New Master’s Program
The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the National University of Distance Education in Spain (UNED) have partnered to offer a unique new master’s program on land policy and urban development. It is one of the few graduate programs in the world that explores both the legal framework and the fiscal and planning tools related to sustainable and participatory urban planning.
The master’s degree in Land Policy and Sustainable Urban Development will be offered online and will consist of three modules, each of which addresses an important part of the current reality of cities: urban administrative law and land-based financing, climate change and sustainable development, and urban conflict and citizen participation. The full program lasts one year, although students will have the flexibility to complete it in up to two years.
The program is tailored to public officials, but also to aspiring planners and other students interested in graduate-level studies on urban policies from a legal, environmental, and participatory process perspective. Students in the master’s program will receive both the intellectual and technical training necessary to lead in the implementation of transformative urban and land management policies.
The program was inspired by one of the key insights of the United Nations Habitat III Summit: planning for and attaining the sustainable city requires coordination between land policies, equitable and viable financing mechanisms, and citizen participation.
“In most postgraduate programs in urban planning or public administration, the subject of land, especially land markets, tends to disappear or is nonexistent,” said Enrique Silva, who is director of International Initiatives at the Lincoln institute and a director of the new program. “What we offer in this program does not exist in other institutions, at least not with this depth and composition, and with an emphasis on Lincoln Institute priorities, which are land policies, land markets, and land-based financing.”
The master’s degree in Land Policy and Sustainable Urban Development has its own accreditation from UNED, which has the highest number of students of any university in Spain. Through the UNED Department of Administrative Law, this institution has a solid track record of training, dissemination, and research in the field of urban law, sustainable urban development, and public participation.
This master’s degree is the product of several years of joint work and a convergence of interests and visions between the Lincoln Institute and UNED. In this regard, the scope and vision of the program is global in reach, but with an emphasis on the Latin American reality and a strong comparative perspective with Spain. Students will benefit from cases, topics, and techniques from both the Latin American and Spanish context. Emphasis is placed on the influence that Spanish and Latin American legislation and planning instruments have exerted on each other and how they have shaped cities in both regions.
“We want our students to achieve a systemic vision of urban transformation processes to generate more just, resilient, and sustainable cities,” affirmed program codirector and UNED faculty member Marta Lora-Tamayo. “We want to do this from a comparative perspective and ensure that students benefit from robust feedback, and from the professional and personal growth that happens through a master’s degree program that is international, online and diverse.”
For details on application and enrollment, visit the UNED website. More information on costs and scholarships will be available soon.