4.557/MAS.552  CityScope Kendall ~ Modelling a World-class Innovation Community

Kendall Square is considered by many to be an ideal innovation district – but it is dysfunctional as a community due to an extreme lack of amenities, housing, cultural venues, and after-work activity.  MIT’s selection as the developer for the 14-acre Volpe Center creates one last opportunity to transform the district into a vibrant and creative center for entrepreneurship.  Students will explore an evidence-based, data-driven process that makes use of the CityScope augmented reality platform, focused on the following questions:

· Can the Volpe site accommodate the interventions required to enable a complete, high-functioning Kendal Square community?
· Can mathematical models predict the innovation potential of the district? Safety and security? Health and wellness? Energy consumption?
· Can we eliminate commuting, by allowing everyone who works in the district to live within a ten-minute walk?
· Can new strategies for hyper-efficient, transformable, housing and zoning incentives provide affordable places of living for those not served by the market (graduate students, young entrepreneurs, workforce, families, retirees)?
· Can private vehicles be replaced by autonomous shuttles and shared-use personal electric vehicles?
· Can algorithmic zoning replace static land use regulations to enable the district to evolve as needed over time?
· Can evidence-based, data-driven tools, such as CityScope, empower the community to iteratively explore alternative visions for the future of Kendall Square?

Students with a background in public policy, computation, data analysis, urban design, and architecture are welcome.

Syllabus:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CyKVdihW7K-lwoqWNC2LnOXcf0WBZa3-LRoM84G07Fk/edit?usp=sharing

Hi resolution poster:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gxud8ctwh0uwa67/2017_Spring_Course%20HR.jpg?dl=0