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This interdisciplinary project-based module introduces the principal issues surrounding urban sustainability including both resources and systems, as well as communities.Ìý Project-Based Learning supplemented with workshops that are designed to introduce new concepts and develop hands-on skills of importance to students’ projects. The following issues will be considered: 1) urban population and governance, 2) affordable housing and sustainable non-domestic buildings, 3) sustainable land-use planning and management, 4) environmental infrastructure: water, sanitation, drainage and solid waste management, 5) sustainable energy and transport systems, 6) sustainable construction industry. The roles of a range of actors are considered, particularly city authorities and relevant built environment businesses (with a focus on decision-making) as well as communities, and this forms the basis of a structured project development. The project development will be based on GIS to enable spatial analysis and modelling, which can contribute to a variety of important urban planning tasks such as site selection, land suitability analysis, environmental/energy/transport considerations, the identification of planning action areas, and impact assessments.

The aims of the module are to:

• Introduce students to new concepts and decision-making tools related to urban resources (land, water, population) and systems (transport, energy, water).
• Develop an understanding of the role of urban data in complex decision-making and for urban performance evaluation towards sustainability.

By the end of the module students should be able to:

• Describe the concept of urban sustainability (social, economic, environmental impact).
• Evaluate the construction and physical and organizational structures that enable cities to function sustainably.
• Identify the complex vulnerabilities that cities develop over time.
• Demonstrate functionality of GIS models such as interpolation, buffering, map overlay, and connectivity measurement in the context of sustainable cities.
• Develop models/indicators for sustainable use of resources and urban systems planning.