The programme is designed for urban thinkers from diverse backgrounds—urban designers, environmental engineers, architects, economists, sociologists, and data scientists—who are passionate about integrating design and data science. If you’re driven to work with multidisciplinary experts and city administrations to reshape urban environments, MUPD provides the platform to lead the positive transformation of cities.
Master in Advanced Urban Planning & Data Analytics
MUPD (previously known as Master in City & Technology), redefines the future of the urban environment, through innovative, evidence-based and experimental approaches.
Why Advanced Urban Planning & Data Analytics?
MUPD revolutionises urban planning by intersecting it with data analytics and implementing it through a blend of education, research, and practical application. The programme’s industry-driven approach enables students to collaborate with leading experts from architecture firms, NGOs, and international networks, ensuring their projects address critical, real-world challenges.
9
Editions of the Master Programme
400+
Graduated students and counting
80+
Nationalities. Multicultural environment
Programme Structure
Formats
MUPD (One-Year)
90 ECTS
MUPD + Thesis Project (Two-Year)
120 ECTS
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The programme’s academic structure is based on IAAC’s innovative, learn-by-doing, and design-through-research methodology which focuses on the development of interdisciplinary skills. During the Master in Advanced Urban Planning & Data Analytics students will have the opportunity to be part of a highly international group, including faculty members, researchers, and lecturers, in which they are encouraged to develop collective decision-making processes and materialize their project ideas.
In this way, IAAC has put together an experimental learning environment that equips professionals with both the theoretical and practical knowledge needed to face the increasing complexity of the contemporary urban environment and to define the future of urbanism.
Term 1 – Urban Reading
The Urban Reading Term focuses on the development of a framework to critically analyse data, understand the complexities of urban environments, and utilise advanced tools to create meaningful visual representations and urban or territorial strategies. Students will be introduced to the principles of urban computation, coding, and analytics; theories of the urban; emerging social economies; contemporary digital cultures, and design principles for innovative urban environments.
COURSES:
* Intro Workshop – Landing in Barcelona – Urban Analysis & Data Mapping (run by Program Alumni)
* Design Research Studio – Urban Reading – Digital Cartographies, Mapping Urban Complexity in the Anthropocene (13 ECTS)
* Urban Computation Seminars – Python for Urban Analytics; Digital Cultures (8 ECTS)
* Urban Environments Seminars – Co-creating public spaces; Designing for more than humans (4 ECTS)
* Urban Communities Seminar – Emerging Economies (2 ECTS)
* Urban Theories Seminar – Theories of the Urban I (2 ECTS)
NOTE: Design Studio and Seminars of term one are obligatory.
Term 2 – Urban Empowerment
The Urban Empowerment Term focuses on the development of data-driven and participatory design approaches, through the development of creative and critical tools to enable designing with non-experts, placemaking, and a more sensitive approach to human-nature relationships. Students will learn how to use AI tools to process and synthesise different media using Generative AI processes for images and text, including SD pipelines and LLMs agents. This shall lead to novel processes to empower communities and gather data for sustainable, open, and user-driven urban environments.
COURSES:
* Design Research Studio – Urban Empowerment – Creative Data Analytics for Community-Centred Design (15 ECTS)
* Urban Computation Seminars – Digital Tools for Investigative Methodologies I; Agent-Based Design & Machine Learning I (6 ECTS)
* Urban Environment Seminars – Apps for Citizens; Transitional Landscapes (4 ECTS)
* Urban Communities Seminar – Serious Games (2 ECTS)
* Urban Theories Seminar – Theories of the Urban II (2 ECTS)
NOTE: Design Studio and Seminars of term two are obligatory.
Term 3 – Urban Vulnerabilities
The Urban Vulnerabilities Term focuses on leveraging data and evidence-based processes to support vulnerable communities and environments in planning and designing just and equitable urban spaces, transportation systems, housing, and policies. This includes developing tools and designing strategies for spatial equity, determining bias in data and consequent data collection campaigns for impartial data, and developing designs for inclusive urban spaces. Students also continue with AI tools to process and synthesize different media using Generative AI processes for images and text, including SD pipelines and LLMs agents.
COURSES:
* Design Research Studio – Urban Vulnerabilities – Novel methodologies for Data Analytics towards intersectionality inclusive and more than human cities (15 ECTS)
* Urban Computation Seminars – Digital Tools for Investigative Methodologies II; Agent-Based Design & Machine Learning II (6 ECTS)
* Urban Environments Seminars – Innovative Urban Futures; Urban Panopticons (4 ECTS)
* Urban Communities Seminar – Web maps & urban storytelling (2 ECTS)
* Urban Theories Seminar – Theories of the Urban III (2 ECTS)
NOTE: Design Studio and Seminars of term three are obligatory
During the MUPD + Thesis Project, students have the unique opportunity to work for an additional time of 9 months on an Individual Thesis, focused on the development of one research or pilot project. To bridge the gap between education, research & practice, students have the advantage of working together with Thesis advisors from Academia and Partners from Practice – leaders from the professional fields of design, tech, networking, and the third sector join the programme team to place concrete challenges on the table, for the thesis students to propose a research topic aligned with these problematiques, ensuring each thesis has direct impact and is meaningful within real-world scenarios. IAAC supports the student in selecting their Thesis subject to better orient them according to their future career interests and opportunities.
In parallel to the development of the Thesis Cluster, the second year of the Master in Advanced Urban Planning & Data Analytics offers a series of seminars enhancing both the theoretical, practical, and computational skills of the students. Some of these seminars are articulated in collaboration with the other master programmes (Program Synergies) offered by IAAC, giving the students the chance to diversify their skillset, as well as further improve their technical knowledge and capacities.
Term 1
During the first phase of the second year, students start the initial steps of their Individual Thesis research development: contextualizing the research, identifying the knowledge gap, and developing the pathway for the research project’s development. Students will work in Thesis Clusters, supported by Advisors from Academia and Partners from Practice throughout the year, helping them to develop innovative and meaningful work. The first term has complementary courses, focused on Research Methodology, Content Workshops, and Industry & Applied Research.
COURSES:
* Thesis Cluster – Advanced Urban Design Thesis Cluster (18 ECTS – full year)
* Theory Seminar (2 ECTS – full year)
* Content Workshop (2 ECTS – full year)
* Industry and Applied Research (4 ECTS – full year)
Term 2
In parallel to the Thesis Cluster sessions that continue on from the first term, students continue with Research Methodology, Industry & applied and research and will be introduced to advanced computational seminars furthering the skills they acquired in the 1st year. Within the thesis, students go deeper into scientific exploration, testing and prototyping their Individual Research projects to verify and consolidate their content and contribution.
COURSES:
* Thesis Cluster – Advanced Urban Design Thesis Cluster (18 ECTS – full year)
* Theory Seminar (2 ECTS – full year)
* Industry and Applied Research (4 ECTS – full year)
* Advanced Computation and Tooling Seminars (4 ECTS – full year)
Term 3
This phase is focused on and structured around the development of the final design proposals, consolidating any tools, graphic content, or prototypes related to the Individual Thesis in preparation for its final discussion. The final presentation and defense of the Master’s Thesis takes place before a jury panel at the end of June. Additional support sessions are organised to support the development and quality of the final deliverables.
COURSES:
* Thesis Cluster – Advanced Urban Design Thesis Cluster (18 ECTS – full year)
* Theory Seminar (2 ECTS – full year)
* Advanced Computation and Tooling Seminars (4 ECTS – full year)
Technical Skills
Students are trained in the latest tools for computational design, urban simulations, data analytics for urban planning and spatial data science. Seminars on programming, big data analytics, parametric mapping and digital cultures equip them with the technical expertise, creative and critical thinking combined with qualitative capacities to design responsive urban environments.
Student profile
Career Paths
Graduates of MUPD join a global network of professionals, companies, and academic institutions, gaining opportunities in urban design, policy-making, urban intelligence, and community-driven initiatives. With the support of IAAC, students can also launch their practices, contributing to the future of urban planning, analytics, and environmental design.
FIND MAUPD ALUMNI STORIES
Directors & Coordinators
Mathilde Marengo is an Australian–French–Italian PhD Architect whose research focuses on contemporary urban phenomena, its integration with technology, and its implications for the future of the planet. In today’s critical environmental, social, and economic context, she explores how designers can address these challenges through circular and metabolic design.
She is the Urban Sciences Lab Director, Head of Studies, Co-director of the Master in Advanced Urban Planning & Data Analytics (formerly City & Technology), and a PhD Supervisor at IAAC. In this setting, she designs and tests innovative educational formats, promoting holistic, multi-disciplinary design approaches that emphasise materialisation and reframe design education in the Information Age.
Her work extends to National and EU-funded research projects, including URBiNAT, InnoChain ETN, and BUILD Solutions. Mathilde’s work has been published and exhibited internationally.
Mathilde Marengo
Head of Studies / USL Director / MUPD (formerly MaCT) Co-Director (she/her)
Eduardo Rico-Carranza is a Civil Engineer focused on the application of creative forms visualization of data analytics in urban and landscape design. His current research focuses on the development interfaces that capture design in the form of sketches as a form of survey for large scale input in participatory processes. He is carrying out an EPSRC funded Ph.D. in the Space Syntax department in Bartlett school of architecture and acting as a design consultant for Space Syntax Limited.
Eduardo currently Co-Directs the Landscape Urbanism master in the Architectural Association exploring the role of design within large landscape and environmental policy. He has extensive teaching experience in other institutions such as GSD, Bartlett and Berlage Institute. Eduardo has experience of working in the Urban Infrastructure Team in Arup as well as urban and landscape designer in a variety of award-winning projects with smaller firms in London. He is Co-director of the Master in Advanced Urban Planning & Data Analytics (formerly City & Technology).
Eduardo Rico-Carranza
Co-director MUPD (formerly MaCT)
Maria Isabel da Rocha Lima is a Brazilian architect, urban strategist, and researcher. She is the coordinator of the Master in Advanced Urban Planning & Data Analytics (formerly City & Technology) and a researcher at the Urban Sciences Lab at IAAC. Isabel holds a Master’s in Urban Management and Development from IHS, Erasmus University of Rotterdam.
She has worked in Portugal and Brazil, specialising in public participation and conducting workshops on urban rehabilitation, capacity building, the right to the city, and sustainable development. Her roles have included moderator, project manager, and researcher. Isabel has also served on the Alumni Board at IHS, representing the organisation at the World Urban Forum (WUF) and moderating a training event on small-scale initiatives.
Her research focuses on urban strategies, participatory planning, governance, and the right to the city.
Maria Isabel da Rocha Lima
USL Urban Communities Research Lead / MUPD (formerly MaCT) Coordinator (she/her)
Mauro Izarra is a Venezuelan Architect, with a Master’s Degree in “Urbanismo Próximo” from IAAC. He is currently the Urban Sciences Lab Assistant for the Coordination of the Lab’s Master courses.
He teaches at Universidad Simón Bolívar in Caracas, Venezuela, in the course “Digital Expression” displaying the use of different softwares for architectural and urban design, as well as researching, digitising and displaying works of academic, modern and contemporary Venezuelan Architecture. He has worked on projects that vary on scale, from vast territories, to cities, buildings and interior spaces. His work in cooperation with colleagues has reached finalist places in various international competitions.
Mauro’s research focuses on the representation of architecture through digital virtual space and how its potential is a clue to research the past, present and future of cities. His work is based on a dynamic of human-machine cooperation, as the use of technology, data and analysis can lead to accurate interventions on urban settlements. Mauro’s final project for the Master’s course displays the mass contamination and fragility of communities along the basin of the Lake of Tacarigua in Maracay, Venezuela. With the use of mapping of climate change effects on rivers, the project aims to provide small and manageable interventions that can provide crisis affected sectors with new economies centred on hydrology.
Mauro Izarra
USL Coordination Assistant (he/him)
Mathilde Marengo
Head of Studies / USL Director / MUPD (formerly MaCT) Co-Director (she/her)
Mathilde Marengo is an Australian–French–Italian PhD Architect whose research focuses on contemporary urban phenomena, its integration with technology, and its implications for the future of the planet. In today’s critical environmental, social, and economic context, she explores how designers can address these challenges through circular and metabolic design.
She is the Urban Sciences Lab Director, Head of Studies, Co-director of the Master in Advanced Urban Planning & Data Analytics (formerly City & Technology), and a PhD Supervisor at IAAC. In this setting, she designs and tests innovative educational formats, promoting holistic, multi-disciplinary design approaches that emphasise materialisation and reframe design education in the Information Age.
Her work extends to National and EU-funded research projects, including URBiNAT, InnoChain ETN, and BUILD Solutions. Mathilde’s work has been published and exhibited internationally.
Eduardo Rico-Carranza
Co-director MUPD (formerly MaCT)
Eduardo Rico-Carranza is a Civil Engineer focused on the application of creative forms visualization of data analytics in urban and landscape design. His current research focuses on the development interfaces that capture design in the form of sketches as a form of survey for large scale input in participatory processes. He is carrying out an EPSRC funded Ph.D. in the Space Syntax department in Bartlett school of architecture and acting as a design consultant for Space Syntax Limited.
Eduardo currently Co-Directs the Landscape Urbanism master in the Architectural Association exploring the role of design within large landscape and environmental policy. He has extensive teaching experience in other institutions such as GSD, Bartlett and Berlage Institute. Eduardo has experience of working in the Urban Infrastructure Team in Arup as well as urban and landscape designer in a variety of award-winning projects with smaller firms in London. He is Co-director of the Master in Advanced Urban Planning & Data Analytics (formerly City & Technology).
Maria Isabel da Rocha Lima
USL Urban Communities Research Lead / MUPD (formerly MaCT) Coordinator (she/her)
Maria Isabel da Rocha Lima is a Brazilian architect, urban strategist, and researcher. She is the coordinator of the Master in Advanced Urban Planning & Data Analytics (formerly City & Technology) and a researcher at the Urban Sciences Lab at IAAC. Isabel holds a Master’s in Urban Management and Development from IHS, Erasmus University of Rotterdam.
She has worked in Portugal and Brazil, specialising in public participation and conducting workshops on urban rehabilitation, capacity building, the right to the city, and sustainable development. Her roles have included moderator, project manager, and researcher. Isabel has also served on the Alumni Board at IHS, representing the organisation at the World Urban Forum (WUF) and moderating a training event on small-scale initiatives.
Her research focuses on urban strategies, participatory planning, governance, and the right to the city.
Mauro Izarra
USL Coordination Assistant (he/him)
Mauro Izarra is a Venezuelan Architect, with a Master’s Degree in “Urbanismo Próximo” from IAAC. He is currently the Urban Sciences Lab Assistant for the Coordination of the Lab’s Master courses.
He teaches at Universidad Simón Bolívar in Caracas, Venezuela, in the course “Digital Expression” displaying the use of different softwares for architectural and urban design, as well as researching, digitising and displaying works of academic, modern and contemporary Venezuelan Architecture. He has worked on projects that vary on scale, from vast territories, to cities, buildings and interior spaces. His work in cooperation with colleagues has reached finalist places in various international competitions.
Mauro’s research focuses on the representation of architecture through digital virtual space and how its potential is a clue to research the past, present and future of cities. His work is based on a dynamic of human-machine cooperation, as the use of technology, data and analysis can lead to accurate interventions on urban settlements. Mauro’s final project for the Master’s course displays the mass contamination and fragility of communities along the basin of the Lake of Tacarigua in Maracay, Venezuela. With the use of mapping of climate change effects on rivers, the project aims to provide small and manageable interventions that can provide crisis affected sectors with new economies centred on hydrology.
Faculty Name
Position
Iacopo Neri
Design Research Studio Faculty – Urban Reading
Iacopo Neri conducts research at the intersection of architecture, computer science, and urban planning. He holds a Master of Science in Architecture with Distinction from the Polytechnic University of Milan and completed the Master in City and Technology (currently Master in Advanced Urban Planning & Data Analytics) at IAAC. During the Responsive Cities Symposium (2017, Barcelona), Iacopo presented a paper on Swarm Intelligence for crowd-based analysis.
Since 2015, he has been a teaching assistant at the University of Florence, the Polytechnic University of Milan, and currently at IAAC, where he is part of the City and Technology computational research team. Iacopo also works as a computational designer at External Reference Architecture Bureau in Barcelona.
Laura Guimarães
Design Research Studio Faculty – Urban Design
Laura Guimarães is a Brazilian architect and urbanist with a Master’s Degree in City & Technology from IAAC. She currently serves as the Urban Science Lab Manager at IAAC.
Before moving to Barcelona, Laura worked as an urban planner in Brazil, first in a city government entity overseeing mobility projects, and later as an Urban Planner and Project Coordinator at one of the country’s leading urban design firms. Her expertise in masterplans and large-scale projects is complemented by her master’s studies, which explore the intersection of urbanism and data science.
Laura’s research focuses on integrating data-driven and human-centred approaches to urban development, using digital analysis and citizen participation to inform decision-making. Her award-winning final graduation project, the Urban Regeneration of Campus 1 in Goiânia, Brazil, earned recognition in the 29th Ópera Prima National Competition for Architecture and Urbanism (2017-2018).
Eduardo Rico-Carranza
Design Research Studio Leader – Urban Empowerment
Eduardo Rico-Carranza is a Civil Engineer focused on the application of creative forms visualization of data analytics in urban and landscape design. His current research focuses on the development interfaces that capture design in the form of sketches as a form of survey for large scale input in participatory processes. He is carrying out an EPSRC funded Ph.D. in the Space Syntax department in Bartlett school of architecture and acting as a design consultant for Space Syntax Limited.
Eduardo currently Co-Directs the Landscape Urbanism master in the Architectural Association exploring the role of design within large landscape and environmental policy. He has extensive teaching experience in other institutions such as GSD, Bartlett and Berlage Institute. Eduardo has experience of working in the Urban Infrastructure Team in Arup as well as urban and landscape designer in a variety of award-winning projects with smaller firms in London. He is Co-director of the Master in Advanced Urban Planning & Data Analytics (formerly City & Technology).
Marziah Zad
Design Research Studio Leader – Urban Empowerment
Marziah Zad is continuously cultivating an architectural design approach that is positioned at the intersection of investigative, computational design and a celebration of existing narratives related to place and identity. Marziah developed professional experience in Lebanon, Spain, Iran, and West Coast USA before cofounding Ashrafi & Zad Design in 2019. The practice is founded on aspirations rooted in experimental design and construction innovation, with projects ranging from the intimate scale to the territorial. The firm has been awarded multiple distinctions for designed and completed projects.
Marziah has architecture instructional experience at the University of Oregon and San Jose State University in California, USA. As an instructor in practice, much of her teaching is based in research, and her design courses focus on the link between experimental digital design techniques and social empowerment issues. She has also collaborated on various research initiatives, including an extensive Global Justice Project focused on lightweight structures for adaptive refugee housing. This research was funded by a grant from the Savage Endowment for International Relations and Peace.
Through defining geometry as a language of expression that communicates with identity, Marziah takes advantage of her technical experience and personal background to explore how generative design systems can benefit communities. She is committed to finding design solutions that are at once deeply rooted in locality while acknowledging a universal identity in a globalized world.
Mathilde Marengo
Design Research Studio Leader – Urban Vulnerability
Mathilde Marengo is an Australian–French–Italian PhD Architect whose research focuses on contemporary urban phenomena, its integration with technology, and its implications for the future of the planet. In today’s critical environmental, social, and economic context, she explores how designers can address these challenges through circular and metabolic design.
She is the Urban Sciences Lab Director, Head of Studies, Co-director of the Master in Advanced Urban Planning & Data Analytics (formerly City & Technology), and a PhD Supervisor at IAAC. In this setting, she designs and tests innovative educational formats, promoting holistic, multi-disciplinary design approaches that emphasise materialisation and reframe design education in the Information Age.
Her work extends to National and EU-funded research projects, including URBiNAT, InnoChain ETN, and BUILD Solutions. Mathilde’s work has been published and exhibited internationally.
Honorata Grzesikowska
Design Research Studio Leader – Urban Vulnerability
Honorata Grzesikowska is an urban designer, architect, and researcher currently based in Barcelona, founder of Urbanitarian.com.
She is a co-author of the projects, among others: ‘The New Urban Fabrik: Torrent Estadella Eco-Industrial Park’, commissioned by the Municipality of Barcelona, that explores strategies for the regeneration of a 30ha decaying industrial site in the central city through the development of urban manufacturing dedicated to clean, green economy-related activities; mixed-use residential masterplan of 28ha for the extension of the city Malacky in Slovakia.
She has also co-authored the entries that won 1st prize in Europan 12-Barcelona, with the project Green Ramblas and 2nd Prize in Europan 13-Barcelona with Sustainable Interface. Honorata gained professional experience in internationally renowned urban design and architecture offices in Rotterdam and in London.
She studied Architecture and Urban Design at Poznan Technical University (PL) and Urban Design at Avans University of Applied Sciences in Tilburg (NL). She has taught as an expert reviewer in the urban design master courses of the University of Liechtenstein, Institute for Architecture and Urban Planning.
Her work has been extensively published in specialized media and books such as ‘Barcelona Plans and Projects 2011-2015’, published by the Municipality of Barcelona.
Maria Isabel da Rocha Lima
Design Research Studio Leader – Urban Vulnerability
Maria Isabel da Rocha Lima is a Brazilian architect, urban strategist, and researcher. She is the coordinator of the Master in Advanced Urban Planning & Data Analytics (formerly City & Technology) and a researcher at the Urban Sciences Lab at IAAC. Isabel holds a Master’s in Urban Management and Development from IHS, Erasmus University of Rotterdam.
She has worked in Portugal and Brazil, specialising in public participation and conducting workshops on urban rehabilitation, capacity building, the right to the city, and sustainable development. Her roles have included moderator, project manager, and researcher. Isabel has also served on the Alumni Board at IHS, representing the organisation at the World Urban Forum (WUF) and moderating a training event on small-scale initiatives.
Her research focuses on urban strategies, participatory planning, governance, and the right to the city.
Projects and Partners
“IAAC is an eye-opening place to see the potential of the technologies that we have today and once you experience it you have all the tools and knowledge to create a better environment. I successfully launched Govtech Lab Lithuania and today it is one of the leading tech organizations in the world promoting the use of technology among different governmental institutions”
Saulė Gabrielė Petraitytė, Lithuania, MUPD, 2017.
Co-founder/CEO of Datahood.
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The Institute
IAAC is an innovative centre dedicated to prototyping the future. We don’t see the future as a distant horizon awaiting us. We understand the present as a moment to influence what comes next. The future is our daily inspiration, our driving force, and our biggest commitment: our minds live in the cities, the technology and the problems of the future. We stand at the intersection of imagination and reality, where every prototype holds the potential to shape the next era of habitat. We are architects of change.
Fee & Scholarships
Review important information regarding our programme fees, average cost of living in Barcelona and scholarships opportunities available for eligible applicants.
Admissions
Our admissions page provides information on everything you need to know about joining IAAC, from programme requirements and the application process to admissions events, information for international students and pre-course opportunities. Dive in to take the first step toward joining IAAC’s innovative community!
Contact & Information
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