Beyond required courses, here are some of the Urban Studies electives you can take at NYU locations around the world:

• Food, Culture, and Globalization: London
• Place-Building-Time: The Architecture of Berlin
• Postcolonial Urbanisms: Development, Environment, and Social Movements in Senegal
• Paris: Black in the City of Light
• Where the City Meets the Sea: Studies in Coastal Urban Environments
• Emerging Technologies for Smart Cities

More Options in Urban Studies

Additionally, you can consider these related programs at NYU:

• Urban Design and Architecture Studies major or minor (College of Arts and Science)
• Concentration in urban studies (Gallatin School of Individualized Study)
• Sustainable Urban Environments minor (Tandon School of Engineering)
• Global and Urban Education Studies minor (Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development)
• Urbanization minor at NYU Abu Dhabi
• Urban Studies track in Social Science at NYU Shanghai
• Dual degree BA-MUP: Bachelor of Arts from CAS and Master of Urban Planning from Wagner Graduate School of Public Service (completed in as little as five years)