URBPLAN 734 : Smart City Planning

Creative Arts and Industries

2025 Semester Two (1255) (15 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Smart technologies like AI, Urban Digital Twinning, and Internet of Things are reshaping urban planning, design, and decision-making processes. Explores their potential and limitations in tackling urban challenges, improving efficiency, and aligning with Sustainability Development Goals while critically examining ethical concerns surrounding their implementation in cities.

Course Overview

This course aims to familiarise the students with the emerging smart technologies in urban planning, urban policy-making and urban design to address the problems and questions encountered in urban planning, design and policy-making contexts. This course provides an understanding of the Revolution 4.0, Smart City, and the ethical implications of Big Data for urban planning and design. The smart technologies increasingly influence the way we understand, govern, plan and design our cities, and how we engage people in the process of decision-making. The increasing usage of cyber networks, Internet Of Things (IOTs), sensors and mobile smart technologies provides the new approaches to address the challenges that our cities face. This course provides a critical understanding of the capacities of these new technologies on the residents’ everyday life in general, and the limitations and the ethical implications for the use of ‘Big Data and Smart Technologies’ in cities.

Course Requirements

Prerequisite: URBPLAN 301-305, 310, 311, or URBPLAN 321, 323, 325, 326, or URBPLAN 704

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: People and Place
Capability 2: Sustainability
Capability 3: Knowledge and Practice
Capability 4: Critical Thinking
Capability 5: Solution Seeking
Capability 6: Communication
Capability 7: Collaboration
Capability 8: Ethics and Professionalism

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Develop To develop an understanding of the meaning of the “Revolution 4.0” and how this industrial revolution is significantly transforming our cities (Capability 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 3.2, 3.3, 4.2, 5.3, 6.2, 6.3, 7.3 and 8.2)
  2. Familiarise To familiarise students with the pervasive term of “Smart City” and its various implications on urban planning and design in the global and local contexts (Capability 1.2, 2.2, 3.1, 4.1, 4.2, 5.3, 6.1, 6.3, 7.1, 7.3 and 8.2)
  3. Provide To provide an understanding of “E-governance” and “Citizen-sensing” and their impacts on urban planning and design (Capability 1.1, 1.2, 2.2, 2.3, 3.2, 3.3, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2 and 8.2)
  4. Provide To provide a good understanding of “Autonomous Shared Mobility” and its different models as well as their impacts on urban planning and design (Capability 1.2, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 4.2, 4.3, 5.2, 5.3, 6.2, 6.3, 7.1, 7.2 and 8.1)
  5. Familiarise To familiarise the students with “Society of Control”, “Governmentality”, “Smartmentality” and the ethics of Big Data (Capability 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.2, 2.3, 3.2, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 7.2, 7.3, 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3)
  6. learn about the legislations and Acts to protect privacy of the residents in New Zealand and the global context. (Capability 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5.2, 5.3, 6.2, 6.3, 7.2, 7.3, 8.1 and 8.2)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Urban Innovation Project Proposal (Presentation & proposal) 20% Group Coursework
The Ethical Implications of Smart Technology (Poster and report) 40% Individual Coursework
Quizzes 20% Individual Test
Class task 20% Individual Test
Assessment Type Learning Outcome Addressed
1 2 3 4 5 6
Urban Innovation Project Proposal (Presentation & proposal)
The Ethical Implications of Smart Technology (Poster and report)
Quizzes
Class task
Assessment tasks may be formative or summative.
- This course includes 8 formative formal assessments during the semester. The formative assessments are 7 individual tasks and 1 assignment during the semester.
- This course assessment includes a final assignment as a summative assessment.
The diversity of assessments reflects the diversity of the desired learning outcomes.

Teaching & Learning Methods

Lecture-based course



Exam Mode

  • There is no final exam for this course

Workload Expectations

This course is 15 credits therefore normally assigns a student workload of 150 hours (divided into hours for lectures, seminars, tutorial, critiques, workshops and other teaching events as well as hours of independent research and study time undertaken by students outside the classroom).

Over this semester, the study load for the course is:

• 33 contact hours

• 117 hours preparatory reading and practice


Delivery Mode

Campus Experience

Attendance is required at scheduled activities to complete components of the course.
Lectures will be available as recordings. Other learning activities including seminars will be available as recordings.
The course will not include live online events.
The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.

Learning Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

You can access the reading list via Talis 

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course coordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.
Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.
Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the school and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Other Information

Note: Students are strongly encouraged to submit all course assessments. If a student does not submit any assessment labeled as “compulsory course work”, they will receive an overall course grade of DNC and be unable to pass the course.

-Extensions for assessed coursework will only be considered if you can demonstrate that it is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control. You must contact me as soon as possible before the assessment is due. Last-minute time management requests for extensions will not be considered, particularly during weekends.

- Please check your files before submitting your tasks and the assignment if you submit a corrupted file. It will be considered as no submission (did not complete- DNC). 

The standard office hours at the University of Auckland are Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm. I do not attend student emails outside office hours, including public holidays.

I shall be available for student meetings:
• On-campus - Rm: 617, Building: 421. 
• By email - mohsen.mohammadzadeh@auckland.ac.nz during standard office hours.
I shall endeavor to be available outside these hours in exceptional circumstances.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework, tests and examinations as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against electronic source material using computerised detection mechanisms. Upon reasonable request, students may be required to provide an electronic version of their work for computerised review.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Learning Continuity

We undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions, the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and your assessment is fair, and not compromised. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. In the event of a disruption, the University and your course coordinators will make every effort to provide you with up to date information via Canvas and the University website.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.

Published on 08/11/2024 10:16 a.m.