02.521 Analyzing Urban Futures

The Urban Data & Methods component of the MUSPP is composed of two courses – Part 1 on Analyzing Urban Futures and Part 2 on Interpreting Urban Trends: Urban Inequity, which will be taught in Term 1 and Term 2 respectively.

The collective aim of these two courses is to equip students with methods and tools to undertake urban research and analyse urban trends that can inform the crafting of interventions for a better urban future. A key focus of the courses is deepening the understanding and skills to handle both quantitative and qualitative data, secondary and primary datasets through desktop and fieldwork. A major emphasis of the courses is learning to apply social science methodologies and tools to the study of the urban realm.

Instructors: Dr Jose Rafael Martinez Garcia, Dr Dinithi Jayasekara, Dr Deng Ruotong
Time: Tuesday (10AM-1PM)
Venue: Think Tank 4-5 (1.312)

Quantitative methods

Week 1: Introduction and Research Methods
Week 2: Data, Variables, Causality, and Validity
Week 3: Descriptive Statistics
Week 4: Economic Analysis
Week 5: Survey Design & Sampling
Week 6: Designing Experiments
Week 7: Recess week

Qualitative methods

Week 8: Foundations in Traditional Qualitative Methods
Week 9: From Analog to Digital: Disruptions in Human-Centric Research (Part I)
Week 10: From Big Data to Smart Cities: Disruptions in Human-Centric Research (Part II)
Week 11: Qualitative Research in the Digital Urban Present (Part I)
Week 12: Future Directions: Immersive, Mixed, and Gamified Qualitative Methods
Week 13 & 14: Presentation and Wrapping Up