Joint minor: Urban studies in Morocco: cities in transition

The minor Urban Studies in Morocco is a collaboration between Leiden University, Delft University of Technology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and NIMAR, the Université Internationale de Rabat (UIR). This minor is open to all bachelor's students at the three universities.

This minor explores urban transformations in Morocco, where rapid infrastructure development, demographic change, and environmental pressures reshape cities. Students examine societal challenges of governance, heritage, sustainability, and inequality through interdisciplinary, field-based learning, linking policy ambitions with everyday urban life experiences.

Combining perspectives and disciplines

Students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds work in interdisciplinary teams to study urban transformations in Morocco as a living laboratory. It combines humanities, design, social sciences, and technical perspectives around three core themes: urban heritage, urban renewal, and cities of the future.

Linking theory, policy and practical experience

Through challenge-based learning, students engage with policymakers and local communities, bridging top-down governance and lived experience. Students will connect theory, policy, and lived experience while contributing to knowledge co-production and societal impact.

Work together with teachers and students from Morocco and other African countries, getting to know new societal and academic traditions and challenges.

Reasons to choose a Leiden-Delft-Erasmus minor:

1. Joint education by three top-class universities.
2. Important societal challenges and new solutions.
3. Educators and students from different academic fields.
4. Cases by companies, governments and NGOs.
5. Expand your network in Leiden, Den Haag, Delft and Rotterdam.

More Leiden-Delft-Erasmus minors

What are the key features of the multidisciplinary Leiden-Delft-Erasmus minors?

• Admission requirements: This Leiden-Delft-Erasmus minor is open to all students of Leiden University, TU Delft and Erasmus University Rotterdam, and students from the Netherlands.
• Number of places: Although it varies according to the minor, between 12 and 35 students can participate. Students from each of the universities are equally likely to be placed.
• Language: This minor is taught in English, and Dutch will not be needed for this minor.
• Credits: This is a 30 EC minor, offered in the first semester. It is possible to only follow the first block of 15 EC.
• Location: The lectures and seminars are held at NIMAR, the Université Internationale de Rabat (UIR), and at various sites in Morocco during field visits. The Netherlands Institute in Morocco (NIMAR) is an institute of the Faculty of Humanities of Leiden University, with a nationwide remit, located in Rabat, Morocco.
• Applications: You apply for a Leiden-Delft-Erasmus minor via eduXchange.
• Selection: This is a non-selection minor.

Lecturers about this minor:

Dr. Rim Yassine Kassab is the coordinator and talks about the interaction with the local area and its residents:

'In this minor, you don’t just study cities: you experience them. You will work in interdisciplinary teams, explore Moroccan cities through fieldwork, and engage with real urban challenges alongside local communities and policymakers.

If you are curious about how cities change in practice, want to learn beyond the classroom, and enjoy hands-on, international learning, this minor offers a truly unique experience.'

Pr. Dr.Léon Buskens, director of NIMAR adds to that: 'Morocco is getting ready to host the world cup football in 2030. It is also looking for sustainable solutions to create new jobs, to produce food and energy in a “green” manner and to play a leading role between Africa, Asia and Europe.

These ambitions take shape in large infrastructural works, such as ports, highways and high speed railways, and through extensive urban renewal projects in a selected area. 

At the same time, diverse groups in society cherish a rich past, conceptualised as material and immaterial heritage. How do policy makers, members of local communities, artists, intellectuals and other actors experience and shape these changes? Please join us at NIMAR to broaden your horizon and become a real world citizen with serious local knowledge!