In this course, students will be introduced to sustainable urban development, including key challenges and policies. The course will provide a general introduction to the historical development of human settlements and the morphology of the cities and territories at different scales, in the Global South and North. On that basis, the course will introduce the fundaments of the different phases of the planning process: analysis, strategy, masterplan and actions. Moreover, the course will introduce some basic concepts as system thinking and participatory planning.