The course investigate a number of qualitative and quantitative methods to measure and analyze urban spatial problems. The course is structured around five experiments:
- Pedestrian route choice analysis
- Understanding business location and revenues
- Observational analysis of public spaces
- Cognitive map analysis
- Making sense of big aggregate data
Each experiment will run for two or three weeks, when groups of students are asked to tackle a real world urban analytics exercise from beginning to end, starting with an introduction of theory and methods, followed by data collection and analysis and ending with a presentation of findings to the rest of the class.
Each experiment is conducted in teams of 4-5 students each. By exposing participants to five different experimental set-ups that take them from conceptualization and experimental design, to data collection, analysis, all the way to the presentation and interpretation of findings, the course aims to prepare students for real-world urban analysis projects. There is no mid-term exam or big final review; each of the five experiments counts equally, distributing the workload evenly throughout the semester. Recitation sessions introduce students to relevant software applications.