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Richard Florida

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The City and You: Find Your Best Place

University of Toronto

About this Course

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Welcome to The City and You: Find Your Best Place. I'm excited to have you in the class and look forward to your contributions to the other learners in our community.
This free course will provide the knowledge and  the tools needed to understand what cities do, why they matter, the forces shaping the greatest wave of urbanization in history, and how to pick the right place for you. The course will also help you develop critical thinking skills. We'll accomplish this by providing evidence of the importance of cities, and why and how they matter to you. Then we’ll ask you to apply what you’ve learned in an exercise which will help you assess your own community and find your best place.

 This course is accessible and open to anyone who is interested in learning more about cities and the ways they affect our lives. It is organized around five key modules: (1) Why Cities Matter,  (2) A World of Cities,  (3) The Creative City, (4) The Divided City and the New Urban Crisis, and (5) How to Find the Best Place for You.

 After completing the course, you will be able to:


(1) Identify why cities are the drivers of economic prosperity;
(2) Explain the drivers and implications of fast-growing urbanization worldwide;
(3) Outline the key characteristics of a creative and innovative city;
(4) Describe the social divides and challenges facing cities and the solutions cities are using to address them; and
(5) Recognize the trade-offs of staying in your current city versus moving, and identify the best place for you and your family to live.

Of course the world has changed a great deal since I developed this course. The Global COVID-19 Pandemic is affecting cities, businesses and people around the world. It is something I have been writing about and working with mayors, city managers, economic developers, urban leaders and communities across the globe. I have put together a new module on Cities and the Coronavirus to help you better understand the ways in which the Covid-19 crisis is impacting cities and how you can best understand  and deal with that.

I’d like to wish each and every one of you good luck as you get started on this journey. I hope you enjoy the course!

Flexible deadlines

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Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

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Beginner Level

Approx. 17 hours to complete

English

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Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Beginner Level

Approx. 17 hours to complete

English

Could your company benefit from training employees on in-demand skills?

Try Coursera for Business

Instructor

Instructor rating

4.8/5 (34 Ratings)

Richard Florida

University Professor and Director of Cities, University of Toronto

Martin Prosperity Institute, Rotman School of Management

16,842 Learners

1 Course

Offered by

University of Toronto

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Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Content Rating96%(1,936 ratings)

Week1

Week 1

3 hours to complete

Why Cities Matter

This session will help you to understand the importance of cities for both the economy and society, as well as, you and your family. Today, more than three and a half billion people live in cities, which is more than half of the world's population. That figure is projected to rise to as many as 10 billion people or 85 percent of the world's population over the next century. Cities are our premier platforms for generating new innovations, higher levels of economic growth, and new and better jobs. We will discuss why and how cities are important, and why picking the right city to live is important to your career, well-being, and life.

3 hours to complete

8 videos (Total 39 min), 5 readings, 2 quizzes

8 videos

Introduction to the Covid-19 Module2mCourse Overview - The City and You (Instructor Video)1mWhat The City and You is About & How It Will Benefit You (Instructor Video)3mWhy Cities Matter (Instructor Video)8mRichard Florida Week 1 Follow-up - Cohort 16mRichard Florida Week 1 Follow-up - Cohort 23mRichard Florida Week 1 Follow-up - Cohort 34mRichard Florida Week 1 Follow-up - U of T Alumni Edition9m

5 readings

Course Syllabus15mWhat Makes for a Great City10mTriumph of the City15mJane Jacobs - Who Changed the Way We Think About Cities15mOptional Activity: Living Atlas10m

2 practice exercises

Pause and Reflect: Should You Stay or Move?10mWhy Cities Matter30m

Week2

Week 2

3 hours to complete

A World of Cities

3 hours to complete

6 videos (Total 41 min), 6 readings, 2 quizzes

6 videos

A World of Cities (Instructor Video)10mOpportunities & Challenges of Global Cities (Instructor Video: includes discussion of the exercise for this week)4mRichard Florida Week 2 Follow-up - Cohort 17mRichard Florida Week 2 Follow-up - Cohort 25mRichard Florida Week 2 Follow-up - Cohort 34mRichard Florida Week 2 Follow-up - U of T Alumni Edition9m

6 readings

The World is Spiky15mPlanet of Cities10mUrbanization Without Growth10mThe Problem of Global Slums10mWhy Cities Matter in the Developing World10mOPTIONAL ACTIVITY: Population Density Map10m

2 practice exercises

Pause and Reflect: Tell Us about Your Global City10mA World of Cities30m

Week3

Week 3

3 hours to complete

The Creative City

Cities have been the fonts of creativity since the dawn of civilization. The clustering of creative people in them and the diversity they bring is what drives key advances in arts, culture, and technology. These wellsprings of human progress have always occurred in our great cities from Athens and Rome to London, New York, and the emerging economies in Asia. This session will help you better understand how the clustering of diverse groups of creative people in cities spurs artistic achievement, scientific and technological advance, and human progress.

3 hours to complete

7 videos (Total 44 min), 6 readings, 2 quizzes

7 videos

The Creative City (Instructor Video)8mTechnology, Talent and Tolerance in the Creative City (Instructor Video)7mHow Cities Spur Creativity (Instructor Video: includes discussion of the exercise for this week)4mRichard Florida Week 3 Follow-up- Cohort 17mRichard Florida Week 3 Follow-up- Cohort 24mRichard Florida Week 3 Follow-up- Cohort 32mRichard Florida Week 3 Follow-up - U of T Alumni Edition8m

6 readings

Creativity and Cities10mGlobal Startup Cities10mThe Urban Tech Revolution10mThe Geography of Innovation10mOptional Activity - UNESCO Creative Cities Network15mInnovation10m

2 practice exercises

Pause and Reflect: Your Creative City10mOn the Creative City30m

Week4

Week 4

3 hours to complete

The New Urban Crisis

This session will help you better understand the New Urban Crisis and the growing economic divides that challenge cities today. In the second half of the 20th century, society was divided between poorer cities and richer suburbs. But, over the past decade or so, affluent and educated people have flocked back to urban centers pushing poverty out to the suburbs. Today, middle-class neighborhoods are in decline and our societies are defined by small areas of concentrated advantaged surrounded by much larger areas of concentrated disadvantage spanning the city and its suburb alike.

3 hours to complete

6 videos (Total 47 min), 5 readings, 2 quizzes

6 videos

The New Urban Crisis (Instructor Video)10mGentrification and the Divided City (Instructor Video: includes discussion of the exercise for this module)4mRichard Florida Week 4 Follow-Up- Cohort 17mRichard Florida Week 4 Follow-Up Cohort 211mRichard Florida Week 4 Follow-Up Cohort 35mRichard Florida Week 4 Follow-up - U of T Alumni Edition8m

5 readings

Why America's Richest Cities Keep Getting Richer15mHow Expensive Housing is Stifling of Creativity of Cities15mThe Divided City15mConfronting the New Urban Crisis15mOPTIONAL ACTIVITY: Wealth Divides10m

2 practice exercises

Pause and Reflect: The Divides and Challenges of Your City10mThe New Urban Crisis30m

Week5

Week 5

3 hours to complete

Cities and the Covid-19 Crisis

This session will help you better understand how the Covid-19 crisis will change cities and their recovery challenges. Covid-19 is not the first pandemic to strike our cities, nor will it be the last. Over the long course of history, cities have often been hotbeds of contagion and infectious disease. But no pandemic, plague, or natural disaster has ever managed to stifle their growth. When this pandemic is over in a couple of years, maybe less, New York and London will still be the world’s great financial centers; the San Francisco Bay Area its hub of high technology; and Los Angeles its center for entertainment and film. Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Paris, Toronto, and Sydney will all continue to be great global cities. But change will come to how and where we live and work. Our cities and society as a whole are likely to grow even more unequal than they are today, as both the disease and its economic fallout hit hardest at the least-advantaged. While some of these changes will prove to be evanescent, others may be permanent. Ultimately, the pandemic will be less of a break point or disruption, and more an accelerant to changes already afoot in our working and living patterns.

3 hours to complete

3 videos (Total 38 min), 5 readings

3 videos

How the Coronavirus will Reshape Cities18mReinforcing Existing Divides6mHow Cities can Reopen After the Covid-19 Pandemic12m

5 readings

The Geography of Coronavirus10mThe Coronavirus Class Divide in Cities10mHow Our Cities can Reopen After the Covid-19 Pandemic10mWebinar - How are Cities Preparing to Reopen in the Context of Covid-19?50mOptional Activity - How has the Current Covid-19 Pandemic Affected Cities?20m

Week6

Week 6

4 hours to complete

Find Your Best Place

This session will help you understand the importance of where you live to your life and career. We each make three big decisions in our lives: our career, our choice of life-partner, and the place (city and neighborhood) where we live. We get lots of advice on the first two, but little on the third. Yet, choosing where to live is the most important decision of all. It shapes and influences the kinds of careers that we pursue and the kinds of people we will meet. This session provides you with the tools and a framework for choosing the place that is best for you and your family.

4 hours to complete

7 videos (Total 49 min), 3 readings, 1 quiz

7 videos

Find Your Best Place (Instructor Video)8mUse the Place-Finder Tool to Find Your Best Place (Instructor Video: includes discussion of the final assignment)4mRichard Florida Final Remarks1mRichard Florida Week 5 Follow-up and Final Remarks - Cohort 113mRichard Florida Week 5 Follow-up - Cohort 25mRichard Florida Week 5 Follow-Up Cohort 34mRichard Florida Week 5 Follow-up - U of T Alumni Edition11m

3 readings

How to Love the Place You Live10mOn How to Choose the Place That Is Best for You15mPeer Assignment Option: Story Map Tour2h

Reviews

4.6

45 reviews

5 stars
76.22%
4 stars
16.08%
3 stars
4.19%
2 stars
2.09%
1 star
1.39%

TOP REVIEWS FROM THE CITY AND YOU: FIND YOUR BEST PLACE

by AFOct 12, 2022

This course taught me and gave me a lot of knowledge, especially how the city we want for a better life. good for city and you. thank u

by BSJun 18, 2018

Enjoyable and insightful, with lots of good readings. I would recommend it.

by RSNov 1, 2017

Great course for gaining a better understanding on what makes cities successful, what their challenges are, and how to compare them from an objective viewpoint.

by TDNov 4, 2017

Thanks Prof. Florida, you really opened my eyes to possibility of relocation as a serious endeavour for my future success and happiness!

View all reviews

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What is the refund policy?
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The City and You: Find Your Best Place

The City and You: Find Your Best Place

About this Course