Course description

Media Lab Beyond Smart Cities: Emerging Design and Technology

Earn an official certificate of professional achievement from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

With more than half of the world’s population living in urban areas, there’s a growing interest in developing smarter, safer, and more sustainable cities that are responsive to their citizens. While smart city solutions typically focus on digital enhancements to existing urban infrastructure, the MIT Media Lab Beyond Smart Cities: Emerging Design and Technology online short course goes beyond optimizations. Over six weeks, you’ll explore ways in which disruptive technology can dramatically improve planning, design, and management of contemporary cities for a more resilient future. Guided by MIT faculty, you’ll discover how technologies like data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), new urban systems, real-time simulations, and predictive urban design can be leveraged to realize more entrepreneurial, high-performance, and livable urban communities.

Suitability - Who should attend?

Is this course for you?

This online course is designed for professionals interested in urban planning and design, who are seeking ways to transform cities for a more sustainable and vibrant future. With a focus on technology and data, the program is particularly relevant to those who are focused on designing, investing in, and delivering smart city solutions.

Outcome / Qualification etc.

Learn to harness disruptive technology for sustainable, smart city solutions and earn a certificate from the MIT Media Lab.
Assessment is continuous and based on a series of practical assignments completed online. In order to be issued with a certificate, you’ll need to meet the requirements outlined in the course handbook. The handbook will be made available to you as soon as you begin the course.
What will set you apart

On completion of this course, you’ll walk away with:

The ability to leverage technological innovation to improve design, planning, and policy of urban living.
Strategies for more effective land use, distributed energy systems, and alternative mobility.
The skills to recognize and identify the challenges in contemporary city design, with solutions for healthier and more sustainable city systems.