One-year Master course in Urban Analysis & Management

The Master course provides participants with the skills needed to analyse, plan and manage contemporary urban areas. The course is aimed at training land management professionals capable of carrying out an in-depth analysis of a socio-geographical context and of translating such analysis into urban and land-use planning tools. To this purpose, the Master course includes lessons that are normally part of different degree courses, combining them around the topic of spatial management and contemporary urban planning.
More specifically, the Master course is aimed at:
– Making participants capable of understanding the historical background of the area to be planned and to frame available data and information on it. This capability will be acquired during the theoretical part of the course, in which the nature and functioning of spatial development and urban phenomena will be analyzed both at a historical level and in the light of the contemporary dynamics of globalization.
– Providing participants with the skills needed to examine the demographic, social and economic aspects which are at the basis of spatial change, as well as the resources – including cultural heritage or tourist attractions – which can be exploited for sustainable development. In order to help students to acquire these
analytical skills, part of the Master course will focus on all the technical and methodological tools which can be used to carry out a truly effective analysis. Students will be taught to go beyond the purely theoretical level and to use their analysis as a solid foundation for the elaboration of concrete action plans. This will be done both through theoretical lessons on the most appropriate methodological approaches (methodology of empirical quantitative and qualitative research, statistical data processing techniques, GIS spatial analysis) and through extensive training sessions on the software applications (both proprietary and open source) needed for the analysis: SPSS and R, ArcGIS and QGis.
– Training participants to take into consideration both the general aspects of spatial management and urban
planning (spatial dynamics and land-use models discussed in the international literature) and the specific characteristics of a given area. Students will acquire these skills during the lessons, but also during their period of traineeship and while writing their theses, under the constant monitoring of the teaching staff.
The Master course includes a total of 240 hours of face-to-face intensive education. These lessons will be integrated by additional mandatory activities (traineeship and thesis) monitored by the teaching staff.
The lessons will take place in the Department of History, Archaeology, Geography, Fine and Performing Arts (SAGAS) of the University of Florence. Some lessons will be held outdoors.
The overall duration of the Master course is 12 months. All lessons will be held in English.
More info at https://www.masterurbananalysisandmanagement.unifi.it/index.php