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Urban Studies is a broad interdisciplinary program designed to provide an integrated understanding of the social, political, economic, and cultural processes that shape urban life, with particular attention paid to how these processes operate in space and time. Cities are sites of great cultural and ethnic diversity, economic innovation and inequality, cultural expression, resource consumption, wealth generation, and political conflict and cooperation. Today most developed societies are predominantly urban, even as global processes increasingly shape them. The processes that shape urban life play a critical role in shaping the sustainability of societies; understanding these processes lies at the heart of Urban Studies. The Urban Studies program provides a strong background for students interested in working in public and private sector fields including urban and regional planning, architecture, environmental design, economic development, city administration, social services and policy, cultural programming, urban politics, and education.