(HARVARD UNIVERSITY) — Harvard University introduced a new Urban Studies track for undergraduates that it will roll out in the 2026-27 academic year within Harvard College’s History and Literature concentration.
Associate Director of Studies Angela S. Allan announced the track via email, describing the study of urbanization “from the granular to the global.”
Harvard framed the Urban Studies track as a structured undergraduate pathway focused on cities and urbanization, with an interdisciplinary emphasis on cities, globalization, culture, and urban systems.
The university linked the launch to rapid global urbanization and its effects on economies, migration patterns, housing systems, and labor markets worldwide. More than half of humanity now lives in cities, putting urban environments at the center of economic growth and innovation.
Harvard leaders described the initiative as an academic response to global challenges that include climate change and sustainable development, migration and demographic shifts, housing affordability, infrastructure and transportation systems, and technology-driven urban economies.
The university also pointed to increasing student interest in interdisciplinary programs aligned with real-world policy and workforce needs, positioning the new track as a way to study cities through multiple lenses.
Harvard said students in the Urban Studies track will combine humanities insight with quantitative analysis, an approach that spans humanities and social sciences alongside urban systems thinking.
The track sits inside History and Literature, but Harvard described the curriculum as integrating history, literature, economics, and data analysis, treating cities as intersections of culture, policy, and global systems.
Students enrolling in the track follow a defined structure: a core Urban Studies course; one course examining cities before 1900; one course focused on 1900–2000 urban transformation; and a quantitative reasoning course linked to urban research.
That design signals an applied and research-forward approach for undergraduates, with quantitative reasoning paired alongside historical and cultural study of cities across earlier and modern eras.
Harvard described eligible coursework as drawing on interdisciplinary offerings that range from literature and urban culture to data-driven analysis applied to social challenges, along with classes exploring globalization, sports culture, and urban life.
Among the courses expected to count toward the track, Harvard listed English 184CF: “City Fictions” taught by Tara K. Menon.
The university also listed Economics 50: “Using Big Data to Solve Economic and Social Problems” by Raj Chetty and Gregory A. Bruich.
Faculty leaders said the interdisciplinary design mirrors how modern cities operate, blending ideas, technologies, people, and economic systems, while Harvard added that course options can evolve year to year.
Lecturer Chloe I. Hawkey, who teaches Hist-Lit 90HO: “New York Modern.”, said the track fills a gap at Harvard compared to peer institutions, in a sign of growing demand for urban-focused undergraduate study.
Harvard positioned the track as complementing its broader urban-focused ecosystem. The university said it has long been a global leader in urban planning education and established some of North America’s earliest programs in city planning and urban design.
Harvard said the undergraduate track complements graduate programs including Urban Planning, Urban Design, and Real Estate and Built Environment studies, which it described as preparing students to analyze how social, economic, political, and environmental forces shape cities worldwide.
International students figured prominently in Harvard’s description of the track’s relevance, as the university tied the curriculum to global development, urban policy, technology, and sustainability, and to planning for U.S. education and careers.
For international applicants, Harvard described the track as aligned with sectors experiencing strong demand in the United States, including urban planning and infrastructure consulting, sustainability and climate policy, public policy and governance, data analytics and smart-city technologies, real estate development and housing policy, and international development organizations.
Harvard said many of those professions qualify for employment-based visas such as H-1B, particularly when combined with quantitative or data-focused coursework, while emphasizing that the track’s mix of humanities and data analysis reflects evolving employer expectations.
The university presented the curriculum as training students to integrate cultural understanding, economic analysis, policy design, and technology-driven decision-making, tying city growth to national economies, employment prospects, and social equity, and connecting those themes to migration and workforce mobility.
Harvard also highlighted cross-registration options, saying undergraduates can cross-register for urban courses at MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Harvard Graduate School of Design, and Kennedy School.
Those cross-registration opportunities expand access to advanced topics such as housing, homelessness, mobility, and migration listed in the Spring 2026 Urban Studies Course Guide by the Harvard Undergraduate Urban Sustainability Lab (HUUSL), the university said.
Clyve Lawrence ’28, HUUSL co-president, called the new track “a step in the right direction” for urban studies at the College.
Beyond Harvard, the university described a broader trend across U.S. universities toward interdisciplinary degrees that combine humanities, data science, and policy, as employers seek graduates who can work across complex global systems rather than single disciplines.
Harvard linked city-focused study to contemporary attention on large-scale challenges that play out in urban areas, including housing, climate resilience, infrastructure, inequality, and migration, while describing its new undergraduate track as complementing existing strengths rather than replacing established programs.
For students thinking about global careers, Harvard placed cities at the center of global mobility, arguing that urbanization drives innovation, entrepreneurship, education mobility, and international workforce movement.
Harvard said the track recognizes that understanding cities means understanding global labor flows, housing markets affecting migrants and international workers, digital nomad ecosystems, and cross-border economic networks.
For international students weighing longer-term educational routes, Harvard described potential graduate directions as examples that include Master in Urban Planning, Public Policy or International Affairs, Environmental or Sustainability programs, and Real Estate or Infrastructure management.
Harvard said those fields frequently lead to U.S.-based professional roles eligible for employment sponsorship and long-term immigration pathways, while presenting graduate study as a way to sharpen specialization for careers connected to cities.
The university pointed prospective applicants to watching for interdisciplinary majors that combine humanities and analytics, programs connected to sustainability and infrastructure, and fields aligned with STEM or quantitative training, which it said can matter for post-graduation work authorization.
Harvard said students should monitor the History & Literature department website for the new track page and course listings, and it pointed to HUUSL’s Spring 2026 guide alongside early-2026 public programming.
The upcoming events Harvard highlighted included Urban Conversations on AI in neighborhoods (Feb. 26, 2026) and urban structures (Mar. 9, 2026), as the university prepares to publish more information about the Urban Studies track ahead of the 2026-27 academic year rollout.
Allan’s description of studying urbanization “from the granular to the global” captured the pitch Harvard offered students: an Urban Studies track that treats cities as both a subject of scholarship and a framework for global careers.
Harvard’s Urban Studies Track Empowers International Students for Global Careers
Harvard University will debut a new Urban Studies undergraduate track in 2026-27. Housed within the History and Literature concentration, the program blends humanities with data-driven analysis. It aims to prepare students for careers in urban planning, policy, and sustainability by focusing on global urban systems. The track emphasizes interdisciplinary learning, offering pathways into high-demand sectors such as infrastructure consulting and smart-city technology.
