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About the Course

Cities are home to half the worlds seven billion people and contribute to about 75% of
global economic output. An additional three billion people are estimated to live in cities
by 2050, increasing the urban share of the worlds population to two-thirds.

Yet, cities and urban areas across the world face major challenges: poverty,
unemployment, poor housing and lack of basic services for over 1 billion slum
dwellers, constraints on productivity due to lack of basic infrastructure, and a
concentration risk due to natural disasters and climate change. This classical view of
the city, as a site of inextricable problems has inhibited interest and investment in
them as sites of opportunity and change.

Sustainable cities build on the extraordinary potential of urban areas to enable change
due to concentration of economic activity, innovation and job creation; the potential for
social transformation, high levels of concentration of culture, people, infrastructure
and buildings and the ability to redene the relationship between rural and urban, to
enable rural prosperity.

Recognizing this, in September 2015, member-countries of the United Nations,

adopted a historic stand-along goal on Sustainable Cities to make cities and human
settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable by 2030, leaving no person and
no place behind.

This course explores what Sustainable cities are all about. It examines how urban
sustainability can be delivered: how cities function as systems of systems; how we can
increase urban productivity and reduce urban poverty and inequality, enable urban
inclusion and safety; provide universal basic services, housing and infrastructure;
protect the urban environment, reduce risk and vulnerability . It further explores what
actions need to be taken to improve urban governance and nancing for sustainable
development and key institutions and agents that can make this possible.

Course Engagement

You are part of an international cohort of students who are all interested in urban
sustainability. The Edcast platform offers several ways to engage with the thousands of
like-minded people on the platform. See the "Welcome to the Course" section to nd
out other ways to connect.

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TheEdCast Discussion Forum isalways open on the right hand side of any course
page. As you navigate through the course, the forums will adapt with questions fellow
students or the MOOC staff posted regarding that page. General course-related info
will often be posted on the home page, so please navigate there to track any important
discussions regarding the class. Please check the discussion forums frequently to ask
questions and hold discussions with the course staff, including Aromar Revi and with
your fellow students. The boards will include discussions of the weekly material and
quizzes.

Since this course is a massive open online course (MOOC), we will not be able to
respond to each individual question. We will be answering questions andholding
discussion through the EdCast discussion forum.

Course Schedule

This course will run for 15 weeks, beginning on November 15th2016 and ending on
February 27th, 2017. There will be three breaks throughout the course:

1. Catch up 1: November 29th - December 5th

2. Winter Break: December 20th - January 1st

3. Catch up 2: January 24th - January 30th

Weekly Materials Provided

New materials will be posted every Tuesday at 12:00PM IST. Once a weeks material has
been posted, it will stay up for the duration of the course.The weekly lecture materials
provided will be:

1)Lecture videos:Each weeks modulewill have 4-5 chapters with Video Lectures. New
video lectures are posted each week and then remain available for the duration of the
course.

2)Assigned reading:Each week there will be assigned reading materials, all of which will
be free links. Please check the Reading Listtab for more information.

3)Weekly assessments:Each week there will be an End of Module Quiz posted that
covers the material addressed in the Video Lectures and Readings. You may be asked
to use an external resource to nd information or a data point.

Weekly Assessments

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Weekly assessments will come in the form of multiple choice quizzes. There are 10
quizzes that correspond with the 10weekly lecture topics. Each week, a new quiz will
be posted under the Coursewaretab. Please see theQuiz Directionstab for specic
directions on how to take the quiz.

Quizzescan be accessed through the left-hang navigation bar and are arranged by
week number. After you submit your quiz, you can view your grade report under the
Progresstab from the main menu.

You will have until Monday, February 27th, 2017 to complete all quizzes.

Grading Policy

8 out of 10quizzes will account for 100% of the nal grade, each with an equal weight.
Your twoquizzes with the lowest scores will be dropped from your nal grade.

In order to receive a Statement of Accomplishment with Distinction signed by Aromar

Revi, you will need an 85% average;to receive a Statement of Accomplishment signed
by Aromar Revi, you will need a 70% average in the class.

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