Concentration

Urban Informatics

Evidence-based decision making in urban planning requires the use of advanced computational tools and data management techniques that can evaluate the data generated in public settings. This concentration provides the vehicle for educating this new cross-trained professional cohort by providing competencies needed in urban informatics: context, statistics, programming, data management, data analytics, visualization, spatial analysis, applications, and integration of skills.

Prior Preparation

This concentration is suitable for students with undergraduate degrees in any field. Applicants must demonstrate competency in one or more programming languages and skills in data management (with coursework, work experience, or by examination). Basic Quantitative Methods and Planning Methods may be taken concurrently with concentration courses. Students with appropriate backgrounds may substitute more advanced courses for topics already mastered (see Methods Flowchart and consult with your adviser).

Required Courses (take three of these courses)

34:970:502 Theory and Practice of Public Informatics (Fall)
34:970:591 Intro to GIS for Planning (Fall/Spring)
34:970:592 Topics in GIS (F24), pre req: Intro to GIS for Planning
34:970:595 Command Line GIS (Spring), pre req: Intro to GIS for Planning
34:970:634 Machine Learning for Public Informatics (Fall/Spring), pre req: Applied Multivariate Methods or (34:970:527) or Discrete Choice (34:970:630)
34:816:651 Seminar in Public Informatics: GIS for Informatics (Fall)

Recommended Courses (choose one additional course for a total of four courses)

34:816:637 Global Data Analytics (Spring)
34:816:640 Robotics and Society (Fall)
34:816:510/511 Studio in Public Informatics (Spring, possibly Fall)
34:816:652 Artificial Intelligence – Practice, Strategy and Ethics (Fall and possibly Spring)
34:816:653 Data Visualization (Fall)