Governing the Large Metropolis

A two-year Master of the Sciences Po Urban School

Fast growing metropolis are facing huge problems. Public and private actors struggle with enormous problems of urbanisation to provide fundamental utilities and basic collective goods. Water, electricity, sewage, mobility infrastructures, health and social services, education, environmental risks… every sector is challenged by the intensity and the rhythm of demographic, economic, technological and climate changes. 

The master ‘Governing the Large Metropolis’ aims to prepare young professionals to work in tough environments. The Master's programme aims at training young professionals who will take charge of public policy design and implementation in the governance of large cities in the future. It is a world wide unique training to support technical and political skills.

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A mix of sound interdisciplinary theoretical courses, case studies, methods and professional training:

The master combines a strong education in 

-              Social sciences (with disciplinary courses in sociology, political science, law, economics, policy analysis, and geography applied to metropolitan development),

-              Regional studies (on African Metropolis, Arab and Mediterranean Metropolis, South Asian Metropolis, South-East Asian Metropolis, Latin American Metropolis, Chinese Metropolis and North American Metropolis) 

-              Policy Sectors (on Cultural Policies, Housing Policies, Mobility Policies, Urban Utilities, Planning, Immigrant Integration, Planning)

-              Rigorous methodological training in qualitative, quantitative and GIS methods

-              Management and professional skills (Professional training is provided in the first year through a capstone; in the second year, case studies and workshops are taught by professionals coming from international organisations -UNESCO, OECD, UNHabitat-, NGOs, private companies).

A  capstone is a project commissioned by a private or public organization (benchmark, comparative international analysis, case study, impact study, prospective study, supports for implementation, organisation of a conference or a training…). Students work by team of 4, 1.5 days a week for six months, with a professional tutor. 

The teaching community includes scholars as Adrian Favell, Denny Rodgers, Carlo Barone, Sukriti Issar, Patrick Le Galès, Virginie Guiraudon, Laurent Fourchard, Christophe Jaffrelot, Bruno Cousin, Eric Verdeil, Alvaro Artigas, Camille Roth, Marco Cremaschi. Jean-Louis Rocca, Olivier Dabène, Adele Esposito, Jean-Fabien Steck, Olivier Borraz, Tommaso Vitale, and many others.

The programme is taught entirely in English with a great emphasis on issues of comparison. No ready made recipes are provided, and no simple fairy stories on the so called "best practices of good governance": the programme trains the students with a strong critical approach and management skills so as to be competent to implement urban policy in critical environments.

Students also take advantage of a planned  study trip to a large metropolis (past cities include Johannesburg, Mexico City, Manila, Cairo, Istanbul, Casablanca/Tangier/Rabat).  Please take a look at the short video of our last study trip to Manila and  read the study trip report realised by the students.

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The GLM program prepares for three main types of job related-figures

-              Executives (this is the main professional track)

-              Entrepreneurs (students may attend training offered by the Sciences Po entrepreneurial center)

-              Researchers (through a Research Track in partnership with the Sciences Po PhD School).        

The Vocational Statement.  During the whole duration of the programme, students are assisted in their course and professional orientation through a regular vocational statement exercise. We help students to discern their professional project, and find a path to achieve it. 

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Working on the ground even before starting the semester’s courses

Before the beginning of the master, a welcome week is organised at the end of the summertime to receive with open arms the students, help them to meet each other, and introduce the style and the logic of the master. From the very first day, students are encouraged to work by team, to explore the metropolitan suburbs, to meet actors engaged at the street-level as well with policy-makers and executive, look at services and platforms, and to prepare a public presentation of their site-visits. 

Each year the welcome week focuses on a specific topic:

• In 2018, on how to deal with waste in the metropolis
• In 2017, on the capacity of temporary urbanism to produce social ties 
• In 2016, on the sharing economy, issues for regulation and implementation
• In 2015, on climate challenges and metropolitan responses

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In the 3rd semester GLM offers a deep policy specializationand students may choose one of our 4 clusters:

–           Governance & planning (with courses on on Mobility Issues in Large Metropolis, Planning in the Large Metropolis and workshops on Governance of Large-scale Project Implementation, The Dynamics of Criminal Governance, Integrating heritage into urban planning. A challenge between past and future, Ecological Challenges and Communication Strategies in the Metropolis, Integrated Urban Development and Planning).

–           Quantitative methods for metropolitan governance (with courses on Policy Evaluation: ex ante, ex post; by indicators or randomized?, Computational Methods and Data Science for Urban Governance and workshops on Advanced Quantitative Methods for Ecological Analysis, Open Data: Data Management and Analysis, Harnessing the Power of Technologies - Smart City, Start up the city). 

–           Social policies (with courses on Migration Issues in Large Metropolis, Cultural Policies, Housing and Land Regulation in Large Metropolis, and workshops on Feeding the Metropolis. Logistics and Policy Instruments, Dealing with Poverty in Large Metropolis, Policy-Making toward Migrants in Large Metropolis, Implementing Housing Policies,Making an Urban Project).

–           Utilities (with courses on The Political Economy of Urban Utilities in the Global South: markets, regulations and providers, The Geography of Urban Infrastracture: Water, Sewage, Waste, Energy & Urbanisation and workshops on Extending basic services in unplanned settlements, Access to Services for All in Large Metropolis, Ecological Challenges and Communication Strategies in the Metropolis, Comparative Approach to Financing Metropolitan Development, Urban management & Public Private Partnerships). 

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A rich bunch of opportunities in the 4th Semester

In the last semester, GLM students may either

-              undertake an internship of at least 14 weeks in a large metropolis and write an internship report or a professional dissertation; or

-              do fieldwork and prepare a research thesis; or

-              work in the Sciences Po entrepreneurial incubator to prepare their own business project; or

-              go for a semester exchangein partner universities.

The  Professional Dissertation is a well researched academic paper around a policy issue related to the content of the internship, evaluated by an academic committee of 4 GLM teachers. It is written under the individual supervision of one of the GLM teachers. The experience has proved it to be really rewarding for the students, and some professional dissertations have been published. 

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GLM provides opportunities for semester exchanges.

In the third semester:

1. The Cities of Africa track, a semester exchange at the IEP Bordeaux
2. The Governance & Planning track, a semester exchange at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, at the Urban Planning Department

In the fourth semester: 

•             Hong Kong University

•             Politecnico di Milano

•             Renmin University of China

•             UCL Bartlett School of Planning

•             University of Amsterdam

•             Zeichang University

A Gap Year is possible, when related to a professional project and working experience, coherent with the GLM scope.

Systematic relations are built with urban professionals and research groups, including cities such as Bogotà, Lima, Mexico, Rio, Sao Paulo, Lagos, Beijing, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Istanbul, Cairo, Manila, Buenos Aires, New Delhi, Shanghai, Tokyo and Johannesburg. 

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Preparing for a career in a vibrant job market

GLM alumni are organised in the vibrant In Situ Assocationand organised by Region all over the world. They work in 

•             Utility firms (on water, transports, waste disposals, energy, sewage);

•             Private developers and international consultants in the large metropolis;

•             Urban planning agencies, economic development agencies, urban political organisations;

•             Environment, health, security and food organisations;

•             NGO's in different sectors (democratic governance, environment, housing, development, culture…);

•             Urban and regional governments;

•             UN organisations;

•             Networks of cities (C40, ICLEI, UCLG, 100 Resilient Cities...);

•             Private foundations and think tanks.

FEES & FINANCIAL AID

GLM ACADEMIC ADVISOR: PAULINE EMILE-GEAY

GLM ACADEMIC DIRECTOR: TOMMASO VITALE

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The Sciences Po Urban School: Training for all urban policy and planning professions

The Urban School's programmes prepare students and professionals for urban governance in all its forms. Beyond the GLM master program, we offer to

1. Graduate students with a Bachelor's degree

• The Master Regional and Urban Strategy: to study regional and urban governance in France and Europe
• The dual Master of Urban Policy with the London School of Economics (LSE, UK): to study regional and urban governance with a European and international approach and earn degrees from both Sciences Po and LSE.
• The dual Master Comparative Urban Governance with the the Centro de Estudios Démograficos, Urbanos e Ambientales (CEDUA) at El Colegio de Mexico: to provide a great academic background in urban social analysis, urban economics, urban management and planning policies at the metropolitan scale, in a comparative approach between European, international and Latin American cities.

The 2. Graduate students having completed the 1st year of a Master's programme & professionals with initial work experience

The Urban Planning Programme: a highly technical, multidisciplinary programme in urban planning, land use and real estate.

3. Professionals

• The Executive Master of Metropolitan Governance: to prepare for change management roles by gaining a cross-cutting, analytical perspective of metropolitan governance.
• The Executive Master of Real Estate Strategy and Finance, in partnership with the ENFI (National School of Real Estate Financialisation), offers professionals a multi-sectoral approach to real estate and its financialisation.

4. All levels

• The "Cities are back in town" MOOC offers a conceptual and comparative approach to understanding urban models, how they are changing and the social and political issues they raise.
• The "Searching for the Grand Paris" MOOC handles questions and stakes bound to the development of Grand Paris.
• A summer school on Housing Policies (more information are coming… stay tunes)