{"c_title":"[M2097.001200] Urban Modeling and Planning Support Systems","c_info":"3 credits | Lecture\/Seminar | Master | Dept. of Environmental Planning","c_summary":"Modeling has been widely used in urban studies. But what is urban modeling? What are the common types of urban modeling? How are they applied in the planning processes to support the decision-making? This course introduces the field of urban modeling and Planning Support Systems (PSS) to master\/PhD students to better understand those questions. The course starts with the introduction of the definition and development of urban modeling, and discusses its relationship with theory in planning. Typical urban modeling methods and their implications are introduced, such as the land use-transportation modeling, urban energy modeling and microclimate modeling. For each type of them, simple modeling tools are demonstrated. The course goes on to introduce the concept and development of PSS, and further discusses how urban modeling can be integrated in PSS to support planning decision making through the lens of theory of planning. The course concludes with the arguments on the further development of urban modeling and PSS in the new era of big data, their effectiveness on real city problem solving, and their potential biases leading to social equity issues."}