Executive master of regional governance and urban development

The Executive Master of Regional Governance and Urban Development is designed to provide the skills and professional network required to succeed as a strategic and operational manager of complex urban/regional projects, i.e., to design and implement strategies, projects or partnership relations in the field of regional governance and urban development.

The Executive Master combines the credentials of Executive Education and of the Sciences Po Urban School.

Context

Cities and regions in France and worldwide are in a state of profound change, driven by rapid urbanisation, climate change, economic development, financing, technological needs, pollution, inequalities and crises. In a world now chiefly populated by urban dwellers, public policies are struggling to deal meaningfully and effectively with urban and regional problems. The diversity, concentration, and swift evolution of these problems are challenging traditional approaches to urban planning and development, economic and social development, transport, health, and the environment, integrating the local level, in the public and private sectors.

In this context, it is vital that we train professionals with the right skills to design and implement inventive, responsible collective action for the benefit of cities’ and regions’ social, economic, and environmental performance.

Objectives

The aim of the Executive Master of Regional Governance and Urban Development is to train strategic and operational managers of complex urban/regional projects-an increasingly crucial role that calls for a renewed skillset.

In so doing, the course goes beyond the traditional references of urban planning and development to train managers of complex urban/regional projects, well-versed in the mechanisms of creating and managing cities, in fields as varied as planning, transport, housing, urban economic development, health and ecological transition.

Target participants

• Are you a manager, executive, or elected official in the public or non-profit sector liable to take part in the governance, development or management of cities, towns, and regions?
• Are you a consultant, director, or manager of a French or international company that produces or manages urban or regional services?
• Do you work in an area such as strategic planning, urban development, transport, housing, economic development, environment, urban services, digital technology, or social and cultural policy? 

The Executive Master of Regional Governance and Urban Development will help you refine your thinking and put your professional projects into action.

Teaching

 A multidisciplinary approach

The Executive Master’s programme is organised into five skill blocks and delivered by academics and practitioners of regional governance and urban development. The courses develop a cross-cutting vision of metropolitan governance and include a European and international perspective. The programme is rooted in the social sciences and is deliberately multidisciplinary -drawing on political science, economics, geography, urban planning, and sociology- so as to enable the acquisition of analytical skills and facilitate decision-making.

An original teaching method

• Combining robust analytical content and a firm grounding in the practical reality of the sector, the pedagogical approach gets participants working on case studies and provides the tools and analytical keys to meet the new challenges of regional governance and urban development.
• All participants, accompanied by an expert tutor, take part in a group project that trains them in the critical and strategic analysis of a complex regional project on every level (design, negotiation, and evaluation), and in group facilitation for project work, allowing them to leverage collective intelligence for the implementation and promotion of a regional project.
• A study trip to another European city offers the opportunity, through meetings and field visits, to draw inspiration from innovative foreign experiences and to identify the similarities and differences that characterise European cities and regions.
• The programme ends with the writing of a professional dissertation. Participants carry out an original study on a topic of their choice and receive individual tutoring. 

Classes are held once a month over a period of 15 month, over 3 days (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) or 2 days  (Thursday and Friday) , alternatively. 

Skills

 “The whole purpose of the Executive Master of Regional Governance and Urban Development at Sciences Po Paris is to provide students in continuing education with the keys to understanding the major changes affecting our urban areas and the way they are organised.”

David Le Bras - Chief representative of ADGCF (French Association of General Managers)

“Through four themes, students analyse the transformation of cities and urban development processes, decipher the approaches of the actors involved in the new regional governance, delve into issues of sustainable development, and study the mechanisms of urban production and management, in the fields of planning, transport, housing, economic development, urban services and social policy.”

Stéphane Keïta, CEO of Services Conseils Expertises Territoires - SCET (subsidiary of the Caisse des dépôts et consignations).

Career opportunities

The programme trains strategic and operational managers of complex urban/regional projects. This role can be performed in a variety of environments (public, private or non-profit) and through different positions, from those focused on the strategic, forward-looking development of urban policies to the more operational dimension of implementation, financing, and evaluation of urban and regional policy.

More information on the Executive Master of Regional Governance and Urban Development (in French)

Teaching staff

• Charlotte HALPERN, programme director
• Alexia KRIEF, programme manager
• Marine PUVIRAJASINGHE, teaching assistant