About Urban Studies

We are located in the heart of downtown Vancouver and use our neighbourhood, city and region as living laboratories.

Our interdisciplinary faculty includes geographers, public policy scholars, political scientists, historians, economists and anthropologists whose teaching and research interests lie both within and outside Metro Vancouver, and who straddle both theory and practice.

The students we attract have diverse academic and professional backgrounds, which makes for robust, dynamic classroom environments where we explore the many different ways to read, understand and analyze the city.

After graduation, our students find rich and rewarding career opportunities in a range of urban professions. They often work as planners or in other professional positions for local (and other) governments, consulting firms, public agencies, non-profits, crown corporations and private development companies. They pursue urban-related careers in research, public relations, community engagement, policy development, elected office, property management, the arts and culture, and recreation and sport. 

To learn more about the work our graduates do, see our profiles of some recent alumni.

Listen to members of the SFU Urban Studies community pick up the mic to talk cities once and cities future, the urban lives we live and dream about and the people, ideas and options the city has left behind, misplaced, misguided.

We continue to be an open community seeking to connect and interact to improve our understanding of urban life and issues as best we can, while limiting risks and exposures to COVID-19. This means many new rules, policies and procedures, which are regularly updated.

Program Newsletter

Join our e-mail newsletter list to receive news about our events, students and faculty. We publish our newsletter about five times per year.