Plan your Degree

New — Urban Worlds

With over half of 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. Students in SFU’s new Bachelor of Arts (BA), Major in Urban Worlds program gain the knowledge and skills to shape cities and urban life for better in the future.

Degree: Bachelor of Arts from either the Faculty of Environment (Urban Change Stream) or the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (Urban Studies Stream)
Department: Geography

One major, two options for completion:

All students build a foundation in the first 4 courses:

• URB 101: What is a city?
• GEOG 161: Urban Change: An introduction to dynamic places
• PLAN 100: Introduction to Planning
• INDG 101: Introduction to Indigenous Studies

You then choose one of two streams: Urban Change, offered through the Faculty of Environment, or Urban Studies, offered through the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. In the final year, the two streams come together, and students apply what they’ve learned to real-world, local contexts, through partnerships with local urban agencies. Practicum options are available.

Explore the human past, from Neanderthals to current issues of First Nations heritage in one of Canada's top archaeology programs. Delve into forensic science and biological anthropology to learn about primates and changes in the human skeleton, or examine human-environmental interactions while working in labs, in the field, or travelling to local and/or international destinations.

Environmental Science

Draw on diverse disciplines to explore the relationships between humans and the environment. By examining Earth’s physical, chemical and biological processes, you will learn how to think critically about how the world works, and use science to address environmental problems. You will tailor your degree to your interests by choosing one of six streams.

Five study streams: Applied biology, environmental Earth systems, environmetrics (environmental statistics), water science, and environmental science general. Learn more about the streams here.

Global Environmental Systems

Dive into environmental issues, particularly the climate crisis. Learn to use a global perspective to examine the intersection of social and biophysical systems (e.g. housing development and wildlife habitat loss) and discover how to mitigate negative effects of these systems. Advanced data analysis and modeling will become part of your toolkit. 

Human Geography

Explore the complex challenges facing our communities and our planet. You will learn how social, economic, political and environmental forces shape our daily lives. By applying a global perspective, you will identify practical solutions through a range of research and analysis methods.

Physical Geography

Explore Earth systems science by studying the interactions between air, water, land and the spaces where organisms live. Investigate the events that influence our lives and learn how we are altering the Earth’s environmental systems. You will tailor your studies to match your interests and career goals and be eligible for professional certification in the environmental and resource sectors.

Resource & Environmental Management

Discover how we manage natural resources like energy, forestry and fisheries. Learn how social and natural sciences, along with urban and rural planning, guide sustainable environmental management and gain an understanding of socio-cultural and Indigenous perspectives, Earth processes, environmental impact assessments, analytics in decision-making, conflict resolution and policy, planning and regulation.