Theory of City Form: A Free Course from MIT


From MIT’s Julian Beinart comes “Theory of City Form,” which covers the following:

This course covers theories about the form that settlements should take and attempts a distinction between descriptive and normative theory by examining examples of various theories of city form over time. Case studies will highlight the origins of the modern city and theories about its emerging form, including the transformation of the nineteenth-century city and its organization. Through examples and historical context, current issues of city form in relation to city-making, social structure, and physical design will also be discussed and analyzed.

Over at MIT’s website, you can find a syllabus for the course, along with lecture notes and readings. The video lectures–26 in total–can be viewed above, or on YouTube and iTunes.

“Theory of City Form” will be permanently housed in our collection, 1,700 Free Online Courses from Top Universities.

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Open Culture was founded by Dan Colman.