Master's in Global
Smart City Management
Acquire a holistic vision of smart cities and know the key elements that create value in them. Understand business models, financing frameworks and emerging technologies to improve the quality of life of citizens worldwide.
Dual Degree

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Duration:
One academic year (60 ECTS)

Language:
English

100% ONLINE
With live virtual classes

Enrollment period opened
Start: November 2023
New urban models must be conceived that pay more attention to the needs of citizens and the planet.
. This programme trains professionals from a wide range of backgrounds to become practitioners with the ability to bring inter-disciplinary coherence to city projects, informed by strategic frameworks that integrate smart and sustainable approaches.
Learn the strategic and managerial skills required to plan and develop smart, inclusive and resilient urban environments.
This Master’s equips you with the technical understanding, analytical skills, and strategic management competencies to develop successful multi-stakeholder urban initiatives in accordance with international best practice such as that expressed in the United Nations New Urban Agenda.
Academic Content
Block 1
Smart Cities Global Agenda
M1. The new urban agenda.
M2. Application of New Technology and Tools.
M3. Sustainability, Resilience and Urban Challenges.
Block 2
Application of New Technology and Tools
M4. Connectivity and networks.
M5. Efficient, secure and rights-friendly digital management.
M6. Humans vs Machines: myths, realities and future developments.
Block 3
Sustentability, Resilience and Urban Challenges
M7. Built environment and Mobility.
M8. Sustainability in the smart city.
M9. Resilience and external influences.
Master’s Final Thesis

In the Final Master’s Thesis, which begins roughly three months into the program, students form teams and propose a research topic that connects with one or more of the subjects covered across the course. This project should describe the development of a Smart City project, considering the challenges this intervention seeks to address, the stakeholders involved, the intended outcomes, the methodologies used to research and design the intervention, as well as its potential costs, financing and benefits realisation strategies – all according to the methods and concepts provided throughout the program.
Academic Partner
KNOWURBANNET was founded as a knowledge network to face the changes that the urban ecosystem will go through in the next few years. Founded in 2017, it is a driving group, a scientific community with more than 30 experts, which seeks solutions to the challenges that urban communities must tackle in the 21st century.

Job Opportunities
Urban Planning
Services & Operations
Enterprises & Startups
Urban Technology
and Digital Solutions
Project Management
Smart City Consulting




Academic Directors
Chris Dymond
Digital transformation strategist, facilitator, project manager and
innovation specialist with over 30 years of experience in digital and Internet
technologies.
Co-founded Sheffield Digital, which works to develop the city’s digital technology ecosystem. He is also a director of the Sheffield University Technical Colleges Multi-Academy Trust, which operates three schools for 13-19 year olds offering specialist technical education alongside traditional subjects. He is an Associate Consultant for Smart Societies at Perform Green, and a non-executive board member of The Developer Academy, a digital skills training company. Chris is also an Associate Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, where he teaches Digital Design and Innovation at Master’s level.
Faculty
Board

Xavier Izquierdo Vilella
Technical Architect.
He is currently the President of the think tank Knowurbannet for the development and structuring of knowledge for the implementation and management of urban transformation processes and Smart Cities and collaborates with various companies in the private sector to advise on the strategic implementation of Smart Cities.

Dr. Tetiana Paientko
Professor at the Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman.
She is also a certified auditor and a forensic accountant. Former positions include professor at the National University of State Tax Service of Ukraine, tax advisor and managing partner in audit companies, and CFO in construction companies. For the last four years she has worked as a country expert for EU Cross Border Cooperation programmes, providing support to national authorities.

Barney Smith
Expertise in Sustainable Development, Innovation, Technology and Executive Leadership.
Has held many senior roles in the public and private sectors: as a Commercial and Digital Director (including as CIO of a UK Government Department), Major Programmes Director, interim CEO and as a Non-Executive Director for a Digital Innovation Agency and providing independent Board assurance.

Guillermo Corral
Master Architect (University of Zaragoza, 2020)
Specialised in Urban Design and Landscape, and Master’s Degree in Global Smart City Management (Zigurat Global Institute of Technology, 2021). Currently based in Dublin, Ireland, and working in an architectural and urban design practice, actively involved in residential urban schemes.

Jordi Pascual
Project Manager at Circle Economy
Jordi is a project manager at Circle Economy, a strategic agency based in Amsterdam, where he manages circular economy projects for client cities.

Eduard Alvaréz
Senior Lecturer in Economics and Business Studies at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
He is engaged in research and teaching around mobility, logistics, urban infrastructure and planning. He is also a research affiliate of Campop – The Cambridge Group for the History of Population & Social Structure at Cambridge University in the UK.

Atif Ali
Mechatronics Engineer specialised in IIoT & Robotics
Highly experienced with Electro-mechanical design and Software Systems integration for complex physical systems and processes. His focus lies at the intersection of hardware and software in real-life scenarios, and his goal is to work on technologies and with people that will have the maximum impact on the world with their meaningful work within the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Healthcare/Bio-Technology, Clean Energy, Web 3.0, IoT and Space Tech.

Jordi Teixidó
PhD in Economics and Max Weber Fellow (2015) from the European University Institute in Florence</span
Lecturer at the University of Barcelona, where his main work is research on issues of climate economics and environmental policies (understanding the distributional impacts of climate policies and applying experimental causality techniques in order to scientifically assess the effectiveness of specific environmental policies).

Becki Clark
Net Zero and Sustainability Consultant
Becki has over 12 years’ hands-on experience in sustainability consulting, ranging from managing and delivering decarbonisation programmes in client organisations focused on improving efficiency; delivering sustainability targets; and engaging with planning smart energy. She has facilitated programmes to improve sectors including food and drink manufacturing, traditional heavy manufacturing, farming and agriculture, local government and tourism and recreation. She has a background and academic qualifications in environmental sciences.

Daniela Idrovo
Coordinator of management, communication and fundraising at La Dinamo Fundació
Implementation of the security infrastructure plan in the City of Guayaquil. Undersecretary of Planning at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. PhD in Urban and Architectural Management and Valuation from UPC.

Nacho Alamillo
General Manager of Astrea
Nacho is a specialist in cryptography, contract drafting and negotiation, and best practices in digital identity management. He is a researcher for the iDerTec digital innovation group at the University of Murcia, and is the General Manager of Astrea a consultancy specializing in electronic signature and cryptography, particularly as it applies to eGovernment and eCommerce, Nacho is also involved in international standard-setting in digital identity and cryptographic management.

Dr. Albert Mubako
Senior Systems Application Products consultant
Albert co-founded and leads The Institute for Digital Business Strategy. He has taught and facilitated various Strategic Information Systems,Digital Business Modelling, and IoT courses In leaving a legacy of integrated advanced strategy e-business management and disruption he continues to consult on global systems projects and advises on insightful business success in the digital era.

Eduardo Martinez Gil
Manager of the Smart Cities Unit at Minsait- Indra
Graduated in Political Science and Public Administration and Higher Technician in Computer Systems and Networks Administration. In the strictest sphere of Public Administration, he has worked, among others, for the Council of the European Union or for UPF University in Barcelona. He is currently the manager of the Smart Cities Unit at Minsait- Indra. In addition, he is a visiting professor for the UPC and the USAL, and the coordinator of a Smart Technologies, Mobility and Big Data program for entrepreneurs led by the Government of Catalonia. Finally, he is the coordinator of Smart and innovation projects at ESDi (Higher School of Design), attached to Ramon Llull University.

Tim Woolliscroft
Multi-disciplinary researcher
Having originally studied urban planning as an undergraduate and sociology at masters, Tim gained his PhD from Sheffield Hallam University by researching “smart health communities”, focussing on how digital technology can improve healthcare efficiency and enable better support for cancer patients. He has been a member of Sheffield’s smart cities community for many years and is highly experienced in citizen engagement, user research and service design. Citizen engagement expertise has been gained from community development roles as well as academic study. His teaching and design approaches are informed by a career in the arts.
Our training is a 360º experience
Zigurat Ecosystem, beyond the Online
International Weeks, our Global Networking
Admission Process
Academic Partner



The Alumni platform, specially designed for you, provides all the resources to help complement your technical and personal profile. By becoming part of the Zigurat community, you will benefit from all the synergies that will be generated around you to push your professional growth.
Wael Alswaitti
MASTER’S ALUMNI
Architect (Technical Manager) at Arch.Centre Consulting Architects & Engineers
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
“It was a perfect chance to develop both my personal and professional experience by interacting with a class group of other nationalities.”

This Master has a degree by IL3-University of Barcelona, ranked the best university in Spain by:



