What will I actually learn in this smart cities course?

You'll learn how smart technologies reshape urban infrastructures and how cities can manage that shift in ways that balance innovation, governance, and service quality. It starts with cities as socio-technical systems and the effects of digitalization, then moves into smart energy, smart transportation, and the broader transition toward smart cities. You'll also use city examples, such as Barcelona, to examine how data, services, and infrastructure interact in practice.

Do I need any background before starting this course?

No, there are no formal prerequisites. The course begins with the basics of smart cities and digitalization, and it approaches the subject from a management and governance angle rather than assuming technical design experience. If you already know something about urban infrastructures, that context may help, but it's not required.

Is this smart cities course beginner-friendly?

Yes, it's beginner-friendly for learners who want to understand smart cities through urban infrastructure management. The course introduces the core ideas first and then applies them to transportation, energy, and city governance, so the pace stays approachable. It may feel less suitable if you're looking for an engineering-heavy course on system design or software tools.

How long does it take to complete this course?

It takes about 13 hours in total. That's roughly one to two weeks of study at around 10 hours a week, although the material itself is organized across five weeks. The course includes lessons, readings, quizzes, and optional case-study work.

Are there projects or practical exercises in the course?

Yes, but the applied work is analytical rather than lab-based. You'll complete quizzes and, if you want something more open-ended, you can write optional case studies on smart mobility, energy, or urban infrastructure in a city of your choice using the course frameworks. That gives you a chance to apply each idea to a real urban system instead of only learning the concepts in the abstract.

What topics are covered in this smart cities course?

The course focuses on how digitalization changes urban infrastructures and how cities can manage that transition. You'll explore smart urban energy, smart transportation, the role of data in city systems, and recurring issues such as regulation, service integration, financing, and governance. Taken together, those topics help you judge how smart city initiatives affect infrastructure, providers, and citizens.

What can I actually do after finishing this course?

After finishing, you should be able to explain how a city moves from legacy infrastructure toward smart urban systems and assess the main management trade-offs involved. For example, you could examine a transportation or electricity system and identify how infrastructure, services, and data interact, along with likely governance or policy challenges. You should also be able to compare different smart city approaches more critically, rather than treating every new technology as an obvious upgrade.

Is this course more conceptual or hands-on?

It's more conceptual than hands-on. Most of the learning comes through lessons, readings, interviews, and quizzes, with the applied side showing up mainly in case studies and city examples rather than labs or technical build work. It suits learners who want to understand how smart urban systems are managed.

Why would I choose this smart cities course over other smart city courses?

This course is a strong choice if you want smart cities explained as a management and governance problem, not just a technology trend. Professor Matthias Finger connects the big ideas to concrete sectors like energy and transportation, then extends them into questions of data, regulation, and transition through city cases and expert interviews. If you're looking for a beginner-friendly course that helps you make sense of smart systems inside real legacy infrastructures, this is an especially good fit.

Smart Cities – Management of Smart Urban Infrastructures

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Smart Cities – Management of Smart Urban Infrastructures

Instructor: Matthias Finger

64,590 already enrolled

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5 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

1,892 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

1 week at 10 hours a week

Learn at your own pace

98%

Most learners liked this course

5 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

1,892 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

1 week at 10 hours a week

Learn at your own pace

98%

Most learners liked this course

Skills you'll gain

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Assessments

6 assignments

Taught in English

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There are 5 modules in this course

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.

Module details

‘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.

What's included

8 videos6 readings1 assignment1 plugin

8 videosTotal 63 minutes

Introduction to the Smart Cities MOOC3 minutes
Introduction to week 13 minutes
Conceptualizing cities as complex socio-technical systems9 minutes
What is digitalization?8 minutes
General Implications of digitalization10 minutes
Implications on digitalization on cities9 minutes
Perspectives on Smart Cities7 minutes
interview with Ms. Irene Compte Libera about Barcelona13 minutes

6 readingsTotal 60 minutes

Introduction to the Smart Cities MOOC10 minutes
Write an optional case study and win a prize!10 minutes
Where to get help10 minutes
Course discussions10 minutes
Certificate10 minutes
Reading 1 - Introduction to Smart Urban Infrastructures and Smart Cities10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes

What did I learn in Block 1?30 minutes

1 pluginTotal 15 minutes

Your feedback (1)15 minutes

Smart Energy Systems are one of the top priorities on the agenda of local governments, nation states and technology suppliers. In this week, we deep dive into the energy sector to explore some of the most important managerial considerations in the transition phase and operation of Smart Urban Energy Systems.

What's included

9 videos1 reading1 assignment1 plugin

9 videosTotal 64 minutes

Introduction to week 21 minute
Conceptualization of Smart Urban Energy Systems9 minutes
Interview with an Utility company (Dr. Corrodi, IWB Basel)5 minutes
The infrastructure layer of smart urban energy systems6 minutes
Interview with Prof. Mario Paolone11 minutes
The services layer of smart urban energy systems7 minutes
The data/digital layer of smart urban energy systems6 minutes
Managerial and Policy takeaways7 minutes
Interview with an Energy company (Dr. Bolke, Schneider Electric)12 minutes

1 readingTotal 10 minutes

Reading 2 - Smart Urban Energy Systems10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes

What did I learn in Block 2?30 minutes

1 pluginTotal 15 minutes

Your feedback (2)15 minutes

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.

What's included

7 videos1 reading1 assignment1 plugin

7 videosTotal 51 minutes

Introduction to week 31 minute
Conceptualization of smart urban transportation systems5 minutes
The "improve" pathway9 minutes
Interview with a transportation company (Mr Schaefer, Siemens)10 minutes
The "shift" pathway9 minutes
Interview with a transportation operator (Ms. Leboucher, RATP)10 minutes
Conditions for success7 minutes

1 readingTotal 10 minutes

Reading 3 - Smart Urban Transportation Systems10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes

What did I learn in Block 3?30 minutes

1 pluginTotal 15 minutes

Your feedback (3)15 minutes

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.

What's included

7 videos1 reading1 assignment1 plugin

7 videosTotal 58 minutes

Introdution to week 44 minutes
Transition in Socio-Technical systems14 minutes
Interview with an urban service provider company (Dr. Staron, Veolia)8 minutes
Data/Digital layer7 minutes
Potential of the digital layer2 minutes
Interview with Prof. Montero (UNED, Madrid)10 minutes
Interview with Prof. Faltings (EPFL)13 minutes

1 readingTotal 10 minutes

Reading 4 - Towards Smart Cities part I10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes

What did I learn in Block 4?30 minutes

1 pluginTotal 15 minutes

Your feedback (4)15 minutes

Management of Smart Cities calls for different approaches from conventional urban management approaches. In this week, we focus on the role of city government in the network of actors who play an important role in management of Smart Cities.

What's included

5 videos3 readings2 assignments1 plugin

5 videosTotal 48 minutes

Challenges on the Services layer12 minutes
Interview with a data company (Mr Ender & Mr Schimpel, IBM)9 minutes
Challenges on the Infrastructure layer10 minutes
Challenges for managers7 minutes
Challenges for policy-makers & Conclusion of the MOOC11 minutes

3 readingsTotal 140 minutes

Reading 5 - Towards Smart Cities part II10 minutes
Submit your optional case to win a precious prize!120 minutes
End of the course10 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 90 minutes

What did I learn in Block 5?30 minutes
Final Exam60 minutes

1 pluginTotal 15 minutes

Your feedback (5)15 minutes

Instructor

Instructor ratings

(446 ratings)

Matthias Finger

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

5 Courses93,657 learners

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École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Learner reviews

5 stars
74.11%
4 stars
21.60%
3 stars
3.16%
2 stars
0.58%
1 star
0.52%

Showing 3 of 1892

Reviewed on Dec 4, 2024

The course is very informative yet simple. It helped me to understand core concepts of Smart city and strategies to transform a city into Smart one. I highly recommend the course.

Reviewed on Dec 12, 2020

This course is very helpful for city planners and the future that are possible for all of us given the availability of digitization and technological advancement.

Reviewed on Oct 28, 2020

Highly productive and knowledgeable course that allows students, engineers, project managers and even policy makers to realize and assess the transition of local cities as smart cities.

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