SMUA4500 Smart Cities Course description

One of the biggest challenges we are facing globally is climate change. Given that our world is becoming more computable opens up the opportunity for applying new technologies to achieve smart cities to fulfil sustainability goals. The current Smart City paradigm has evolved from a technology-only driven approach to a human-centred approach, in which a variety of technological tools help to improve quality of life for people. The main aim of the smart city is to enhance the existing built environment. Nowadays smart cities are geared towards facing future multifaced environmental, social, economic and political challenges of societies. Residents are coming to the forefront in the co-creating of cities, expressing their needs with increasing interest and influencing the design of livable, sustainable cities. An integrated understanding has an enormous impact in planning of smart cities and policy recommendations to achieve livability in urban areas, quality of life for residents and equity in cities. This course is utilizing acquired knowledge from previous and parallel running courses such as advanced methods course, ethics in research, data analysis in GIS, and urban policies, and adds to it the component of smart cities and the human factor.

None.

No formal requirements over and above the admission requirements.

Upon completing the course, the student should have the following outcomes:

Knowledge:

Upon successfully completion of the course, the student

• Has current knowledge on key concepts, approaches and conditions of sustainable smart cities.
• Can explain and critically reflect on the human-centred approach of sustainable urban planning of smart cities including different approaches to digital citizen’s engagement and participatory processes.
• Has advanced knowledge of methods for sustainable smart cities.

Skills:

Upon successfully completion of the course, the student

• Is able to collect and analyse primary quantitative and qualitative data using online digital tools for crowd mapping with a volunteered geographic information (VGI) approach.
• Is able to apply smart city assessment tools (SCA) through a case study to evaluate different indicators and stakeholder engagement as well as strategic needs of smart cities
• Is able to make thematic maps and present analytical results from primary data to approach a problem-solving strategy for a problem statement on the base of sustainable smart cities.
• Can make thematic maps and create strategies for assessment to approach a problem-solving strategy for identified urban problems and defined questions in the context of sustainable smart cities

General competence:

Upon successfully completion of the course, the student

• Can apply data analysis as a tool and develop strategies to develop sustainable smart cities using a problem-solving approach.
• Can communicate with specialists and the public planning problems, analytical results and potential solutions to these
• Is able to reflect on her/his own role as urban expert, particularly concerning professional and ethical positions and has a strong sense of responsibility for her/his profession

The course is delivered through lectures, seminars, practicals, excursions, and fieldwork to provide theoretical content, methods and hands-on experience. The students will be given a group or individual project during the semester.

None

(1) Group or individual project assignment: Project report prepared individually or in groups of 2 students (or more), approx. 15-20 pages (excl. appendices), weighted 80%.

(2) Oral group presentation of the project, weighted 20%

Grading is individual, which means that grades may differ within each group. Both oral and written examinations can be presented/written in teams. To ensure that individual grading should be possible, each group of students will provide a written and signed statement in where each individual's contribution is clearly stated and explained.

All assessment parts must be awarded a pass grade (E or better) to pass the course.

Assessment parts: 1) can be appealed and 2) cannot be appealed.

1) All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.

2) None

Graded scale A-F.

1) Two internal examiners,

2) Two internal examiners

External examiners are used regularly.

Claudia van der Laag; email: claudia.vanderlaag@oslomet.no