Master’s and Doctorate Program in Planning and Sustainable Development  

PRESENTATION

Based on the review of the approaches and contents of master’s and doctoral programs at the national and regional level, it is observed, on the one hand, the lack of programs oriented to regional urban planning and landscape design, as well as programs that have within these fields, the integration of environmental, sustainability and management aspects, which are currently demanded by national and international environmental and human settlements agendas for urban and regional development at the local and global level.

The MyDPDS program is innovative in its approach to sustainability and its application to the areas of regional urban planning, the regional and urban landscape, as well as the social perspectives of development and sustainability. From this point of view, it is intended to contribute to the training of professionals in Sustainable Planning and Development that produce scientific and humanistic knowledge that contributes to the construction of the sustainability of urban development and the protection of the environment.

The MyDPDS program is research oriented at its two levels:

In master’s degree it is specified in the approach of an investigation oriented to address problems of the environment and development in any of the lines of research.

The doctorate seeks to train researchers of the highest academic level, capable of carrying out original, pertinent, specialized and independent research in any of the lines of research and its application in the professional field, addressing problems of local, national or international, with an interdisciplinary and integrating vision of knowledge.

As part of supporting the academic training of our students, both the Faculty of Architecture and the Institute of Social Research have established actions to link academically with related programs at the national and international level. Formal exchange relationships that strengthen and enrich the development of both research and teaching. Among the educational institutions with which links have been established are: the Azcapotzalco and Xochimilco Metropolitan Autonomous University; the National Autonomous University of Mexico; the University of Colima, the University of Paris Sorbonne; the University of Ferrara; the State University of Arizona in Tempe, the University of Extremadura, the University of Pontagrossa in Brazil and the University of Chile, in Santiago de Chile.

PROFILE: 

The profile of the candidate to take the Master’s program in Planning and Sustainable Development must be made up of the following academic aspects:

KNOWLEDGE

– Knowledge of the theories of development, sustainability, planning and other frames of reference that explain the social, economic and environmental phenomena that are expressed in different scales of the territory.

– Generation of original, innovative, relevant and transcendent knowledge for society and academia.

– Mastery of methodological elements that allow the student to apply methods and techniques throughout the investigative work.

– Management of methods and techniques for the analysis and evaluation of urban and environmental processes from a multidisciplinary and multi-scale framework.

– Contribute to the development of the field of territorial planning and sustainable development through applied and basic research.

– Theoretical, methodological and technical domain on the line of research in which they develop their thesis.

ABILITIES

– Formulate research projects, show a critical attitude and propose strategies to influence possible solutions to local and regional problems.

– Competence in knowledge and criticism of contemporary theories on development, sustainability and territorial planning.

– Approach and development of appropriate methodologies for planning in each of the LGAC.

– Prepare studies, projects and advice to the public, private and social sectors.

– Collaborate in inter and multidisciplinary work

– Communication and written and oral dissemination of scientific work in forums and specialized academic publications.

VALUES

– Act and conduct yourself ethically in your academic and professional performance.

– Awareness of the impact that the planner’s intervention has on the environment through the formulation of policies, plans, programs and projects.

– Inter and multidisciplinary group work.

– Development of a critical, reflective and purposeful attitude with responsibility.

– Identification of environmental problems at different scales of the territory.

– Respect and adhere to the laws.

ATTITUDES

– Willingness to carry out work individually and as a team

– Critical and reflective attitude.

GRADUATION PROFILE: 

In general terms, the profile of the master’s graduate will allow them to integrate and apply theoretical and methodological knowledge on regional urban planning or landscape design, as well as the management of tools for the analysis and evaluation of socioeconomic, environmental and management aspects. On the research side, the graduate will apply the methods and techniques that allow them to raise and solve applied research problems, always favoring a critical, reflective, purposeful and collaborative attitude for group and interdisciplinary work, and specifically:

Framing the problems of regional, urban and rural development in the context of Sustainable Development.

Integrate and apply theoretical and methodological knowledge in the preparation and development of research, as well as use its products in the professional field of planning and in the lines of research: regional urban planning; regional and urban landscape, social perspectives of development and sustainability, giving priority to the problems demanded by the local and regional context.

Manage the tools for the analysis, evaluation and prospecting of socioeconomic, environmental, geographic and development management aspects.

Manage the research methods and techniques for the realization of reports of different types: academic and professional.

Prepare technical documents, essays, theses and disseminate them as academic publications.

Develop collaborative, constructive and interdisciplinary group work.

Present and defend the thesis.

CURRICULUM:

STUDY PLAN FOCUSED ON RESEARCH

Research work is the main academic activity in student training for both master’s and doctorate degrees, during the semesters in which they are enrolled they must carry out research work that will be evaluated, also every six months, by the professors of the Basic Academic Nucleus of the program. This is to develop their creativity and scientific rigor, as well as the work of analysis and development of strategies and methodologies aimed at solving their project.

CURRICULAR FLEXIBILITY

The MyDPDS program allows the master’s and doctoral student to take subjects not only in other academic units within the university itself, but also in other Institutions outside the country, if it is convenient for the student’s own training.

At the doctorate level, the student who is transferred from the master’s degree to the doctorate, once his master’s degree is finished and successfully presenting his degree examination, may enroll in the doctorate, being exempt from taking the propaedeutic course and the revalidation of the compulsory subjects will be considered (with the exception of Research Methods), as long as they have been accredited with a score of no less than 8.

By virtue of the fact that, in the doctorate, the subject of research methods has a greater rigor of demand and is the one that determines the semester progress of the student, so the duration of the doctorate will continue to be six semesters. In this way, the administration of time and the academic activities of the student will be based on the progress of their research project and thus will have more time to dedicate to their research and will be able to finish the doctorate in less time, as long as they meet the credits corresponding to the subjects, which may be within the first four semesters of the program.