Many theoretical and methodological efforts have been made to extend the disciplinary field of architecture and urbanism from the urban in the traditional sense to the larger territorial scales of contemporary urbanisation. This paperdiscusses the ways of studying the dispersed and polymorphic urban form that still needs to be understood. The discourse is developed around the situated learning model adequate for understanding the planetary urbanisation theory and the dispersed city. The learning model is applied inside the Urbanisation in the Western Balkan Countries course at the master's studies in Architecture and Urbanism (University of Banja Luka). The situated learning model engages students in the research of real-life context, culture and situation, and therefore, connects the theories of large-scale urbanisation with the inquiry about familiar space. Furthermore, the learning approach advocates an inquiry-based strategy to learning about urbanisation and a dispersed urban form in theoretical courses. The course employs the techniques typically taught in design studios, such as mapping, collage imagery and three-dimensional modelling. The paper could contribute to the considerations on the education of architects as professionals that will deal with the growing scales of contemporary urbanisation, specifically in the Western Balkan countries.