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.

Beginner Level

Approx. 13 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.

Beginner Level

Approx. 13 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 (369 Ratings)

Matthias Finger

Professor

EPFL, ITPP, MIR, IGLUS Lab

68,648 Learners

4 Courses

Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Content Rating98%(6,636 ratings)

Week

1

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 MOOC2m

Introduction to week 13m

Conceptualizing cities as complex socio-technical systems9m

What is digitalization?7m

General Implications of digitalization10m

Implications on digitalization on cities9m

Perspectives on Smart Cities7m

interview with Ms. Irene Compte Libera about Barcelona13m

6 readings

Introduction to the Smart Cities MOOC10m

Write an optional case study and win a prize!10m

Where to get help10m

Course discussions10m

Certificate10m

Reading 1 - Introduction to Smart Urban Infrastructures and Smart Cities10m

1 practice exercise

What did I learn in Block 1?30m

Week

2

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 21m

Conceptualization of Smart Urban Energy Systems8m

Interview with an Utility company (Dr. Corrodi, IWB Basel)5m

The infrastructure layer of smart urban energy systems6m

Interview with Prof. Mario Paolone10m

The services layer of smart urban energy systems6m

The data/digital layer of smart urban energy systems6m

Managerial and Policy takeaways6m

Interview 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

Week

3

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

Week

4

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

344 reviews

5 stars
73.48%
4 stars
22.24%
3 stars
3.09%
2 stars
0.61%
1 star
0.55%

TOP REVIEWS FROM SMART CITIES – MANAGEMENT OF SMART URBAN INFRASTRUCTURES

by AAJul 2, 2020

Truly excellent. Got to know lots of insights about various aspects on transitioning to a smart city. Very well prepared course and excellently delivered by the speakers. Thanx a lot.

by AQSep 29, 2020

A great course for setting the basis of Smart Cities evolution and development in the near future for professionals who are involved in any related field

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 MFMay 3, 2019

A complete systemic view of the matter, blending principles with practical examples, classroom explanations and insiders' interviews. Thanks!

View all reviews

Frequently Asked Questions

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What will I get if I purchase the Certificate?
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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