Urban 20 Mayors Unite to Strengthen Global Urban Leadership

Mayors and city leaders from around the world have called on universities to develop a Master of City Administration (MCA) degree, an MBA-equivalent qualification for urban leaders, warning that expanding urban populations create a global demand for transformative city leadership that outpaces current training options.

Announced at the Urban 20 (U20) Global Summit in Johannesburg, the MCA initiative is a collaboration between the South African co-chairs and the Saudi Arabian delegation to the U20.

"The MCA is not just about creating a degree program. The legacy of South Africa's chairmanship of the U20 will be a global movement that transforms how we prepare urban leaders, contributing to more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable cities worldwide," said Dada Morero, mayor of Johannesburg and U20 co-chair.

Cities are the drivers of the global economy. According to the World Bank, cities generate 80% of global GDP and house half of humanity. They also produce 70% of global emissions.

Managing these cities requires a unique skillset, combining executive, political and technical skills. Modern cities face a wide variety of challenges, from technological advancements and infrastructure development to issues of urban poverty and social equality. Yet there are few graduate-level educational programs dedicated to systematically train future urban leaders to address these challenges.

The MCA is an interdisciplinary program, combining core curriculum standards with region-specific adaptations to equip graduates with the technical expertise, systems thinking, and governance skills to lead. The program will be delivered through top international universities, blending academic rigour with practical insights from former mayors and senior administrators.

"The MBA is the base standard for corporate executive leadership. It is time that the leaders of the world's cities, which are at the heart of future human development and prosperity, have an equally rigorous, specialized and respected program for leading our cities into a sustainable future," said Dr Nasiphi Moya, executive mayor of Tshwane and U20 co-chair.

Around 600 global cities today have populations of one million or more. The United Nations projects an increase in the urban population of 2 billion by 2050, creating a need for several hundred new or expanded cities over the coming decades.

An estimated 290,000 trained administrators will be needed to manage both existing and new cities, according to internal calculations. However few universities offer post-graduate programs for aspiring city leaders. By comparison, some 250,000 people enrol in MBA programs annually, according to the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

The MCA initiative was first proposed by His Excellency Fahd Al-Rasheed, head of the Saudi Arabian delegation to the U20, during the 2024 Summit in Rio de Janeiro in a paper published in 'Urban Sustainable Development: Governance, Finance and Politics' by the Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI) and the 2024 U20 co-chairs. Since publication, the initiative has received widespread support from city mayors, urbanists and academics.

"Cities are uniquely consequential. They are where we live, work, raise our families and chase our dreams. The need for robust educational programs, tailored to the complexities of city administration, has never been greater. The MCA initiative represents an opportunity to transform the leadership of our cities, to the betterment of those that live in them," said H.E. Al-Rasheed.