MA in Smart Cities and Urban Informatics

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The program builds on the success and combined strengths of the current MA program in Geography and Urban Planning a combined degree offered by Geography and the Institute of Urban and Regional Studies. This is currently the largest MA program in the Social Science faculty with an intake of nearly 70 students. The proposed program will diversify this successful collaboration. It will add a Smart Cities emphasis to the curriculum of the Institute of Urban and Regional Studies and concomitantly, it will extend the current Geoinformatics emphasis within the Geography Department, that exists at the BA level, to the post-graduate level. This proposal is unique within the landscape of Israeli universities. The Urban Planning program at HU is the largest in Israel and the Geoinformatics track in the Department of Geography is the largest, broadest, and highest standard program offered locally. We intend to capitalize on these strengths in order to develop this new area of higher education and equip a new generation of urban planners and policymakers with the requisite toolbox for addressing the Smart City.

Unique Value Proposition - Why Us?

The uniqueness of this center will be its a priori social science perspective. It will emphasize the role of technological innovation and smart urban practice in improving the economic welfare, democratic participation, and quality of life of urban residents. In this respect, smart cities are conceived as a vehicle for empowering smart citizens, rather than the other way around.

• Excellence grappling with big ideas, promoting cross-disciplinary research on cities, technology, and democracy, training and educating the next generation of Israel's top urbanists.
• Utilize the expertise housed in the various departments of the Social Sciences faculty to meet the challenges of the era of Smart Cities.
• Translate academic knowledge to the world of practice through promoting community engagement.
• Collaborating with the Jerusalem Municipality in applying Smart Urbanism.

The Program Offers

• Offer short, intensive courses for local activists and leaders in the Jerusalem municipality;
• Launching a roundtable series of seminars as periodic events devoted to agenda-setting Smart City topics, and aimed at bringing together students, faculty, and specialists;
• Hosting a range of public and academic courses and demonstrative workshops on topics relating to public participation and Smart Citizenship involving students, scientists, civil society, and urban practitioners;
• Launching a roundtable series of seminars as periodic events devoted to agenda-setting Smart City topics, and aimed at bringing together students, faculty, and specialists;
• Offering scholarships to support study-tour courses to cities around the world, with an emphasis on providing a unique learning experience, fostering comparative work across countries, and broadening our student's understanding of urban networks;
• Enabling students to participate in Smart City internship programs offering the opportunity to work alongside private and public sector agencies, gaining first-hand practical experience and improving their employment opportunities.