The Centre for Urban Studies (CUS) as well as an Urban Lab is conceived of as a centre allied with the School of International Relations and Politics (SIRP), at the Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala. CUS comes into being in the context of the increasing contemporary importance of working with and through urban formations, city plans and urban typologies in the everyday life.

Pedagogically as well, it has become necessary to think and do research with urban processes in the contexts of political and social scenarios that can neither be called local nor be termed global because of the hybridities of themes or subjects in social science analysis and intervention. This is because urban spaces exemplify such scenarios in stark relief.

A centre with a long-term pedagogic plan starts with an interdisciplinary focus on frames like urban ecology, urban geography, urban planning, political ecology and urban spatiality. The urban elective courses students are enrolled in are conceived of as introductions and orientations to urban studies. Urban spatiality and social configurations emerge as key research and exploratory theme for the core research group involved with the centre. The CUS seeks to ground aspirants in the basic history and thematic issues. The cohort will keep engaging with advanced research in developmental schemes; urban practices, inhabitants and actors, designs; socio-ecological configurations and other critical issues.

Academic Partnerships & Collaborations

The memorandums of understandings with actors and organisations deeply involved in city, city plans, urban designs and research brings this space directly in consonance ongoing urban issues. The Corporation of Kochi, through its research wing c-hed as well as the possible synergies with states urban plans become significant. So does the association with global networks like Sustainable Futures and partnerships with other universities. The centre has a panel of expert external experts advising us on future activities and academic engagements.

Research Initiatives

A centre with a long-term pedagogic plan starts with an interdisciplinary focus on frames like urban ecology, urban geography, urban planning, political ecology and urban spatiality. The urban elective courses students are enrolled in are conceived of as introductions and orientations to urban studies. Urban spatiality and social configurations emerge as key research and exploratory theme for the core research group involved with the centre. The PhD scholars and the post-doctoral fellows continuously bring in novel perspectives.