Urban Technology at University of Michigan Week 110

Sharing a video in the students' own words and tabulating favorite cities

Hello again, friends. We’ve enjoyed being out and about during the past couple months since we last wrote to you. The semester has begun again, students are on campus, and just the faintest hints of autumn are appearing in the forecast. Today we bring you a short update and a preview of what’s to come this season.

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💬 Hello! This is the newsletter of the Urban Technology program at University of Michigan, in which we explore the ways that technology can be harnessed to nurture and improve urban life. If you’re new here, try this short video of current students describing urban technology in their own words.

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🎬 Cities Intensive in the students’ own words

The last four issues gave you a ride-along view of our Cities Intensive, which is a very special semester that introduces students to urban systems. We studied water in Toledo, mobility in Chicago, land use in Grand Rapids, and designed a city from scratch. During that time we were also visited by the folks at 5th Media who put together a video narrated by our awesome students.

This is what we’re doing here, in their own words. While I know I’m as biased as you can possibly be… it’s awesome!

🏃 Checking in on Program Milestones

We’ve been at this for a little more than two full years now, and with the first academic year behind us, we’re feeling good. But whoa, so much to do still. Each of the next six semesters (now through 2025) will involve launching one or more new courses. There’s some hiring in there. Every time we launch something new, it’s for a cohort of about 20, but the second time we run any courses or special events it’s for a student headcount of ~50. The runway to scale is short. Charlie used to call himself a train conductor, but he’s also now an air traffic controller. 👨‍🚀 Here’s what’s keeping Charlie and me busy over the next nine months:

Milestones from last academic year:

• ✅ First course (UT 101 - Why Cities?)

• ✅ First Cities Intensive (more on this below)

• ✅ Hired our first professor of practice - Elisa Ngan

• ✅ Hired our first lecturers - Toban Shadlyn and Jermaine Ruffin

Milestones this year:

• 🟩 First 200-level course (Change-Making in Cities)

• 🟩 First studio (Design and Urban Inquiries), which also means setting up our first studio space

• 🟩 Second Cities Intensive with 240% the headcount

Of all the items listed above, the most meaningful to me is welcoming Elisa, Toban, and Jermaine. In the beginning I spent most of my days alone, designing the curriculum and making elaborate spreadsheets. As the team of people focusing on Urban Technology grows, we’re able to scheme together. Already the whiteboard is chock full of notes and ideas, but what’s gratifying is the simple fact that the handwriting is not all the same.

We’ll share interviews with Elisa and Jermaine after they get settled in.

📰 Newsletter Preview + Analytics

We’ll be writing about every two weeks this season. In future you can expect us to cover 3D-printed buildings, urban power dynamics, prototyping with a Vestaboard (or “flippy-flappy” as we call it), product management, as well as our usual mix of interviews with interesting people.

Every time we interview someone we ask them about their favorite city. Nicole, who you may remember from a previous appearance in this newsletter, created a tabulation of all responses to date (n=31) and it tells us two things:

1. The answers are very US-centric 🫣

2. Fictional cities take the number two spot, which tells us that folks are not particularly happy with the current state of urban places. Lots of work to do!

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These months: Timelines. Schedule Tetris. Drafting study abroad policy. Preparing curriculum modifications for faculty discussion. Zine. Hiring an admin (wooo!) Space planning and facilities. DALL-E. Already starting to think about admissions. More team = more 1:1s. 🏃