Master in Social Design, Art as Urban Innovation

Master in Social Design, Art as Urban Innovation is one of 6 English-taught Industrial Design programmes at master’s level in the register, offered by 4 institutions. 6 of them list an annual fee for students from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland, from EUR 727 to EUR 1,453; this programme lists EUR 1,453 a year. 2 are at a public university, where EU, EEA and Swiss students pay no tuition within the standard duration plus two semesters.

What you study

This is a Master of Arts programme at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, worth 120 ECTS over four semesters. The register description frames the whole programme around one fact: more than half the world's population now lives in cities, and the UN expects another 200,000 people to move to cities every day. Over the next two decades cities will grow by 1.5 million square kilometres, and within 25 years two thirds of the world's population will be urban.

The register names the forces behind this: the industrial and digital revolution and their power to restructure. Cities are described as complex, self-generating environments under enormous pressure. Densification and the concentration of population, economy, capital, media, culture and knowledge put both the spatial and the social fabric of urban agglomerations under overproportional stress.

Social Design, as the title says, treats art as urban innovation. The register does not list individual courses, so check the programme's own page for the module structure.

Admission, language and next steps

Entry runs through an entrance examination: you have to prove artistic aptitude. That is the only admission requirement the register states, so ask the institution directly about portfolio, deadlines and any other documents.

Teaching is in German and English, so the programme is partly taught in English. Check with the institution which parts are in which language before you apply.

There is no central application portal. You apply straight to the University of Applied Arts Vienna, and its own page gives the application period. As a public university, it charges no tuition to EU/EEA and Swiss students within the standard duration plus two semesters; other students pay a fee per semester.

Today, more than half of the world’s population lives in cities and according to UN reports another 200,000 people move there each day. In the next 20 years cities around the globe will grow by 1.5 million square kilometres and in 25 years’ time two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities. In this global development we can identify the triggering factors behind tremendous restructuring processes: the transformational power of the industrial and digital revolution. This development puts enormous pressure on cities as complex, self-generating environments. Through the densification and concentration of the population, economy, capital, and media as well as culture and knowledge in urban agglomerations both their spatial and social fabric are subject to overproportional stress.

There is no central application portal in Austria: you apply to the institution, here University of Applied Arts Vienna. A public university sets the admission requirements and dates for this level, so read them on the programme page. Entrance examination, as the register states it: Proof of artistic aptitude by means of an entrance examination. Entry requirements and language tests are set by the institution, so start from the official programme page. Our guides cover tuition fees, the student residence permit and housing.