Urban Development in Conflict Cities: Planning Challenges and Policy Innovations
MIT OpenCourseWare's graduate seminar looks at cities where ethnic, religious, and economic tensions turn urban space into contested territory. Drawing on planning, political science, and conflict studies, the course reviews cases where violence and city-building intersect, from divided neighborhoods to contested infrastructure. Readings cover scholarship on how urban design can entrench division or help de-escalate it, and students examine real policy and planning responses attempted in conflict cities. Materials include the syllabus, reading list, and assignments as posted by MIT OpenCourseWare, free to access with no certificate offered. The course suits students of urban studies, political science, or international development who want a disciplinary grounding in how planners and policymakers have actually approached cities under conflict, rather than abstract theory alone.