Urban Design Seminar
MIT OpenCourseWare shares this graduate seminar from the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, which treats design as a lever for addressing urban social problems. Sessions look at marginalized and overlooked spaces in cities and ask how design interventions can challenge conventional planning practice rather than reinforce it. Readings pair case studies of specific neighborhoods and public spaces with theoretical texts on equity, power, and the built environment, and students work through discussion-based assignments and critiques rather than problem sets. As with other MIT OCW offerings, the site provides the syllabus, readings list, and assignment prompts used in the actual seminar, free to access, with no certificate offered. It suits students or practitioners already familiar with basic urban planning or design concepts who want to think critically about who city design serves and who it excludes.