Comparative Land Use and Transportation Planning
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this graduate-level course on how transportation systems and metropolitan land use shape each other. Lectures and readings cover the theory of accessibility, travel demand for individuals and firms, and the influence of the built environment on how people move through cities. Case studies drawn from metropolitan regions around the world illustrate how transportation infrastructure drives patterns of urban growth and how, in turn, land development shapes travel behavior. The course closes by examining what this land use-transportation interaction means for forecasting metropolitan futures. Materials include the full syllabus, lecture notes, and assignments as published on MIT OCW, free to access with no certificate offered. The course assumes some background in urban studies or planning and is best suited to students already familiar with basic concepts in the field.