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Frequently Asked Questions
The Master in City Administration is an MBA-equivalent post-graduate qualification designed to professionalize urban leadership. A multi-disciplinary disciplinary degree delivered by leading universities, the MCA comprises a core set of global standards with local adaptations to meet the needs of different cities and provide aspiring city leaders with the unique set of skills they need to be effective from Day One.
What makes the MCA unique is the involvement of current and former mayors in developing the curriculum and delivering the program, bringing real world experience into the lecture hall.
There is a real and urgent gap in trained urban leadership professionals. Current projections indicate that the global urban population will increase by 2.5 billion people by 2050. That means we need to expand existing cities and build new ones. And we will need skilled leaders to run them.
Leading cities requires a unique combination of executive, political and technical skills. However there are few educational programs designed to systematically train aspiring city leaders in these diverse skills. Further, there is no mechanism currently for capturing and institutionalizing the hard-earned knowledge and skills acquired by city leaders during their terms of office. The MCA will change that.
The MCA is a global collaboration between city leaders, universities and local governments who commit to co-developing curricula, sharing expertise, and mentoring the next generation of city leaders.
The MCA was launched at the 2025 Urban 20 Global Summit as a joint initiative by the U20 Co-hairs and the Saudi Arabian delegation.
The MCA is supported by mayors within the U20. The formal remit of the Urban 20 is formulate and deliver policy recommendations to G20 leaders. The U20 itself has no permanent executive function and so is not set up to manage long-term initiatives like the MCA.
The MCA curriculum will be specific to the university offering the course. However, all MCA courses will have common elements, such as Urban Economics, Strategic Leadership, Governance and Administration, Infrastructure and Mobility, Urban Development and Housing, Masterplanning, Urban Finance and Budgeting etc.
Critically, all MCA courses are developed and delivered by leading universities working with current and former city leaders to bring real-world experience into the lecture hall.
The MBA provides a useful parallel. Although there is no single MBA curriculum, all courses cover common aspects of business, from finance and accounting to marketing and human resources.
The first universities to offer the MCA are King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and LUISS University in Rome, Italy. Courses are under development at a number of other universities, including The University of Cape Town in South Africa, Pennsylvania State University in the United States, and Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.
Many other universities have expressed interest in creating their own courses.
The first intake of MCA students will take place in September 2026.
Universities can participate by developing and offering MCA courses to their students.
Cities and administrations can get involved by participating in local curriculum development, delivering course elements, mentoring students, providing placements, recommending or sponsoring students, and engaging universities in their region to introduce the program.
Academics and sector specialists can get involved by supporting curriculum development and delivery, carrying out research into MCA-relevant topics and advocating to a professional career path for urban leadership.