On Saturday 19 October 2019, we seized the opportunity to interview Sergey Konoplev who is in his second year at Urban Studies. In between organizing and informing students for the Open Day, he took the time to answer a number of questions about his experience at Urban Studies.

Why did you choose Urban Studies in Den Haag?
Netherlands has a long history of urbanization and most of its population live in cities nowadays. So, I decided that this would be a great place to learn how to deal with contemporary issues that cities face. And also, I was curious to see what it is like to study in one of the oldest European universities.

Where did this fascination come from?
I was working in a real estate market for a while, where I became interested in understanding the dynamics behind growth and decline of urban areas. Besides that, I noticed that finding insights from the amount of data that is being produced in contemporary cities requires not only specific methodology but a multidisciplinary approach, which is being taught in Urban Studies faculty.

What is your main interest within Urban Studies?
My main interest is in acquiring a broader vision of cities as a system of systems. Such courses as “crime and criminology” or “sustainable cities” in our faculty allows me to think of coherent models for cities, where the level of crime might influence sustainability policies and solutions that can be implemented. Finding such correlations and dependences is a fascinating process.

Could you name something specific?
For example, if in a particular place we observe a low crime rate, due to a certain cultural background or geographical location, we are able to reduce the amount of energy spent by turning off the streetlights after midnight. This may seem like an unpopular solution, but it has already been implemented, for example, in Texel, and citizens are happy with this and spend much less on electricity bills. Every urban environment has its own potential to be revealed.

What are your future plans in the study programme?
In the fourth semester I would want to dive deeper into sustainable solutions for cities and acquire spatial analysis skills. So far, we’ve learned what concepts and types of data are relevant for understanding cities, but being able to present it in geographical informational systems would strengthen our competences as urban researchers.

You seem to like the study very much. Could you name some negative points as well?
I actually enjoy the program pretty much. However, it is a relatively new faculty, so we have all advantages and disadvantages related to this. For example, we’re able to influence the study plan and our ideas are being heard (which is difficult on old and big faculties), however the courses are not polished yet, so, sometimes, the information is repeated. I would also be happy to have an elective that is related to a history of architecture.

What do you think about the general atmosphere at Urban Studies?
To be honest, studying takes a lot of my time, so most of my interactions with peers happen in the classrooms, but the atmosphere is very amiable. It feels like our faculty is doing best to provide us with comfort and an exciting studying experience.  I also like that it’s an international course so we can share and learn cases from different countries, which is especially important in the urban studies field.

To whom would you recommend Urban Studies?
I would recommend Urban Studies program to people who want to understand how cities live and develop; who want to become not only informed and educated citizens, but also professionals who are able to foresee and influence rapid changes that are taking place in contemporary cities. Or who would want to bring best European urban solutions to their home country as it is for me.

Finally, some remarks on what you like about the programme and what would you like to see different in the programme?
I like that so far this is a small program, so we’re able to ask questions during lectures and even discuss interesting concepts, which helps us to build a deeper knowledge. I also appreciate that our opinion matters and we’re able to influence the courses to a certain extent (for example what type of statistical program to use or which part of the course requires more hours). I’m also eager to see people outside academia coming to our faculty to share their experience, since companies and municipalities have slightly different perspectives on urban development.