The Urban Housing and Land Justice: Equitable Access to Sustainable Land, Housing & Services programme is a master track within the MSc in Urban Management and Development. The programme focuses on understanding and evaluating the complex processes of providing and financing equitable access to land, adequate housing and urban services.
The track investigates processes and structures behind such provision with a human-right perspective. Land and housing rights are at the centre of the theoretical underpinnings related to socio-spatial justice, urban inclusion, and tenure security. Students will critically reflect on and discuss which policies and strategies enable the availability of land, housing and basic services, accessibility, affordability, acceptability, and adaptability to all socio-economic groups. In addition, participants will learn to evaluate the outcomes of policy implementation in the land, housing, and basic services provision. Gender transformation and intersectionality, participatory decision-making processes, and urban sustainability cut across the theories presented. How this complex scenario translates in practice is presented through case studies and the practical application of these theories in workshops and practice-oriented exercises.
What are some of the special features of this track?
Learn from an international team of housing specialists
The team teaching in this track consists of highly experienced international housing experts who are also actively involved in ongoing real-life projects.
Get access to a toolkit to assess adequate housing & housing justice
Staff in this track developed a framework called the ‘5A’s which serves as a toolkit to assess adequate housing and housing justice in practice. The principles of the concept are Availability, Accessibility, Affordability, Acceptability and Adaptability of housing.
Benefit from our network of high-profile guest lectures
Students enjoy lectures from a variety of organisations such as UN-Habitat, the Centre for Affordable Housing in Africa, the Asian Coalition of Housing Rights and the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment of TU-Delft.
Conduct your thesis research in a new cultural context abroad
Students in this track have the possibility to conduct their master thesis fieldwork in specific housing-related contexts around the world. The specialisation team builds on deep-rooted collaborations with highly ranked universities and local and international NGOs and CBOs in various countries such as Thailand and India.
Apply your learnings in a simulated environment
Students apply theories and concepts in practical workshops based on a fictional city in the Global South of the North. This experiential learning approach allows students to apply their gained knowledge and skills to an ‘actual’ city in a playful manner.
Why study at IHS, Erasmus University Rotterdam?
Earn your MSc degree from a top 100 university
Unique teaching methods
Application of learned skills
Truly international and diverse environment
Rotterdam- a hub for sustainable urban innovation
Lectures from UN-Habitat and other key stakeholders in the urban field
