RIYADH: Mayors and city leaders worldwide are urging universities to introduce a Master of City Administration degree, an initiative pioneered by Saudi Arabia aimed at transforming urban leadership.
According to a press statement, the MCA is designed as an MBA-equivalent program for city leaders, equipping them to navigate complex urban challenges and guide their cities amid rapid population growth.
The initiative was unveiled at the Urban 20 Global Summit in Johannesburg as a collaboration between the South African co-chairs and Saudi Arabia’s U20 delegation.
Fahd Al-Rasheed, head of the Kingdom’s U20 delegation, initially proposed the program during the 2024 Summit in Rio de Janeiro in a paper published by the Brazilian Center for International Relations and the 2024 U20 co-chairs. Since then, the concept has garnered widespread support from 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,” said Al-Rasheed.
He added: “The MCA initiative represents an opportunity to transform the leadership of our cities, to the betterment of those that live in them.”
The summit also called on universities to train 290,000 urban leaders by 2050, providing them with a skill set that combines executive, political, and technical expertise.
“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.
The press statement emphasized that MCA will be an interdisciplinary program, blending core curriculum standards with region-specific adaptations to give graduates the technical knowledge, systems thinking, and governance skills needed to lead effectively.
The program will be offered through top international universities, combining academic rigor 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 Nasiphi Moya, executive mayor of Tshwane and U20 co-chair.
