The Growth and Spatial Structure of Cities
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this urban studies course on why cities grow, shrink, and reshape themselves over time. It covers the economic, political, and social forces behind urban change, including industrialization, technology shifts, zoning policy, subsidies, infrastructure investment, and real estate markets. The course looks closely at how downtowns, suburbs, and other component areas develop differently within the same metropolitan region, drawing on both theoretical models and empirical case studies with comparative and historical perspective. Materials include the full reading list and assignments as published on OCW, free to access with no enrollment or certificate cost. The course suits students of urban planning, economics, or political science who want a structured framework for understanding why some cities expand while others decline, and how public and private decisions shape that trajectory.