Urban Systems and Techniques

Code School Level Credits Semesters
ABEE4086 Department of Architecture and Built Environment 4 20 Spring China
Code
ABEE4086
School
Department of Architecture and Built Environment
Level
4
Credits
20
Semesters
Spring China

Summary

The module provides students with an understanding of what, why and how to design and model cities aimed at being sustainable, humanistic, and ecological, using systematic approaches. Students will learn to apply geospatial digital urban modelling procedures and become acquainted with concepts and techniques from computer science. It integrates engineering and design across various disciplines, focusing on the interplay of people, processes and technology.

Target Students

MSc Urbanism and Sustainable Environments

Classes

Assessment

Assessed by end of spring semester

Educational Aims

This module aims at providing skills and concepts of geospatial digital urban modelling via computational urban design approaches, applying geospatial analysis and visualizations together with city information modelling among a variety of procedures generative of digital twin city models. To equip students with advanced techniques to design and model future cities as sustainable, humanistic, and inclusive of a variety of values, students will work on projects to understand, map, critically analyse, and apply urban data and spatial analysis to support decision making in the design of built environments, integrative of eco-solutions, ethics and other social values. Through courseworks, students will critically engage in digital twin and city information modelling, advanced ecological urban planning models, and dynamic geospatial visualizations, etc.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module, students will demonstrate an understanding of: 1. The influences on the contemporary system thinking, cities‘ features, layers, attributes, and urban data, post and present digital societies, and wider global issues. (A1-A4, B1-B4, C1-C3) 2. An awareness of systems, geospatial attributes, and urban data, and how they shape and may help offset the data management challenges associated with City Information Models. (B1-B3, B4-B6) 3. An ability to identify synergies between the flows and the technologies / systems / approaches in a manner that is coherent, rigorous, and relevant to the geographic context within which they sit. (A5, A6, C3, C4) 4. The inter-relationship between people, processes, and technologies in the context of the built environment, to understand how to relate buildings and spaces between them according to human needs and scale. (A1, A2, A3, B2, B3, D1-D4)An ability to: 5. Critically appraise and form considered judgements about the spatial data and beyond to support social qualities of a design, construction and operations of wider ecologic environments. (A1-A3, A6, D1-D4); 6. Independently define and critically appraise their ideas in relation to urban data and systematic thinking where the link of theory and practice could be applied in urban solutions and models, such as digital twins, eco smart cities, etc. (A4, A5, C1-C3, D4); 7. Produce reports, digital models, and geospatial visualizatioins based on the results and as derived from data analytics. Including presentations, which are clear, analytical and logical covering a range of urban environmental issues. (A5,D1-D4)
8. Organisation skills, group / team working skills and an ability to manage time carefully. (A5, C1,C2 C3, C4,D1, D2,D4) 9. An ability to interpret, manage, manipulate and communicate complex and interrelated information in a manner that is appropriate, rigorous, creative and legible. (B1-B3, B4- B6)

Conveners

View in Curriculum Catalogue
Last updated 09/01/2025.