Gracias por la información. Estoy interesada en el curso liderando el desarrollo sostenible en las ciudades. Voy a tomarlo. Es importasnte prepararnos para el cambio que se está dando con la acelerada urbanización de nuestras ciudades intermedias. Esto se observa en Colombia

World Bank e-Course on Investment Planning toward Low Emissions Development (LINK)

The main objective of the course is to equip policymakers with best knowledge to draft a low emissions investment plan by:

• Preparing an overall investment strategy to achieve national goals related to climate change and energy security
• Launching a national dialogue to shape the plan and ensure public participation
• Scoping and prioritizing specific investments to meet those objectives, focusing on sectoral issues (energy, transport, industry)
• Selecting and setting up the appropriate financial instruments
• Involving the private sector to scale-up action
• Undertaking the appropriate underlying technical, economic and financial analyses
• Managing results, monitoring and evaluation

More information and registration via the link below:

Investment Planning toward Low Emissions Development | e-Institute

Useful and free online courses kindly shared by our colleague Victor M. Vergara.

Quality of Life: Livability in Future Cities

Learn how urban planning, energy, climate, ecology and mobility impact the livability
and quality of life of a “future city.”

Starts on September 23, 2015

https://www.edx.org/course/quality-life-livability-future-cities-ethx-fc-02x

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

Urbanization is reaching a new peak in the contemporary world with the rise of mega cities. Researchers try to make sense of these large urban areas using a variety of concepts. The class will review debates and present social science models of cities to analyse and compare contemporary developments.

Sciences Po

Starts on September 15 , 2015

https://www.coursera.org/course/cities

=====================

TechniCity

Ohio State University

Starts on October 19 , 2015

We live in real-time, technologically enhanced cities. Explore the sweeping changes that our cities are undergoing as
a result of networks, sensors, and communication technology.

https://www.coursera.org/course/techcity

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Urban Innovation: Sustainability and Technology Solutions

Meeting of the Minds

An introduction to innovators and initiatives at the bleeding edge of urban sustainability and connected technology.

https://www.udemy.com/urban-innovation/

From Detroit to Lahore, most cities around the world are facing financing challenges. Bankruptcy, budget deficits, unmaintained infrastructure, declining quality of services and increasing urban poverty are unfortunately too common headlines. At the same time, the world is becoming more complex and municipal officials are not only dealing with the day to day business which comes with running a city but, they also have to increasingly address issues of social inclusion, local economic development, job creation, crime and violence, climate change, floods, natural and man-made disasters as well as an increasing number of urban dwellers. Against this backdrop, there is both a sense of urgency and a huge opportunity for change.

“Municipal Finances, A Learning Program for Local Governments” takes side. It takes the side of mayors, municipal practitioners and staff. Few learning programs on this topic target local level decision-makers and financial staff in such a direct and pragmatic way. The content and key messages are geared to respond to daily concerns and issues faced by cities and municipalities in the management of their finances.

“Municipal Finances, A Learning Program for Local Governments” takes position. A lot has been learned on what works and what does not and yet every time we talk about finances, engage in policy discussions or project preparation, we tend to reinvent the wheel. Structured around eight modules, it spans the arc from decentralization to transparency and accountability and travels less charted waters of assets management, credit worthiness, response to financial crisis, reporting mechanisms to various levels of governments and citizens.

• Module 1: Intergovernmental Finances in a Decentralized World
• Module 2: Municipal Financial Management
• Module 3: Managing Local Revenues
• Module 4: Managing Local Expenditures
• Module 5: Managing Local Assets
• Module 6: Managing External Resources
• Module 7: Achieving Greater Transparency and Accountability: Measuring
  Municipal Finances performance
• Module 8: Metropolitan Governance and Finances

“Municipal Finances, A Learning Program for Local Governments” takes action. Not only, does it provide cutting–edge knowledge on many

technical issues, but, it also guides local governments through the maze of  existing instruments. In particular, the Municipal Finance Self- Assessment

(MFSA) proposed in Module 8 should help municipalities assess their own situation, connect the dots and move forward on the path of reforms.

Target Audience: Local governments and municipal practitioners.

Cities in developing countries are facing enormous challenges with the demographic explosion and the trend to devolve urban responsibilities to local governments who frequently lack the human, technical and financial resources to manage their city. Faced with these challenges, a street addressing system is crucial first to municipalities, but also to the private sector and the public in general. 

A street address allows municipalities to locate homes, businesses, infrastructure, services and municipal assets in order to perform their functions, such as:

• manage city improvement, plan new investments and program recurrent maintenance (such as solid waste and street maintenance); public assets inventory.
• improve tax base identification and local tax collection; 
• address land management issues in cities with weak land registration and judicial systems, and where illegal/informal settlements are prevalent; and,
• gather and manage a wide range of urban information.

A street address enables the private sector to become more efficient and increase profits:

• utility concessionaires can manage their networks more effectively;
• businesses can receive supplies and ship goods more easily and efficiently;

A street address is important for the public in order to:

• create a sense of citizenship and civic identity;
• facilitate enhanced registration (electoral purposes and other);
• have accurate access to fire, ambulance, post and other services; and,
• enable residents, tourists and visitors to navigate the city more easily and locate urban services and facilities.

What is street addressing? Street addressing is a powerful, yet simple and low cost, tool for city management, particularly in developing countries. It is a technique which shifts emphasis from plot level demarcation, registration and titling to street units, and from property rights to occupancy status. It provides the opportunity to: 

• codify streets in order to facilitate spatial location of buildings, infrastructure and land, based on doorways numbering and street signs;
• conduct a systematic and targeted survey of the city, its municipal assets and services, businesses and population;
• set up an urban information management database that is associated with addresses and that be used as a reference for multiple municipal management applications; 
• launch a GIS based on the urban database accumulated by street addressing, or provide thematic layers to an existing GIS; and,
• create or update city maps and establish a street index for use by and municipal agencies and services, businesses, the public in general.
• Finally, in order to have a city-wide impact, a street-based approach is far more promising than the traditional high-cost neighborhood-level projects that have a limited impact. A street-based approach begins with street addressing, followed by street rehabilitation and maintenance, including stormwater drainage, and street lighting for security. Street addressing is the basis for these first steps towards city-wide upgrading, development and management.

About the course. The course is targeted at local governments and municipal practitioners. It is organized into five weekly modules with an average commitment of at least six hours per week.

• Module 1: Introduction to Street Addressing
• Module 2: Street Addressing Applications
• Module 3: Designing a Street Addressing Program
• Module 4: Addressing Zones, Names and Numbers
• Module 5: Implementation and Maintenance

Target Audience:

Designed for Local Government officials, municipal staff, service providers, utilities and private operators, this course is operationally oriented and hands-on. Its content includes step by step methodology, case studies, videos, web discussion forums moderated by experts, basic web tools for mapping and real life applications.

Further information: http://wbi.worldbank.org/wbi/course/street-addressing-and-management-cities

Cities in developing countries are facing enormous challenges with the demographic explosion and the trend to devolve urban responsibilities to local governments who frequently lack the human, technical and financial resources to manage their city. Faced with these challenges, a street addressing system is crucial first to municipalities, but also to the private sector and the public in general.

A street address allows municipalities to locate homes, businesses, infrastructure, services and municipal assets in order to perform their functions, such as:

• manage city improvement, plan new investments and program recurrent maintenance (such as solid waste and street maintenance); public assets inventory.
• improve tax base identification and local tax collection;
• address land management issues in cities with weak land registration and judicial systems, and where illegal/informal settlements are prevalent; and,
• gather and manage a wide range of urban information.

A street address enables the private sector to become more efficient and increase profits:

• utility concessionaires can manage their networks more effectively;
• businesses can receive supplies and ship goods more easily and efficiently;

A street address is important for the public in order to:

• create a sense of citizenship and civic identity;
• facilitate enhanced registration (electoral purposes and other);
• have accurate access to fire, ambulance, post and other services; and,
• enable residents, tourists and visitors to navigate the city more easily and locate urban services and facilities.

What is street addressing? Street addressing is a powerful, yet simple and low cost, tool for city management, particularly in developing countries. It is a technique which shifts emphasis from plot level demarcation, registration and titling to street units, and from property rights to occupancy status. It provides the opportunity to:

• codify streets in order to facilitate spatial location of buildings, infrastructure and land, based on doorways numbering and street signs;
• conduct a systematic and targeted survey of the city, its municipal assets and services, businesses and population;
• set up an urban information management database that is associated with addresses and that be used as a reference for multiple municipal management applications;
• launch a GIS based on the urban database accumulated by street addressing, or provide thematic layers to an existing GIS; and,
• create or update city maps and establish a street index for use by and municipal agencies and services, businesses, the public in general.
• Finally, in order to have a city-wide impact, a street-based approach is far more promising than the traditional high-cost neighborhood-level projects that have a limited impact. A street-based approach begins with street addressing, followed by street rehabilitation and maintenance, including stormwater drainage, and street lighting for security. Street addressing is the basis for these first steps towards city-wide upgrading, development and management.

About the course. The course is targeted at local governments and municipal practitioners. It is organized into five weekly modules with an average commitment of at least six hours per week.

• Module 1: Introduction to Street Addressing
• Module 2: Street Addressing Applications
• Module 3: Designing a Street Addressing Program
• Module 4: Addressing Zones, Names and Numbers
• Module 5: Implementation and Maintenance

Target Audience:

Designed for Local Government officials, municipal staff, service providers, utilities and private operators, this course is operationally oriented and hands-on. Its content includes step by step methodology, case studies, videos, web discussion forums moderated by experts, basic web tools for mapping and real life applications.

Further information: http://wbi.worldbank.org/wbi/course/street-addressing-and-management-cities