Master in Urbanism and Societal Change

Urbanism and Societal Change is a two year master's programme at the Royal Danish Academy, taught in English in Copenhagen. It sits under the Institute of Architecture, Urbanism and Landscape, and the head of programme is Deane Alan Simpson. The programme starts in September.

What you study

The programme is built around architectural and urban projects. Its stated goals are to position architectural and urban projects as responses to the challenges of what it calls the contemporary societal and environmental polycrisis, and to integrate research and design throughout the project process.

The studio work on the programme's page shows the range of themes students take on:

• Data centres as an architectural typology, reimagined as infrastructure that co-locates data storage with agricultural and ecological systems and reuses waste heat.
• Social capital as a parameter for urban development, explored through the transformation of an asphalt plant in Herlev.
• Deconstruction and time in architecture, tested on an existing site in Copenhagen against tabula-rasa development.
• The future of the bruksort (industrial town) typology in Sweden, questioning the focus on growth in municipal planning.
• Sympoietic landscapes co-created by humans and the more-than-human, and the architect's role in planning production landscapes.
• Temporary re-use and retail strategies for vacant ground floors in the age of online shopping.

How the programme is organised

Teaching happens in a studio. The programme page shows a USC studio space, and the projects come out of studio work, including candidate studio projects and diploma projects. Research and design are integrated through the project process rather than kept apart. The programme also runs field trips, which it shares on Instagram.

Who it suits

It suits someone who wants to work on cities and landscapes as an architect, and who is drawn to the social and environmental questions behind a project rather than only its form. The programme aims to educate future architects and urbanists as proactive change agents within the discipline and the broader built environment. If you like starting from a real site, a real planning system or a real building type, the studio examples here will look familiar.

Admission, language and next steps

Everything is taught in English. The programme is a master's, so you apply directly to the Royal Danish Academy rather than through optagelse.dk, which is for undergraduate applications. Students from the EU/EEA and Switzerland study free of charge; other students pay a fee that the institution sets. Check the programme page for the application requirements and deadlines, and look at the graduation projects listed there to see the kind of work the programme expects.

Master’s applications go straight to Royal Danish Academy - Architecture, Design and Conservation, not through optagelse.dk, and the institution sets its own deadline. Entry requirements and language tests are set by the institution, so start from the official programme page. Our guides cover tuition fees, residence permits and housing.