Politecnico di Torino - Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning
Interuniversity Master's Degree in Geography and Territorial Sciences
Turin, Italy
Master degree
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English, Italian
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
EUR 156 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* tuition fees are related to family or individual income, up to a maximum of 2,800 euros per year for those with the highest incomes
Key Summary
The master’s degree in Geography and Territorial Sciences focuses on integrating cultural, socio-economic and technical knowledge for spatial and environmental analysis, organisation and management. It trains a new generation of skilled professionals who can effectively deal with the societal, economic and political challenges of our time (e.g., environmental crisis, planetary urbanisation, globalisation, geopolitical tensions).
The master’s degree in Geography and Territorial Sciences is an inter-University programme: this means that the degree is awarded jointly by the Università degli Studi di Torino and the Politecnico di Torino, two leading Italian and European Universities.
Around the world, geographers work in public and private research centres; development agencies, professional firms and companies operating in the field of spatial policies and sustainable development; public offices in the fields of environmental and landscape protection and management, preservation of historical-cultural resources, urban and regional policies; international and national agencies. Overall, students will leave the master's degree in Geography and Territorial Sciences with the skills needed for jobs in natural resource management, research, sustainability, development and policy.
The Master’s Degree is organised around three thematic pathways. Once of them, on Urban and Political Geography, is taught entirely in English. See below for more information.
Course organisation
The Master is organised across two years.
In the first year, the degree includes courses focused on physical and human geography: students will attend classes that are fundamental for understanding the environmental, socio-cultural and political phenomena connected to the main processes of global change. At the same time, students will acquire skills in Geo-Data science through courses relating to geomatics (numerical cartography, GIS, remote sensing, photogrammetry and drones) and applied IT (programming languages, databases, big data and artificial intelligence).
In the second year, students can refine their skills, following their study interests and professional goals by choosing one of three pathways. Two are taught in Italian only (Geomorphological Hazards and Climate Change; Landscape Protection and Enhancement) while the third is entirely in English: Urban and Political Geography.
Urban and Political Geography
The pathway in Urban and Political Geography analyses the political, economic, social, and institutional processes that operate at different spatial levels and that significantly shape the urban domain. The aim is to train experts in the social, economic and political processes that govern territorial systems at all spatial scales. Indeed, it is often the urban level, given its demographic and economic centrality, that is the first to be confronted with the most concrete, immediate, and radical effects of the economic, social, and political challenges of our time.
Students choosing this pathway can study in English for the entire duration of the Master. In the first year, they are offered modules in human and physical geography, including GIS; while in the second they will be able to choose courses focused on urban and political geography.
The list of courses includes: Geography, theory, and practice; Urban political ecology; Urban studies; History, spaces, and theories of capitalism; Housing, property, and struggle; Advanced GIS; Geomorphology and soil conservation; Urban and Regional Development; Critical migration studies; Racialized and gendered cities; Southern urbanism. Students are also offered the options of following our interdisciplinary laboratories and to have some work experience through vocational training. The Master’s Degree is obtained with the successful completion of all courses and the writing and defence of an original Master’s Degree Dissertation.
Graduates from the Master’s Programme in Geography and Territorial Sciences have strong theoretical and practical skills as well as a broad understanding of current social and environmental issues. Our students, integrating the study of physical and human systems, are in equal parts natural and social scientists and have specialized knowledge in geographical information science techniques. As such, they have been very successful in the job market after completing the programme both independently and as members of multi-professional teams.
In general, graduates from our master’s programme can work in public and private research centres; development agencies, professional firms and companies operating in the field of spatial policies and sustainable development; public offices in the fields of environmental and landscape protection and management, preservation of historical-cultural resources, urban and regional policies; international and national agencies. After completing the Master’s degree, it is also possible to continue with postgraduate studies.
Overall, students will leave the master’s degree in Geography and Territorial Sciences with the geography skills needed for jobs in natural resource management, research, sustainability, development and policy.