Urbanization Courses and Certifications

Urbanization and Development: Practice, Theory, and Policy

Examine how cities grow and are governed: modernist and Chicago School theories, urban informality in land and housing, master planning, global cities, gentrification, and e-governance.

• Coursera
• 7 weeks, 4 hours a week
• Self-Paced
• Paid Course

Population and Urbanization

Examine population trends and the historical development of cities, and explain how urbanization shapes the structure and experience of social life today.

• Coursera
• 2 hours
• Self-Paced
• Paid Course

Urban Geography

Explore how Indian cities emerge, expand, and transform through urban theory, maps, data, and lived realities.

• Swayam
• Available until Oct 31, 2026
• Free Online Course

新型城镇化战略与发展策略

课程是一门以城镇化为主题的系统性、前沿性、综合性专业课程，兼具科学原理、政策解读、实践指导等内容，适用于城乡规划、公共管理、社会科学、环境科学等多个学科。

• XuetangX
• Self-Paced
• Free Online Course

Environmental Hazards and Global Public Health

109 ratings at Coursera

Examine how air and water pollution, noise, radon, and solid and hazardous waste harm human health, and how urbanization and the built environment shape global health.

• Coursera
• 4 weeks, 4 hours a week
• Self-Paced
• Paid Course

The City and You: Find Your Best Place

157 ratings at Coursera

Examine why cities drive economic prosperity, global urbanization, the creative city, the New Urban Crisis and Covid-19's impact, then apply a framework to choose where to live.

• Coursera
• 6 weeks, 3 hours a week
• Self-Paced
• Paid Course

Sciences Po

Cities are back in town : urban sociology for a globalizing urban world

194 ratings at Coursera

Compare social science models of cities — Weberian European, colonial, industrial Marxist, Chicago School metropolis, global, post-metropolis and digital — to analyse mega-city growth worldwide.

• Coursera
• 8 weeks, 1 hour a week
• Self-Paced
• Free Online Course

Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS)

Shaping Urban Futures

58 ratings at Coursera

To understand humanity's future, understand the city's: examine new urban sciences, informality and livelihoods, environment and public health, and big data across Global South cities.

• Coursera
• 6 weeks, 4 hours a week
• Self-Paced
• Paid Course

Entrepreneurial Land Redevelopment Approach: Land Readjustment

Explore land readjustment as an alternative to conventional approaches of assembling land for urbanization.

• edX
• 5 weeks, 3-5 hours a week
• Self-Paced
• Free Certificate

University of Lausanne

HEALTHY URBAN SYSTEMS - PART 1 : Concepts and observations

Examine urban health systems through multidisciplinary frameworks: urbanization and planetary health, Health in All Policies, GIS and AI observation tools, ending with a systemic flow chart.

• Coursera
• 5 weeks, 2 hours a week
• Self-Paced
• Paid Course

COVID-19 in Slums & Informal Settlements: Guidelines & Responses

Examine how COVID-19 hit slums and informal settlements across the Global South, from the traits of self-organized urban poor communities to response strategies and governance issues.

• MITx Online
• 4 weeks, 2-3 hours/week
• Self-Paced
• Free Online Course

Exploring Humans’ Space: An Introduction to Geographicity

1 rating

Explore how geography, cartography, urbanization and spatial justice play a role in shaping the notion of human space.

• edX
• 10 weeks, 3-4 hours a week
• Self-Paced
• Free Online Course (Audit)

TU Delft;  Wageningen University

Sustainable Urban Development

28 ratings at edX

Learn why cities are key in resolving global urbanization and sustainability challenges and how you can engineer tomorrow’s cities today.

• edX
• 7 weeks, 4-6 hours a week
• Self-Paced
• Free Online Course (Audit)

Big Data for Understanding Urbanizing China | 大数据与城市规划

In the past few decades, China's cities have experienced a period of rapid development. Emerging big data and open data have provided new opportunities for urban studies and observers to better observ

• edX
• 15 weeks, 1-2 hours a week
• Self-Paced
• Free Certificate

Nineteenth-Century Cities - Urban Growth and Social Change in Europe and America

2 ratings

Examines nineteenth-century urbanization, immigration, class segregation, and competing visions of the European city through Paris and its center-periphery divide.

• YouTube
• 51 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video