Sustainable Urban Development (edX)

Learn why cities are key in resolving global urbanization and sustainability challenges and how you can engineer tomorrow’s cities today. Did you know that cities take up less than 3% of the earth’s land surface, but more than 50% of the world’s population live in them? And, cities generate more than 70% of the global emissions? Large cities and their hinterlands (jointly called metropolitan regions) greatly contribute to global urbanization and sustainability challenges, yet are also key to resolving these same challenges.

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If you are interested in the challenges of the 21st century metropolitan regions and how these can be solved from within the city and by its inhabitants, then this Sustainable Urban Development course is for you!

There are no simple solutions to these grand challenges! Rather the challenges cities face today require a holistic, systemic and transdisciplinary approach that spans different fields of expertise and disciplines such as urban planning, urban design, urban engineering, systems analysis, policy making, social sciences and entrepreneurship.

This MOOC is all about this integration of different fields of knowledge within the metropolitan context. The course is set up in a unique matrix format that lets you pursue your line of interest along a specific metropolitan challenge or a specific theme.

Because we are all part of the challenges as well as the solutions, we encourage you to participate actively! You will have the opportunity to explore the living conditions in your own city and compare your living environment with that of the global community.

You will discover possible solutions for your city’s challenges and what it takes to implement these solutions. Your participation will also contribute to wider research into metropolitan regions as complex systems.

We invite you to take the first steps in understanding the principles that will be essential to transform metropolitan regions into just, prosperous and sustainable places to live in!

This course forms a part of the educational programme of the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions and is developed by Wageningen UR and TU Delft, two of the founding universities of AMS Institute.

What you'll learn:

- The most relevant challenges that metropolitan regions are facing

- How you can respond to these challenges

- Examples of sustainable, metropolitan interventions and solutions

- How to critically reflect on and engage in the sustainable cities debate

- Innovative solutions for your own urban living environment

Syllabus

Module 1: Background Knowledge for Co-Creating Sustainable Cities

Module 2: Water & Waste Water: Water as Basic Need

Module 3: Energy and Air 1: Living with the Haze

Module 4: Energy & Air 2: Citizens Co-Creating Cleaner Air

Module 5: Urban Food&Green: The Use of Urban Spaces

Module 6: Energy & Air 3: Creating Smart Energy & Mobilit

Module 7: Urban Water: Dry Feet for Citizens

Module 8: Synthesis: The Dynamics of Co-creation