May 23, 2014 in the educational center "Benua House" the presentation of the School of urban transformations of the ITMO University was held.

The «Urban Transformation School» (UTS) was created in 2014 for combining the master's programs in urban studies. Among them are: "Design of urban ecosystems”, “Urban Informatics”, “Master of Technology Entrepreneurship” (MTE) and the program for technological entrepreneurship. Also there is the laboratory Housing+, which studies the quality of living environment, and the laboratory of urban informatics, which deals with the analysis of data on pedestrian and traffic flows and dynamic processes in the city.

Michael Kinovsky, the director of the master's program "Design of urban ecosystems", noted that the program of study aimed primarily at practical activities, work with real urban development projects focused on the productive interaction of specialists in humanities and technical spheres. Joint planning requires involving in the process of learning representatives of professional and business communities, government agencies, investors, and active citizens who are interested in addressing the pressing issues of organization of urban space.

At the presentation Stanislava Boskovic has acted with the speech. She is the partner and assistant of the chief architect Jose Asebilio from Barcelona and the director of the studio on the development of open space in St. Petersburg. The specialist told about the importance of the organization of public spaces and urban transformation of ecosystems by holding the major international events.

The UTS master’s programs are opened for bachelors and specialists from various professional fields. They should have good basic knowledge and interest in the study of the organization of urban spaces. The duration of the master’s program is two years. For admission applicants have to prepare a portfolio consisting of CV, motivational essays and profile, and to pass an interview with the heads of design studios.

Teachers of the Urban Transformation School are the experts with extensive experience in the field of urban planning and development in many European countries (Netherlands, Poland, Finland, England, Spain, Switzerland).

Currently, the admission to the master’s program MTE 2014-2016 is opened. This is an interdisciplinary practice oriented program on technology entrepreneurship in the field of urban design, aimed at the creation and implementation of projects based on laboratory studies of urbanism at the ITMO University. During training magistrates receive the necessary knowledge of the mechanisms of urban systems and skills to implement their own projects at the urban environment.