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Subfield · Urban Studies

Top Urban Studies Research Institutions

University College London ranks first in 2022–2025, out of 102 ranked institutions.

Composite score: field-normalised excellence, output and total citations weighted 50 / 30 / 20, each as a percentile so no single heavy-tailed measure dominates. Floor: 40 fractional works in this field.

Ranked by research quality, 2022–2025

#InstitutionScoreTop-10% rateWorksCitationsAll time
1 University College LondonUnited Kingdom · London 100.0 48.5% 130 1k#1
2 Politecnico di MilanoItaly · Milan 85.0 32.8% 147 367#21
3 The University of MelbourneAustralia · Melbourne 76.2 38.3% 122 541#12
4 University of ManchesterUnited Kingdom · Manchester 70.0 43.8% 80 370#2
5 Cardiff UniversityUnited Kingdom · Cardiff 65.2 44.8% 68 356#16
6 University of AmsterdamNetherlands · Amsterdam 61.3 49.6% 67 376#9
7 Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and TechnologyGhana · Kumasi 57.9 45.7% 68 342#60
8 University of SheffieldUnited Kingdom · Sheffield 55.0 39.2% 65 328#5
9 Universidade de São PauloBrazil · São Paulo 52.5 7.2% 496 284#34
10 University of JohannesburgSouth Africa · Johannesburg 50.2 36.7% 89 260#37
11 University of TorontoCanada · Toronto 48.2 28.8% 88 305#4
12 Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroBrazil · Rio de Janeiro 46.3 5.4% 433 250#50
13 Delft University of TechnologyNetherlands · Delft 44.5 35.7% 71 269#33
14 Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaSpain · Cerdanyola del Vallès 42.9 29.1% 60 204#47
15 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom · Cambridge 41.4 30.5% 64 222#14
16 The University of SydneyAustralia · Sydney 40.1 26.3% 65 258#30
17 University of LisbonPortugal · Lisbon 38.7 18.5% 104 185#88
18 Aalborg UniversityDenmark · Aalborg 37.5 25.5% 67 165#43
19 Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)Brazil · São Paulo 36.3 5.4% 282 146—
20 Sapienza University of RomeItaly · Rome 35.2 13.4% 117 151—
21 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance · Paris 34.2 10.5% 146 129#46
22 Universidade Federal FluminenseBrazil · Niterói 33.2 8.3% 246 103—
23 Universitat de BarcelonaSpain · Barcelona 32.2 26.6% 74 145—
24 Universidad Politécnica de MadridSpain · Madrid 31.3 14.7% 106 115—
25 Universidade Federal de Minas GeraisBrazil · Belo Horizonte 30.4 6.3% 276 186—
26 University of ŁódźPoland · Lodz 29.6 17.0% 87 153—
27 Universidade do Estado do Rio de JaneiroBrazil · Rio de Janeiro 28.7 4.9% 299 95—
28 Universidade de BrasíliaBrazil · Brasília 28.0 6.7% 260 114—
29 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do SulBrazil · Porto Alegre 27.2 5.7% 287 88—
30 Universidade do PortoPortugal · Porto 26.5 23.9% 70 102—
31 Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)Brazil · Campinas 25.8 6.3% 233 100#74
32 Universidade Federal de PernambucoBrazil · Recife 25.1 5.2% 240 101—
33 Universidad de SevillaSpain · Seville 24.4 18.3% 76 72—
34 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain · Madrid 23.8 17.2% 82 81—
35 Adam Mickiewicz University in PoznańPoland · Poznan 23.1 12.9% 103 73—
36 Universidade Federal do ParáBrazil · Belém 22.5 4.2% 265 105—
37 University of WarsawPoland · Warsaw 21.9 14.3% 85 66—
38 Universidade Federal de Santa CatarinaBrazil · Florianópolis 21.3 5.0% 186 76—
39 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMexico · Mexico City 20.8 9.1% 122 96—
40 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y TécnicasArgentina · Buenos Aires 20.2 8.9% 137 99—
41 Jagiellonian UniversityPoland · Krakow 19.7 13.3% 83 60—
42 Université Paris 1 Panthéon-SorbonneFrance · Paris 19.2 9.4% 98 49—
43 Pontificia Universidad Católica de ChileChile · Santiago 18.7 13.9% 84 104#97
44 Universidade Federal do CearáBrazil · Fortaleza 18.2 7.6% 144 62—
45 Université du Québec à MontréalCanada · Montreal 17.7 8.6% 122 87—
46 Universidade Federal do ParanáBrazil · Curitiba 17.2 6.0% 159 60—
47 Universidad de Buenos AiresArgentina · Buenos Aires 16.8 10.1% 105 78—
48 Universitat Politècnica de ValènciaSpain · Valencia 16.3 17.3% 63 58—
49 Universiti Teknologi MARAMalaysia · Shah Alam 15.9 12.8% 72 95—
50 Universidade Federal do Espírito SantoBrazil · Vitória 15.4 7.1% 125 44—
51 Université LavalCanada · Québec 15.0 7.4% 98 58—
52 Conservatoire National des Arts et MétiersFrance · Paris 14.6 10.3% 71 40—
53 Université de MontréalCanada · Montreal 14.2 9.9% 88 73—
54 Universidade Federal de Santa MariaBrazil · Santa Maria 13.8 5.7% 131 45—
55 Institut d'Etudes Politiques de ParisFrance · Paris 13.4 7.7% 84 44—
56 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do NorteBrazil · Natal 13.0 3.7% 169 54—
57 Universidade Federal da ParaíbaBrazil · João Pessoa 12.6 3.2% 181 57—
58 Universidade Federal da BahiaBrazil · Salvador 12.2 4.5% 140 54—
59 Universidad de GuadalajaraMexico · Guadalajara 11.8 10.2% 62 33—
60 University of CoimbraPortugal · Coimbra 11.5 7.9% 70 53—
61 Université Paris NanterreFrance · Nanterre 11.1 5.4% 117 30—
62 Silesian University of TechnologyPoland · Gliwice 10.8 7.5% 70 89—
63 Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de JaneiroBrazil · Rio de Janeiro 10.4 6.5% 92 28—
64 Universidade Federal de São CarlosBrazil · São Carlos 10.1 4.9% 124 58—
65 Universidad Nacional de ColombiaColombia · Bogotá 9.7 10.4% 69 37—
66 Universidade Federal de UberlândiaBrazil · Uberlândia 9.4 6.7% 93 38—
67 Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São PauloBrazil · São Paulo 9.1 5.1% 111 32—
68 Universidade Federal de São PauloBrazil · São Paulo 8.8 5.7% 102 46—
69 Universidade do Estado de Santa CatarinaBrazil · Florianópolis 8.5 5.6% 104 26—
70 Universidade Federal de PelotasBrazil · Pelotas 8.1 3.7% 126 42—
71 Aix-Marseille UniversitéFrance · Marseille 7.8 4.8% 71 37—
72 Université Paris CitéFrance · Paris 7.5 8.3% 66 32—
73 Universidade Federal do MaranhãoBrazil · São Luís 7.2 5.1% 96 29—
74 Université de LilleFrance · Lille 6.9 2.3% 152 34—
75 Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do SulBrazil · Campo Grande 6.6 5.3% 92 23—
76 Universidade Estadual de LondrinaBrazil · Londrina 6.4 5.3% 88 22—
77 Universidade Federal de SergipeBrazil · Aracaju 6.1 4.1% 102 29—
78 Universidade Federal de GoiásBrazil · Goiânia 5.8 2.4% 138 47—
79 École des hautes études en sciences socialesFrance · Paris 5.5 6.4% 70 49—
80 Hospital Universitário da Universidade de São PauloBrazil · São Paulo 5.3 6.2% 74 30—
81 Universidade Estadual de MaringáBrazil · Maringá 5.0 5.2% 78 25—
82 Universidade Federal de Juiz de ForaBrazil · Juiz de Fora 4.7 3.7% 95 19—
83 Universidade Federal do TocantinsBrazil · Palmas 4.5 3.8% 88 20—
84 Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de JaneiroBrazil · Seropédica 4.2 3.7% 88 33—
85 Universidade Federal do AmazonasBrazil · Manaus 3.9 2.7% 92 27—
86 Université de LorraineFrance · Nancy 3.7 4.5% 62 19—
87 Hospital Ana NeryBrazil · Salvador 3.4 3.8% 73 20—
88 Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas GeraisBrazil · Belo Horizonte 3.2 3.1% 82 29—
89 Universidade Federal de ViçosaBrazil · Viçosa 2.9 4.0% 70 18—
90 Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de JaneiroBrazil · Rio de Janeiro 2.7 2.6% 78 19—
91 Université de PoitiersFrance · Poitiers 2.5 3.8% 67 13—
92 Université Grenoble AlpesFrance · Saint-Martin-d'Hères 2.2 4.0% 61 23—
93 Universidade Presbiteriana MackenzieBrazil · São Paulo 2.0 3.6% 65 12—
94 Universidade Federal do PiauíBrazil · Teresina 1.8 1.6% 78 19—
95 Universidade Federal de Mato GrossoBrazil · Cuiabá 1.5 3.7% 63 12—
96 Universidade Federal de AlagoasBrazil · Maceió 131.1 2.2% 83 19—
97 Université Paris Dauphine-PSLFrance · Paris 108.7 2.9% 71 20—
98 Universidade do Estado de Minas GeraisBrazil · Belo Horizonte 86.5 3.2% 62 16—
99 Universidade Estadual do CearáBrazil · Fortaleza 64.5 1.9% 81 22—
100 Universidade Estadual de Montes ClarosBrazil · Montes Claros 42.8 1.7% 80 18—

institutions ranked worldwide in Urban Studies (102). rank on the composite score within the stated pool. The score track runs 0 to 100; the rate track carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field.

How spread out this pool is

Every row above on one axis — one tick each, right is a higher score. A field where the top few are far clear of everyone and one that runs down evenly look identical as a table.

0 – 5: 21 places5 – 10: 16 places10 – 15: 13 places15 – 20: 11 places20 – 25: 8 places25 – 30: 6 places30 – 35: 6 places35 – 40: 4 places40 – 45: 3 places45 – 50: 3 places50 – 55: 2 places55 – 60: 1 places60 – 65: 1 places65 – 70: 2 places70 – 75: 0 places75 – 80: 1 places80 – 85: 1 places85 – 90: 0 places90 – 95: 0 places95 – 100: 1 places0100

One bar per band of score, counting the rows on this page.

Ranked by volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Universidade de São PauloBrazil 496 works
  2. 2 Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroBrazil 433 works
  3. 3 Universidade do Estado do Rio de JaneiroBrazil 299 works
  4. 4 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do SulBrazil 287 works
  5. 5 Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)Brazil 282 works
  6. 6 Universidade Federal de Minas GeraisBrazil 276 works
  7. 7 Universidade Federal do ParáBrazil 265 works
  8. 8 Universidade de BrasíliaBrazil 260 works
  9. 9 Universidade Federal FluminenseBrazil 246 works
  10. 10 Universidade Federal de PernambucoBrazil 240 works
  11. 11 Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)Brazil 233 works
  12. 12 Universidade Federal de Santa CatarinaBrazil 186 works
  13. 13 Universidade Federal da ParaíbaBrazil 181 works
  14. 14 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do NorteBrazil 169 works
  15. 15 Universidade Federal do ParanáBrazil 159 works

Urban Studies by country