Master of Urban Technology

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Application Deadlines

January 15, February 15, April 15

Enrollment Deposit Deadline

April 15 (June 1 for April 15 applicants)

Degree Info Pay for your Degree

An Inaugural Program at the University of Michigan Center for Innovation in Detroit (UMCI)

With this new degree, Taubman College is signaling an expanded focus: excellence in architecture, urban planning, urban design, and real estate isn’t enough. As a city-maker, you also need new ways of working in the gray areas between those silos—where responsibilities are shared and no single discipline owns the outcome. You will be part of a cohort of emerging leaders across sectors and backgrounds working together to create evidence-based approaches, new business models, and new technology.

Taubman College is launching the Master of Urban Technology degree as a 12-month program on business, innovation, and tech for city-makers. The degree will be among the inaugural graduate degrees at the University of Michigan Center for Innovation in Detroit. Hosted in a city known for its reinvention, students will engage the challenges our cities face in real time. You have the opportunity to join our first cohort, beginning in Fall 2027.

Application Deadlines

January 15, February 15, April 15

Enrollment Deposit Deadline

April 15 (June 1 for April 15 applicants)

Application Deadlines

January 15, February 15, April 15

Enrollment Deposit Deadline

April 15 (June 1 for April 15 applicants)

Degree Info Pay for your Degree

Innovation Program for City-Makers

Designed to reinvent the work and business of the built environment, the Master of Urban Technology program will embolden you to rethink complex systems. Learning from both Taubman College faculty with expertise across disciplines and city changemakers, you’ll learn how to make cities work better across three semesters: Radically Better, Radically Integrated, and Radically Possible.

View Curriculum

Radically Better – In the first semester, students analyze urban sustainability challenges, complete a survey of the current landscape of innovation in the built environment, and build a foundation of data science skills. With a focus on evidence-based practices, this semester grounds students in real-world applications and gives them the tools to critically engage these issues.

Learning Journey 1 in Copenhagen provides firsthand learning experiences by exploring the city and meeting with agencies, firms, and community leaders and their projects with the cohort.

Radically Integrated – The second semester equips students to deepen their analysis of cities by introducing a systems perspective. Through immersion in the regional technology, manufacturing, and data ecosystem, students dig deeper into the industry and its inner workings. Employing analytics and design, students are encouraged to begin exploring creative ideas with cross-disciplinary impact.

Learning Journey 2 in the Midwest allows students to broaden their understanding, introducing new perspectives and voices locally.

Radically Possible – The third semester equips students with the skills they need to bring their ideas to life and effect change in the built environment by putting their ideas to the test. Coursework on business models, finance, change management, and a culminating capstone project grow student agency, build an entrepreneurial sensibility, and create impactful solutions that span sectors.

Urban AI – An interdisciplinary course, Urban AI empowers students to learn the costs (e.g., regulatory framework, environmental costs, technology development, equity and safety concerns) and benefits (e.g., improved efficiency, broadened engagement, innovation) of emerging AI applications in urban contexts. You’ll be on the frontlines of strategically using this constantly evolving technology and envisioning new applications for it.

Faculty Experts in Urban Technology

Bryan Boyer

Director of Bachelor of Science in Urban Technology, Associate Professor of Practice in Architecture

Ron Bronson

Assistant Professor of Practice in Urban Technology

Sheng-Hung Lee

Assistant Professor of Urban Technology

Xiaofan Liang

Assistant Professor of Urban and Regional Planning

Lisa Sauve

Assistant Professor of Practice

Wonyoung So

Assistant Professor of Urban Technology

Violet Whitney

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Practice in Urban Technology

Matthew Wizinsky

Associate Professor of Practice in Urban Technology

Make Your Future in Detroit

Detroit invented Motown and techno and revolutionized the music industry, which still shapes the city today. Detroit knows how to dance and it really knows how to hustle.

People gathering and looking at various items on a table in Michigan Central

Reinvention is at the heart of Detroit. It’s a community of grassroots leaders, entrepreneurs, and trailblazers that are ready to take on the world.

Michigan has a legacy of manufacturing and it’s a place where you can scale up your ideas. You have the space to build it, iterate, and make adaptations, surrounded by the maker and production expertise the state offers.

UMCI serves as a central location for deep work and focus in Detroit. Students are embedded within a community of likeminded innovators and provided the space they need to co-create and develop new ideas uninterrupted.

Urban Technology in the News

An illustration of a city with a train running through and rooftop gardens atop the buildings

IN THE NEWS: New Master of Urban Technology featured in Michigan Daily

Boyer tapped as first faculty director of new UMCI in Detroit

Dean Massey: New Master of Urban Technology will equip students to lead through innovative degree design, emerging tech, and human connections

A group of people stand around a display board while Liang points to a set of diagrams during a presentation.

Liang and Boyer discuss data centers, AI, and cities as networks for Urban Tech substack

Since U-M is not yet approved to issue I-20s for the M.U.T. degree program, prospective students requiring an I-20 for the F-1 international student visa are not eligible to apply to the M.U.T. program at this time. Domestic students and non-U.S. citizens who do not plan to study in F-1 status remain eligible to apply to the program for Fall 2027. We hope to welcome F-1 international students to the M.U.T. program once approval is in place, and we will update our online materials accordingly. Sign up to be notified when this changes.