Advancing an inclusive and sustainable future: SFU announces new major in Urban Worlds

Two streams. Real world learning. Accelerated master’s admission. Empowering undergraduate students to positively impact urban life in their careers.  

It is with great excitement that Simon Fraser University launches a new Bachelor of Arts in Urban Worlds this fall. A collaborative degree between the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Environment, the new major addresses the growing need to tackle the world’s urban issues and improve upon its possibilities.

With over half the world’s population living in urban spaces, cities matter. They produce, reflect, and amplify most of the dynamics, potential, and problems of global society. With planetary pressures like population growth and climate change, urban spaces need to be more resilient and sustainable for society to thrive in a turbulent world. SFU’s new major in Urban Worlds tackles these topics and turns them into opportunities for students to gain the knowledge and skills they need to effectively shape cities and urban life for a better future.

“Our world is urban. Wherever we live, cities shape our lives,” says SFU Geography professor, Nicholas Blomley. “Cities are centres of culture, political decision-making, innovation and creativity. Cities reveal and intensify human problems such as racism, climate change, and inequity. The Urban Worlds major grounds students in the dynamism and diversity of the city.”

Directly addressing SFU’s priority to engage in global challenges and vision to advance an inclusive and sustainable future, urban-minded SFU undergraduate students can now put their passion for making positive change in our cities towards a degree. Two stream options allow students to curate their studies to match their interests. Additionally, students can choose accelerated Master’s admission to take their studies to the graduate level.

B.C. Ministry of Education approval was awarded thanks to the collaborative effort of Geography professor, Nicholas Blomley, and Urban Studies professor, Anthony Perl. A true collaboration at every level, Urban Worlds exists as a degree option from the Department of Geography (Faculty of Environment) and Urban Studies Program (Faculty of Arts and Social Science).

Urban Worlds students take their foundation year courses together, then choose a stream in Urban Change (through FENV) or Urban Studies (through FASS) for years two and three. The streams allow students to focus on their areas of interest in this excitingly complex and layered area of study. All Urban Worlds students reconnect for fourth-year capstone projects, and they graduate together with a degree that will create opportunities for graduate studies as well as jobs and career pathways.

Urban Worlds students’ career opportunities include (but are not limited to) urban and land-use planners; senior managers in government, construction, transportation, production utilities; senior government managers and officials; economic development; sustainability; business development officers; market researchers and analysts; and emergency management.

The major’s course load cleverly combines existing courses with new courses like URB 101: What is a city? This class is being offered for the first time in fall 2024. Check out what instructor Mei Lang has to say about URB 101.

Urban Worlds’ diverse course offerings help to make this degree unique. An exciting range of studies, including courses about Indigenous peoples, international studies, and sustainability, are offered alongside courses in quantitative geography, statistics, life sciences, data ethics, and social research, coalesce into this exciting new major. The total course offering spans 23 of SFU’s programs from five faculties. Urban Worlds connects the SFU academic community in an ambitious new way, taking interdisciplinary teaching and learning to new levels. It is no exaggeration to say that Urban Worlds is a shining example of SFU’s commitment to collaborative teaching and innovative learning.

Peter Hall, SFU’s Vice-Provost and Associate VP Academic, says, “SFU researchers are at the leading edge of global research on the urban condition; from urban economies to social inclusion, from sustainable communities to literature, from urban policy to housing. The Urban Worlds major provides undergraduate students an opportunity to engage with this expertise while learning and living in one of the world’s most interesting urban spaces."

Offering an immersive, experiential, and interdisciplinary learning approach, Urban Worlds reveals where, why, and how fundamental socio-spatial processes, such as gentrification, homelessness, and migration inform the challenges of urban development in various contexts around the world. Students will learn how urban change influences social change and how to shape cities and urban life for the better.

This knowledge provides students with the highly employable skills that are required in occupations needed to support the social and socioeconomic fabric of cities, 21st-century urban change, and its accompanying challenges.

Employability is a focus of this program both inside and outside of the classroom. The major’s fourth-year studies focus on real world learning, as students apply what they’ve learned through partnerships with the City of Vancouver’s City Studio (in GEOG 461) and the City of New Westminster (in URB 499). Additionally, practicum options are made available to all students.

Also, Urban Worlds students are eligible for accelerated admission to SFU Master’s programs in Geography or Urban Studies.

"Urbanization is growing faster than our understanding of how to improve cities,” says SFU Urban Studies professor, Anthony Perl. “The know-how and know-why that students acquire from SFU's major in Urban Worlds will enable them to manage the disruptions and minimize the inequities that arise from urbanization, advance the common good, and deliver on government commitments to make cities better for all." 

This ambitious new major moves SFU’s What’s Next journey forward: provincially, nationally, and internationally. From climate change and migration to racism, gentrification, homelessness, and housing crises, professors in Urban Worlds courses invite students to explore global urbanization, tackle urban challenges, and create sustainable solutions. Students will learn effective ways to work with people and organizations to develop equitable, inclusive, and healthy communities. Urban Worlds invites students to strengthen their commitments to reconciliation, equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice. Graduates of the Urban Worlds major will make a difference for B.C. by expanding education and credential models, accelerating impact and innovation.

A launch event is being planned for Thursday, Oct. 24, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Metro Vancouver in Burnaby during the UN-recognized Urban October. Please stay tuned for more information.

In the meantime, we invite you to share this information about SFU’s new major in Urban Worlds with your faculty and staff colleagues, as the major’s success will depend on a continued institutional commitment to collaboration. Let us ensure that students are aware of this new degree option, and of the exciting range of courses being offered this fall and in coming semesters.