Academic Approach
4CITIES bridges disciplinary limitations to provide students with an array of means and methods for analyzing and understanding the specific character of cities. Students are prepared to participate in the resolving of urban problems and the development of new strategies to describe and address the ongoing processes and consequences of globalization and urbanization. Core elements of the program include academic courses, fieldwork, excursions, exams, and a written master thesis. The division of the program after its first year into three tracks allows students to pursue either a classical course-based education or a hybrid internship-courses approach focused on either research or practice. The teaching language of 4CITIES is English.
Program Structure
4CITIES is a two-year master program organized in three tracks: Classical, Research, and Practice. All three tracks follow a shared core curriculum in the first year, with the first semester spent in Brussels and the second in Vienna. Classical Track students continue to Copenhagen and Madrid for a second year of shared coursework. Research and Practice Track students follow independent, individually-designed second-year curricula, with each student expected to conduct an internship or work-placement (15 ECTS) and to complete 25 ECTS of elective coursework. Students apply for, and are accepted into, a specific track. This means that changing from one track to another is not possible. All students are to submit and defend a written thesis in Vienna after the fourth semester.
