This assignment is made up of five parts as per the following table.

Part	Due	Description	Weight of course total
A	Unit 4	Topic selection	Required
B	Unit 5	Group work contract	10%
C	Unit 7	Progress report	5%
D	Unit 8	Draft paper submission	5%
E	Unit 9	Final paper	25%
F	Unit 10	Self and peer evaluation	5%

Description

Students are to work in groups to develop a project describing first of all how smart city ideas and technologies have influenced either their own cities/communities or another city of their choosing. Particularly important for this step is the scoping and identification of gaps or opportunities for an improved smart and sustainable city. Then, drawing on the materials throughout the course, students are to develop a hypothetical smart city technology or framework for their chosen city and explain how this would contribute to creating a better future city. Students must carry out academic research (e.g., journal articles) as well as 'existing conditions' research (e.g., websites from real projects in real cities) to investigate possible technologies and frameworks to gain ideas about what has been done, and what is needed. While students are free to borrow ideas from or be inspired by secondary sources (with proper citation) to develop new technologies or frameworks, projects must be original and innovative. The new initiative must not only address technical concerns, but must be holistic, addressing social, economic, environmental, political, etc. dimensions.

The major outcome of the project is the final paper (Parts E). However, there are many other stages to the research project as outlined in the table above, including topic selection to identify a case study city as well as a smart and sustainablility initiative (Part A), a 'contract' outlining group work (who does what), scheduling, and deadlines (Part B) and a progress report at the mid-point of the project detailing what has been done and what remains to be completed (Part C). A week prior to submission of the final paper, students will submit draft papers (Part D) that represent nearly completed papers. This stage provides students with the opportunity to receive some feedback and to make some final edits prior to submitting the final paper (Part E). Finally, students will submit a post-project self and peer evaluation that assess how students feel they and their peers performed within the group project (Part F).

It is strongly advised that you read all of the instruction for all of the research project parts before starting the project.

Student's grades will be assessed as a combination of both group performance and individual student contributions for all assignment components (Parts A-F). Group marks may be adjusted for individuals in the group based on the amount and quality of work the individual contributed. Individual marks will assess how the student:

• Demonstrated active contribution to the project;
• Carried out a fair share of the workload;
• Worked well with others.

Group marks will assess:

• Group dynamics, communication, and the ability to meet deadlines;
• Originality and comprehensiveness of the project;
• Organization of the paper; and
• Quality of writing.

Objectives

By successfully completing this assignment, students will demonstrate:

• In-depth understanding of the wide-ranging dimensions of smart and sustainable urbanism;
• The ability to critique and evaluate existing systems, technologies, and policies;
• The ability to think creatively to develop something new;
• Collaborative groups work skills; and
• Time, project management, and communications skills.