Spatial Database Management and Advanced Geographic Information Systems
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this urban planning course (11.521) that splits into two halves. The first covers spatial database management, teaching students to query, structure, and share large spatial datasets using SQL against an Oracle database and ArcView for GIS, with weekly lectures plus a hands-on computing lab. Topics include client-server and enterprise GIS technologies, 3D visualization, and geospatial web services. The second half turns the classroom into a working planning office: student teams partner with Lawrence Community Works, a community development corporation in Lawrence, Massachusetts, to design a web-based planning tool and implementation roadmap, assisted by 100 hours of consulting from Azavea president Robert Cheetham. Materials include syllabi, lecture notes, assignments, and project deliverables from MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning. No certificate is offered, consistent with MIT OCW's open publication of course materials.