Hurricane Sandy served as a wake-up call for many coastal communities along the East Coast: they learned that planning and preparation for future hazards and climate change impacts needs to take place before the next disaster. As this type of planning was new to many communities, they needed assistance in identifying the most beneficial data, tools, and resources that could inform their local planning and decision making.

1. Objectives of modelling in transport and spatial planning. Model types. Theory of travel and locational behaviour. System description of planning area. Theory of choice models. Aggregate and disaggregate models. Mode choice, route choice and assignment modelling. Locational choice modelling. Parameter estimation and model calibration. Cases and exercises in model application; 2. Role of models in transportation and spatial systems analysis; model types; designing system description of study area (zonal segmentation, network selection); role of shortest path trees; 3. Utility theory for travel and location choice; trip generation models, trip distribution models; applications; 4. Theory of spatial interaction model; role of side constraints; distribution functions and their estimations; constructing base matrices and estimating OD-tables; 5. Theory of individual choice models; 6. Disaggregated choice models of the logit and probit type for time choice, mode choice, route choice and location choice; 7. Integrated models (sequential and simultaneous) for constructing OD-tables; 8. Equilibrium theory in networks and spatial systems; 9. Route choice and assignment; derivation of different model types (all-or-nothing model, multiple route model, (stochastic) equilibrium model); assignment in public transportation networks; analyses of effects; 10. Calibration of parameters and model validation; observation, estimation, validation; estimation methods; 11. Individual exercise computing travel demand in networks; getting familiar with software; computing all transportation modelling steps; analyse own planning scenarios; writing a report.Study Goals: 1. Insight in the function of mathematical models in transportation and spatial planning; 2. Knowledge of theoretical backgrounds of models; 3. Knowledge of application areas of models; 4. Ability to develop one's own plan of analysis for model computations; 5. Ability to apply models on planning problems; 6. Ability to present outcomes of model computations.

For many years, Cambridge, MA, as host to two major research universities, has been the scene of debates as to how best to meet the competing expectations of different stakeholders. Where there has been success, it has frequently been the result, at least in part, of inventive urban design proposals and the design and implementation of new institutional arrangements to accomplish those proposals. Where there has been failure it has often been explained by the inability - or unwillingness - of one stakeholder to accept and accommodate the expectations of another. The two most recent fall Urban Design Studios have examined these issues at a larger scale. In 2001 we looked at the possible patterns for growth and change in Cambridge, UK, as triggered by the plans of Cambridge University. And in 2002 we looked at these same issues along the length of the MIT ‘frontier’ in Cambridge, MA as they related to the development of MIT and the biotech research industry.
In the fall 2003 Urban Design Studio we propose to focus in on an area adjacent to Cambridgeport and the western end of the MIT campus, roughly centered on Fort Washington. Our goal is to discover the ways in which good urban form, an apt mix of activities, and effective institutional mechanisms might all be brought together in ways that respect shared expectations and reconcile competing expectations - perhaps in unexpected and adroit ways.

This studio discusses in great detail the design of urban environments, specifically in Providence, RI. It will propose strategies for change in large areas of cities, to be developed over time, involving different actors. Fitting forms into natural, man-made, historical, and cultural contexts; enabling desirable activity patterns; conceptualizing built form; providing infrastructure and service systems; guiding the sensory character of development: all are topics covered in the studio. The course integrates architecture and planning students in joint work and requires individual designs and planning guidelines as a final product.

This course examines the policy, politics, planning, and engineering of transportation systems in urban areas, with a special focus on the Boston area. It covers the role of the federal, state, and local government and the MPO, public transit in the era of the automobile, analysis of current trends and pattern breaks; analytical tools for transportation planning, traffic engineering, and policy analysis; the contribution of transportation to air pollution, social costs, and climate change; land use and transportation interactions, and more. Transportation sustainability is a central theme throughout the course, as well as consideration of if and how it is possible to resolve the tension between the three E’s (environment, economy, and equity). The goal of this course is to elicit discussion, stimulate independent thinking, and encourage students to understand and challenge the “conventional wisdom” of transportation planning.

An extreme precipitation event in 2008 cost one town more than a million dollars in infrastructure repairs. Now, other municipalities can simulate how their homes, businesses, and facilities might fare if they experienced a similar event.

This course examines the policy and planning for the provision of water supply and sanitation services in developing countries. It reviews available technologies, but emphasizes the planning and policy process, including economic, social, environmental, and health issues. The course incorporates considerations of financing, pricing, institutional structure, consumer demand, and community participation in the planning process. And it evaluates policies and projects in case studies from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

In this activity students will chat about familiar situations and daily activities. Students will chat about their personal preferences, in particular their favorite sports. They will practice how to appropriately plan for others through asking and planning accordingly to their responses.

Students experience civil and environmental engineering by planning a housing development in an existing biome, while also protecting the native species that live there. They conduct research, draw plans, make brochures and give presentations, with each team having a member serving as a project manager, civil engineer, environmental engineer and graphic designer. The best designs creatively balance the needs and resources necessary to support both the native species and human infrastructure.