Course overview
Cities face linked pressures from population growth, unaffordable housing, congestion, infrastructure gaps, climate hazards, fiscal constraints and unequal access to services. Public authorities must make land-use, transport, utilities, technology and investment decisions that improve daily life while reducing emissions and environmental damage. Smart-city programmes add further choices about data, digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, procurement and public accountability.
This course equips participants to prepare and govern practical smart and sustainable urban interventions. It covers urban diagnostics, spatial planning, transit-oriented development, climate-risk assessment, green infrastructure, circular services, affordable housing, energy systems, digital-city architecture, data governance, financing and performance management. Participants learn to connect policy objectives to investment priorities, project pipelines, delivery arrangements and measurable outcomes using recognised urban indicators and planning methods.
Teaching combines short instructor briefings with public-sector cases, map-based planning tasks, group analysis, procurement and financing scenarios, and structured peer review. Participants progressively develop a city planning dossier from the first week, then deepen it through sector plans, implementation arrangements and indicators. They leave with a reusable smart and sustainable urban development plan, supported by a diagnostic, investment pipeline, governance model, financing approach and monitoring framework.
The course is suited to government officials, municipal planners, utility managers, development practitioners and private-sector partners working with cities. It is particularly relevant to teams preparing urban strategies, capital plans, donor-funded programmes, resilience investments or digital-service initiatives.



