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Occupying less than 3% of the world’s land, cities are home to more than half of the worlds’ seven billion people, generating about three-fourths of global economic output. As we expect three billion new urban dwellers by 2050, cities across the world face major challenges: poverty, inadequate basic services, pollution, congestion, carbon emissions and hazard vulnerability. This course helps students understand the rationale of cities, their internal structure and governing mechanisms, and the connection between urban success and national and global development. It examines how sustainable prosperity can be delivered in cities: how we can increase urban productivity and reduce urban poverty and inequality, enhance quality of life through basic services, housing and infrastructure, protect the urban environment, and reduce risk and vulnerability. It further explores how to improve governance and financing for the success of individual cities and the aggregate urban sector in economies. <a href="http://bit.ly/1bebp5s" target="_blank">Click here to see evaluations, syllabi, and faculty bios</a>