PhD Programme
in "Urban Planning, Design and Policy"
Politecnico di Milano
30th Cycle Call for Admission

Milan, Italy
APPLICATION DEADLINE | 23 May 2014, 2pm
SCHOLARSHIP: 6
Politecnico di Milano
DAStU - Department of Architecture and Urban Studies

MISSION AND GOALS
The PhD Program in Urban Planning, Design and Policy aims at exploring the significance and the impact of contemporary urban changes and at understanding the way they can be governed through planning, design and policy making activities. The program focuses on territorial, social, economic and institutional transformations in contemporary cities, and aims at discussing them as a complex of intertwined phenomena, which calls for new governance, planning and design approaches.The integration between different fields and disciplines of urban research on the one hand, and between theory and practice on the other one, distinguishes the approach promoted by the PhD program.

By establishing a dialogue with the best European and International schools, this PHD program is the place for research and innovative approaches to urban studies, spatial planning and urban design. PhD Students are encouraged to reflect upon traditions and innovative experiences in these fields, to participate to research activities concerning cities and regions in Italy and abroad, paying particular attention to international comparison. This will be fostered through the organization of international seminars and through a period of internship to be carried out by the PhD Student at those research institutes, universities or public agencies which constitute the international reference network for the UPDP Program.

On the basis of a multidisciplinary approach, the main objective of both the educational program and the individual research activities is to offer to PhD students a challenging environment, a space for international debate and research, experimentation and innovation.
Moving from this perspective, the PhD Programme is organized in three research areas:
• Urban studies;
• Planning theories and practices;
• Design topics, forms and tools.
These research areas reflect the contents and themes of the ongoing research at DAStU and represent the framework of future proposals. They will be the backbone for PhD Students educational and research activities.

Within the PhD Programme in UPDP the following additional subjects are proposed:
• The evolutions in urban planning and the perspectives of planning practices in relationships with
urban and regional changes;
• The characteristics and the effects of planning practices taking into account the crossroads between planning and other disciplines;
• Processes and institutions of urban governance;
• Spatial impact of social innovation;
• Forms and processes of regionalization;
• Processes of social, economic and territorial development in local contexts;
• Innovation in the description and representation of urban environment and landscape;
• Tools for the evaluation and management of urban projects and policies, with the aim to master the feasibility and equity of land development, as well as the sustainability and the design quality of the physical outcomes;
• Strategies for land and biodiversity preservation and energy conservation;
• Forms and processes of spatialisation of social and economic inequalities. 

OTHER INFORMATIONS
• The PhD Program in Urban Planning, Design and Policy welcomes foreign and Italian students.
• English is the official language of the program. The PhD Program takes advantage of the rich research milieu of the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU) and of the cooperation with two other PhD Programs held at DAStU (Architectural and Urban Design and Preservation of the Architectural Heritage). 
• All candidates will be admitted with the basic departmental scholarships, and the specific research subject will be assigned, with the agreement of the candidate and the Board of Professors of the PhD Programme, within the first years of the PhD activity.

INFO & CONTACTS
• 30th CYCLE Ph.D. CALL 2014/15 - DAStU Website
• 30th CYCLE Ph.D. CALL 2014/15 - POLIMI Website (1)
• 30th CYCLE Ph.D. CALL 2014/15 - POLIMI Website (2)

• School of Doctoral Programs
E: dottorato.ricerca@ceda.polimi.it

• Prof. Paola Pucci (Coordinator) 
E: paola.pucci@polimi.it
• arch. PhD Giulia Fini (PhD Tutor) 
E: giulia.fini@polimi.it

PhD Office at DAStU
• dr. Marina Bonaventura
E: marina.bonaventura@polimi.it
T. +39.02.2399.5165
• dr. Manuela Rinaldi 
E: manuela.rinaldi@polimi.it
T. +39.02.2399. 5019