City to City: Comparing, Researching and Writing about Cities
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this undergraduate planning workshop built around a hands-on comparison of two cities, a nearby U.S. city and Copenhagen. Students choose a research thesis, work with faculty and outside experts, and produce a written and presented analysis of urban issues such as housing, transit, and public space in each place. The course materials include the syllabus, assignment prompts, and guidelines for fieldwork and presentations, walking students through selecting a topic, gathering data, and communicating findings professionally. It is structured as a semester workshop rather than a lecture course, emphasizing the practical skills planners use when researching unfamiliar cities: interviewing local stakeholders, comparing regulatory contexts, and synthesizing findings into a coherent report. All materials are free to access through MIT OpenCourseWare under a Creative Commons license, with no certificate offered.