Modeling the city

Are you curious about how to use models to better understand urban processes and their impacts on cities? Are you interested in how modelling can help governments and organizations improve quality of life for city residents?

Course Description:

Cities are complex, with interacting housing, transportation, ecological, and health systems, and models help researchers make sense of data and plan for desired systems change. Modelling the City explores how urban analysts and forecasters use abstract and applied modelling and simulation to understand economic, environmental, and social processes in cities.

The course covers the drivers and consequences of urban land-use change, the roles/limits of models, an overview of current methodological approaches, and an examination of urban simulation models as used in research contexts. Students will use open-source modelling tools in a hands-on learning environment to gain familiarity with spatial (GIS) modeling approaches, critically assess existing models, and draw practical insights out of model results. Course meetings include 1 hour of asynchronous lecture and 2 hours of synchronous lab/discussion/active learning per week.

Students have two options for the course:

· Completing at least the first 8 weeks of readings and assignments as a non-credit course, with the ability to finish the final 4 weeks to enhance their understanding.

· Completing all 12 weeks and a take-home final for a credited independent study course (subject to approval from the student’s home university).

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites other than upper-division or graduate standing. However, students are expected to have a facility with basic mathematics and introductory statistics. No programming background is required.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this course, students will have demonstrated the ability to:

• Critically review and interpret an urban simulation model, whether presented in a report or scholarly article.
• Demonstrate understanding of a model’s input data requirements; how model outputs can support planning and policy analysis; the model’s spatial, temporal, and human scales of operation; the disciplinary scope of the model; and the strengths, weaknesses, and limitations of the modelling technique used.
• Analyze applications of urban simulation models for particular urban case studies.
• Demonstrate an understanding of what empirical modeling techniques can be applied to agiven data set.
• Identify appropriate urban simulation techniques for particular research questions and policy analysis scenarios..

How to Register:

To register for the Modeling the City course please email [email protected] before April 16th 2025 and include the following:

• Please include “Modeling the City course registration” in the subject header.
• Please include your supervisor or advisor in your email.