The 21st century will be an urban century with more people around the world residing in metropolitan regions than in any other form of human settlement. This urbanization is taking place in both the global North and the global South. Its implications are widespread: from environmental challenges to entrenched patterns of segregation to new configurations of politics and social movements. The Global Metropolitan Studies Initiative is concerned with this urban condition. Bringing together numerous faculty, this multidisciplinary endeavor supports research and houses graduate and undergraduate curricula. It is one of a handful of "strategic" initiatives selected by the UC Berkeley campus to mark a new generation of scholarship and to consolidate an emerging academic field.
Global Metropolitan Studies has been authorized to fill five new faculty positions to build a permanent educational enterprise. Three new faculty members have been hired to date; two additional positions will be filled in coming years.
- Jason Corburn, an expert in environmental planning, in the Department of City and Regional Planning Department.
- Joan Walker, a specialist in infrastructure planning and management, in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
- Alison Post, whose research is in comparative metropolitan politics and policy, is a member of the Department of Political Science.
Global Metropolitan Studies has over 70 faculty affiliates on campus. Core faculty come from the founding Departments of City and Regional Planning, Geography, Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, Political Science, Sociology, and Civil and Environmental Engineering. Additional faculty affiliates are from Anthropology, Architecture, the Energy and Resources Group, Environmental Science Policy and Management, History, Public Health, and Public Policy.
Faculty members with an interest in metropolitan studies are invited to participate in the initiative’s activities.
Global Metropolitan Studies offers a Designated Emphasis for doctoral students, to supplement their disciplinary degrees. The DE has two tracks, Comparative Urban Studies and Infrastructure & Environment, and includes two core courses and dozens of electives in all the disciplines represented by GMS faculty.
The research functions of the GMS initiative are located in the Global Metropolitan Studies Center, which is part of the Institute of Urban and Regional Development in the School of Environmental Design. The Global Metropolitan Studies Center serves as a conduit for faculty research grants, offers space for visiting scholars, and hosts lectures, symposia, and conferences.
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