Urban Design Skills: Observing, Interpreting, and Representing the City
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this introduction to reading and recording the built environment before students enter the design studio sequence. The course teaches methods for observing streets, blocks, and public spaces firsthand, then interpreting what those observations reveal about how a city works. Students practice mapping, sketching, and photographic documentation, building a visual vocabulary for describing urban form and use. Materials include lecture notes, assignment sheets, and site exercises drawn from real neighborhoods, aimed specifically at students without a prior design background who need grounding before tackling theory and history courses in city planning. No enrollment fee applies, and materials are freely downloadable under MIT's open license. The emphasis stays practical throughout: how to look at a city, not just how to talk about one.