About this Course

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Learn about Smart Cities within the context of management of urban infrastructures. The introduction of Smart urban technologies into legacy infrastructures has resulted in numerous challenges and opportunities for contemporary cities and will continue to do so. This course will help you to understand how to make the best of these smart technologies in your cities’ legacy infrastructures.  
Over the past few years, advances in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have significantly challenged the traditionally stable land scape of urban infrastructure service provision. This has resulted in increasing interest from both technology vendors and public authorities in the transition of cities towards so-called “Smart Cities”. Although such “Smart technologies” can provide immense opportunities for citizens and service providers alike, the ICTs often act as disruptive innovators of urban infrastructure service provision.
In this MOOC, you will gain a thorough understanding of the challenges and opportunities associated with the Smart urban infrastructures, namely Smart urban transportation and Smart urban energy systems. Over the journey of this 5-week online course you will learn about the most important principles for the management of Smart urban infrastructures as well as the applications of these principles in the transportation and energy sectors. 
This course does not have any prerequisites. However, to take the most away from of this MOOC, we strongly encourage you to enroll in our other MOOC on the Management of Urban Infrastructures, which has been widely praised by learners. 
Through this course, you will:
- Gain a deep understanding of the nature of disruptive innovations (smart technologies) in urban infrastructure systems;
- Learn about state-of-the-art strategies for effectively managing the transition from legacy infrastructures to smart urban systems;
- Study the management of the transition phase from legacy infrastructure systems to smart cities by supporting innovations while avoiding early lock-in; and
- Understand potential applications of the materials learned in this course within the context of the management of smart urban transportation systems as well as smart urban energy systems.

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.

Coursera Labs

Includes hands on learning projects.

Learn more about Coursera Labs

Beginner Level

Approx. 12 hours to complete

English

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Skills you will gain

Management
City Planning
City Management
Smart City

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.

Coursera Labs

Includes hands on learning projects.

Learn more about Coursera Labs

Beginner Level

Approx. 12 hours to complete

English

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

Try Coursera for Business

Instructor

Instructor rating

4.64/5 (372 Ratings)

Matthias Finger

Professor

EPFL, ITPP, MIR, IGLUS Lab

70,015 Learners

4 Courses

Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Content Rating98%(6,701 ratings)

Week1

Week 1

3 hours to complete

Introduction to Smart Urban Infrastructures and Smart Cities

‘Smart City’ is a notion that is widely, and sometimes not appropriately, used by urbanists across the globe. This week will help you to get a more clear understanding of this notion by using a rigorous conceptual framework, which is based on the systems theory. In this week, we will explain the concept of Smart Cities by reviewing different conceptual approaches to Smart Cities and discussing the pros and cons of each approach.

3 hours to complete

8 videos (Total 63 min), 6 readings, 1 quiz

8 videos

Introduction to the Smart Cities MOOC2mIntroduction to week 13mConceptualizing cities as complex socio-technical systems9mWhat is digitalization?7mGeneral Implications of digitalization10mImplications on digitalization on cities9mPerspectives on Smart Cities7minterview with Ms. Irene Compte Libera about Barcelona13m

6 readings

Introduction to the Smart Cities MOOC10mWrite an optional case study and win a prize!10mWhere to get help10mCourse discussions10mCertificate10mReading 1 - Introduction to Smart Urban Infrastructures and Smart Cities10m

1 practice exercise

What did I learn in Block 1?30m

Week2

Week 2

2 hours to complete

Smart Urban Energy Systems

2 hours to complete

9 videos (Total 64 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz

9 videos

Introduction to week 21mConceptualization of Smart Urban Energy Systems8mInterview with an Utility company (Dr. Corrodi, IWB Basel)5mThe infrastructure layer of smart urban energy systems6mInterview with Prof. Mario Paolone10mThe services layer of smart urban energy systems6mThe data/digital layer of smart urban energy systems6mManagerial and Policy takeaways6mInterview with an Energy company (Dr. Bolke, Schneider Electric)12m

1 reading

Reading 2 - Smart Urban Energy Systems10m

1 practice exercise

What did I learn in Block 2?30m

Week3

Week 3

2 hours to complete

Smart Urban Transportation Systems

Many Smart Transportation Technologies are already tested on the roads and in cities across the globe. Driverless vehicles as well as car and ride sharing solutions are not anymore futuristic visions for urban transportation systems; but realities that pose significant opportunities and threads for legacy urban transportation systems. In this week, we deep dive into the urban transportation sector and discuss some of the most important managerial considerations to facilitate the transition phase, and operation of Smart Urban Transportation Systems, thanks to availability of data.

2 hours to complete

7 videos (Total 51 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz

Week4

Week 4

2 hours to complete

Towards Smart Cities: part 1

The transition of legacy cities to Smart Cities is not a spontaneous process. To get the transition process right, and to the benefit of citizens, cities have to adopt effective management and governance approaches to successfully deal with numerous complexities of this process. This week will help you to understand the most important factors in the transition phase of legacy cities to Smart cities and their managerial implications.

2 hours to complete

7 videos (Total 58 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz

Reviews

4.7

348 reviews

5 stars
73.62%
4 stars
22.11%
3 stars
3.08%
2 stars
0.61%
1 star
0.55%

TOP REVIEWS FROM SMART CITIES – MANAGEMENT OF SMART URBAN INFRASTRUCTURES

by LYMar 12, 2018

Excellent overview on different aspects of smart urban infrastructure. Course creators made complex issues really easy to understand, even for absolute beginners.

by KIJul 3, 2020

The course is so informative and easily laid out that the new ideas are easily understood. Plus the interview sessions are big bonus for participants.

by DPSep 14, 2020

Quite informative. Loved the way of instructions. It's a very simple English accent and I was able to grasp it even without subtitle. The handouts/reading material is more helpful to work on quizzes.

by TCMar 11, 2018

This course is great. I like the way the course is structured and how the lecturers are able to articulate complex matters in a simple format.

View all reviews

Frequently Asked Questions

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Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:
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The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
What will I get if I purchase the Certificate?
When you purchase a Certificate you get access to all course materials, including graded assignments. Upon completing the course, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
Is financial aid available?
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

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Smart Cities – Management of Smart Urban Infrastructures