Master of Urbanism
- 4 year
- English
- Master
- Part-time
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About Master Urbanism
Our society, climate, technology, and the way we humans use our cities are facing immense changes. The purpose of urbanism is to respond to these changes and create futureproof, climate resilient, and inclusive cities through our research, design, and practical processes. In this master’s program, you’ll learn how to effectively combine design intelligence with a reflective attitude and practical skills. The competence-based curriculum is geared towards mastering seven crucial competences: design, research, collaboration, communication, entrepreneurial skills, organization, and professional practice. You’ll gain experience and education beyond the school curriculum by combining your study with employment in a professional environment. Additionally, the Academy itself is a laboratory for spatial assignments from real stakeholders, and the studio is the perfect place to apply new skills and methods to create design proposals for complex spatial problems.
Why this study in the Netherlands?
- Our program is designed in such a way that you’ll work and study at the same time. You gain creative research and design skills at our academy, while developing practical skills at your workplace. On top of this, you have the possibility to earn a salary
- You’ll be part of Fontys School of Fine and Performing Arts, a creative learning community
- Our tutors are professionals from a variety of disciplines with a strong relation to practice
- The program has a vertical structure that synergizes working and studying at the same time, encouraging you to become an independent and critical thinker in approaching real-world and future challenges
- Our international environment gives you a broad view of real-world problems and hands-on solutions to tackle these challenges
- As you’ll work in our design studio, your tutors will emphasize personal attention to guide you through the design and research process
- After graduation, you’ll be eligible to register immediately in the Dutch Architecture Register and start working as an (independent) urbanist
What will you be learning?
The programme focusses on skills, design, and theory. Due to the nature of our profession, a theoretical basis is important. Our theory classes will help you to broaden your mind and understand the underlying process of our society, so naturally, these classes include the history of urbanism. Philosophy, Economy, and Entrepreneurship are other theory classes that provide you with a different perspective to your possible role as an urbanist.
Project-based learning lies at the core of the study programme. Your assignments will tackle a particular challenge or issue that you’ll work on individually or in teams. For example, you may want to create a more inclusive city or develop a vision on the relation between the city and surrounding landscape. The studio work will be combined with various research courses to provide a strong foundation.
The philosophy of the Academy is based on study combined with working in an architect’s firm. This concurrent, practical structure offers you experience and education beyond the school curriculum, which is essential to your growth as a professional urbanist. In addition, it allows you to unleash the pioneer within by learning about the importance of design for current and upcoming issues.
- You’ll learn to take different methods to approach a challenge: sometimes, a top-down approach is the best way to work, while at other times, a bottom-up participatory design process will be more successful
- There will be emphasis on integrating different scales and developing holistic designs. Each design has an influence on multiple scales; you’ll learn how a decision at the regional scale affects the design of a public space in a neighbourhood, and vice versa
- Mastering how to position yourself is important and will be taken on too. The role of an urbanist is broad. You could be facilitator of a spatial process, an intermediary between different actors, or you may want to focus more on urban design. We’ll open you up to the possibilities and enable you to become the urbanist that you envision yourself to be
Graduate projects
Take a look at our graduates projects (download)
What does your week look like?
The course is carried out in a 40-week intensive program. You’ll work in the Design studio at Fontys in Tilburg one day per week. Alongside this, self-study comprises 10 hours and practical work 20 hours per week. You’ll follow theory classes once a week.
Admission requirements for the master’s degree program:
- Bachelor (B/ BSc) Architecture
- Bachelor (B) Art Academy (Architectural design/ Interior design)
According to the Code of Conduct regarding International Students, international students seeking admittance to an English-taught Masters programme must be able to prove that their command of the English language is at least equal to a score of 6.0 of the IELTS Test.
Applicants are required to:
Work a minimum of 20 hours a week in a relevant practice (Architect’s firm or related). The Academy offers alternative practice studio’s for students who are temporarily unable to find a regular job. In these alternative practice studio’s students will work on assignments by real stakeholders and will be supervised by practitioners. There is usually no remuneration for participating students.
Admission requirements for the master’s degree program:
- Bachelor (B/ BSc) Architecture
- Bachelor (B) Art Academy (Architectural design/ Interior design)
According to the Code of Conduct regarding International Students, international students seeking admittance to an English-taught Masters programme must be able to prove that their command of the English language is at least equal to a score of 6.0 of the IELTS Test.
Applicants are required to:
Work a minimum of 20 hours a week in a relevant practice (Architect’s firm or related). The Academy offers alternative practice studio’s for students who are temporarily unable to find a regular job. In these alternative practice studio’s students will work on assignments by real stakeholders and will be supervised by practitioners. There is usually no remuneration for participating students.
Admission requirements for the master’s degree program:
- Bachelor (B/ BSc) Architecture
- Bachelor (B) Art Academy (Architectural design/ Interior design)
According to the Code of Conduct regarding International Students, international students seeking admittance to an English-taught Masters programme must be able to prove that their command of the English language is at least equal to a score of 6.0 of the IELTS Test.
Applicants are required to:
Work a minimum of 20 hours a week in a relevant practice (Architect’s firm or related). The Academy offers alternative practice studio’s for students who are temporarily unable to find a regular job. In these alternative practice studio’s students will work on assignments by real stakeholders and will be supervised by practitioners. There is usually no remuneration for participating students.
Costs
The tuition fees indicator helps you to determine the tuition rate for your situation. The information and tuition rates from this indicator are without engagement.
For the 2021-2022 academic year, you can count on a one-time discount on tuition fees from the ‘Nationaal Programma Onderwijs’. Do you want to know what this means for you personally? Check the tuition fees indicator to see how high your tuition fees are for academic year 2021-2022.
Statutory tuition fees and institutional tuition fees
A distinction is made between statutory tuition fees and institutional tuition fees. Only if you satisfy all statutory requirements regarding your nationality and if you have not yet been awarded a degree, will you be eligible for statutory tuition fees. Via the tuition fees indicator, you can secure an indication of the type of tuition fees that will be applicable in your situation. To do so, please make use of the indicator above.
Distinctions are made between the following types of Institutional Tuition Fees:
- Low institutional tuition fees
- High institutional tuition fees
Different types of tuition fees and Exemption Regulations
These different types of tuition fees and the Exemption Regulations are fully detailed in the
The amount to be paid may vary in accordance with the following situations:
- If you have enrolled in more than one course programme (at Fontys and/or elsewhere), it is possible that you may only be obliged to pay one set of statutory tuition fees.
- If you believe that you may be eligible to pay only the statutory tuition fees on the basis of information that may be unknown to us, please report this to your Course Department.
- If it later transpires that you do not meet the requirements for statutory tuition fees, you will be obliged to pay the (higher) institutional tuition fees and if this is the case, you will be notified accordingly.
Fontys currently offers several scholarships for Non-Eu / Non-EEA students. You might also be eligible for other scholarships not provided by Fontys. These can be found on Grantfinder.nl
Master Architecture and Urbanism offers 2 Holland Scholarships (HSP) to talented and motivated candidates for our MSc in Architecture and MSc in Urbanism programmes. The HSP is only available to non-EU students in the form of a €5,000 grant to be received during the second semester of the first year.
Holland Scholarship
The Holland Scholarship provides a partial scholarship for the first year of your studies within our Master of Architecture/Master of Urbanism programme. The scholarship of €5,000 is financed by Fontys University of Applied Sciences and the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.
General application criteria Holland Scholarship
• Non-EU/non-EEA nationality
• You’re applying for a full-time bachelor’s or master’s programme at one of the participating Dutch higher education institutions
• This is your first time studying at an educational institution in the Netherlands
• You have read the general conditions of the Holland Scholarship Programme*
• You agree that your application details may be shared with EP Nuffic and the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science
Additional programme criteria of Holland Scholarship
• You’re registered for the Fontys Master of Urbanism at www.studielink.nl
• You meet the general admission requirements of the programme of your choice (to be determined by the admission office).
• Students have to hand in an essay of 750 words on the topic of “the importance of concurrent education”, using academic sources. Please send your essay to fhkmau@fontys.nl
• To be eligible for the Holland Scholarship Programme, you need to fill in the application form after 1 November and before 1 June.
Applying for the scholarship is a different procedure than the application for a study programme, which has to be processed via studielink.nl. For more information on how to apply, please select the programme of your choice.
Paying in instalments
Collection will take place in a maximum of ten equal instalments on or around the 26th of the month. Depending upon the processing time required after your enrolment, the direct debit may need to be moved to the following month. If so, the amount outstanding will then be divided and added to the remaining instalments to be executed until and including the June instalment.
If paying the full sum in a single payment
If you commence your studies on 1 September, the direct debit pertaining to your Tuition Fees will be executed on or around 25 September. If you commence your studies after 1 September, the direct debit will be executed on or around the 26th of the month in which you commence your studies.
Non EU students
Incoming Non EU students will receive a payment letter from their study department which must be paid before the deadline. In the following academic years payment can be done by direct debit.
Non-Sepa
If you have a Bank account number, of which the bank is not situated in one of the SEPA countries, and you are a national of a country outside the EEA without an address in The Netherlands, then you will receive a paymentletter from Fontys via your course department.
The Dutch currency unit is the Euro (i.e. abbreviated to ‘EUR’ or ‘€’).
The average living expenses per month for a foreign student living and studying in Holland are between EUR 900 and EUR 1,100 per month. These living expenses cover rent, insurance, food, public transportation, books, clothing and other general costs.
Dutch Immigration Service (IND) requires non-EEA students to proof they have access to € 11,200 per year (€ 5.600 per semester)
Costs within the first months upon arrival will be higher than all other months due to a housing deposit, intro week and books. Study books are usually bought at the start of the semester and therefore it is wise to reserve and have direct access to an amount at the start of the semester which can cover the price of all study books and the living expenses for the first two months.
Before starting your study at Fontys, you must find suitable housing. Unfortunately, it is not easy for international students to find accommodation in the Netherlands due to the housing crisis. Start your accommodation search early. Please be aware that finding a place to live is your own responsibility. However, we are happy to assist in any way we can.
Career opportunities
After graduation
Graduates from this programme will be able to take an integrated, design-led approach in tackling complex issues of their environment in a national and/or international context. This gives them a variety of career prospects in urbanism and other related fields.
Title
All graduated architects and urban designers will receive the title Msc.
Previous nominees for Archiprix NL
- 2020 ‘From The Rural Ashes’ by Paula Cores Barral
- 2020 ‘A New Layer Of Icelandic Identity’ by Jeroen Thijssen
- 2021 'Architecture Of Synergy' by Mohammad Khalili Nejad
- 2021 'Towards The Inclusive Village' by Ron van den Heuvel
- 2022 'Architecture On Demand' by Koen Huijs
- 2022 'Dyamic Thresholds' by Nick van Dijke
Previous nominees for Archiprix International
- 2019 'Foreshore+' by Nicky Kouwenberg, Niek van de Calseijde, Sidney van Well
- 2021 ‘Gardens in the Sea’ by Piotr Kalbarczyk
How to apply
1. Add new enrolment via Studielink
Your enrolment for a FHK bachelor or master begins at www.studielink.nl. If you officially live in the Netherlands, you need a DigiD to login. If you don’t have a DigiD because you have a foreign address, you create your own account in Studielink (if you don't already have one).
• Once logged in to Studielink, complete or make sure your personal details are entered correctly (i.e. capital letters where required, according to your passport/ID card) and check or add your previous education.
• Choose the study programme you wish to apply for (or select the option "Add new enrolment application" in your dashboard). You can enter one or more search queries and select Fontys university of applied sciences to select your programme.
• Choose the correct start date: September 1, 2022, answer the institutional questions and confirm.
Did you receive a message via Studielink about sending in your passport? fhksa@fontys.nl will send you a request.
Did you receive a message via Studielink about sending in proof of language requirements and/or previous education?
You don’t have to send these documents yet! We will inform you about this when you passed the admission test.
2. Apply for an admission online
Two working days after the request for enrolment via Studielink you will receive an e-mail (sender fhksa@fontys.nl) with a link to the admission form.
NB: This is a different e-mail then the one you receive from no-reply@fontys.nl, stating your PCN number and password. You will need both e-mails.
When we received your application, you will get a confirmation. At the latest one week before the admission date, you will receive an invitation or more information. If you don't receive the e-mails, please check your spambox and add our address to your address book.
More about Urbanism (Master)
Would you like to know more about this programme? Register for a virtual open day of this programme. During this presentation you will get to know the programme, you will have the opportunity to ask questions and you can listen in on the answers to questions asked by others. We look forward to meeting you online!
Do you want to experience a day as a student of the Master of Urbanism? You are welcome to register for one of the dates below*.
*If there are no dates shown, there are no events planned at the moment.
In the factsheet you will find the most important programme information at a glance.
Download the factsheet