EdX

What do Architects and Urban Planners do? (edX)

Offered by Wits University, WitsX,
What do Architects and Urban Planners do? (edX)

Discover how spatial design professionals make a difference in society. Are you interested in studying architecture or urban planning? This course will help you understand what spatial design professionals really do, so you can decide if this is the right profession for you.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see EdX's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

First, we’ll learn about the built environment, and the kinds of challenges and opportunities that architects and planners grapple with.
Then we’ll discuss five short examples based on real projects. In each example, we will focus on the role played by different spatial design professionals, including urban planners, urban designers, landscape architects, architects and interior architects.
You’ll gain a good understanding of what each spatial design profession does, so you can make an informed choice about what to study.
The course will also be useful for anyone who needs to interact with spatial design professionals, and would like an insight into their different roles.

What you'll learn

  • The roles of different spatial design professions, including urban planners, urban designers, landscape architects, architects and interior architect.
  • The challenges and opportunities that spatial design professions address in practice.
  • Which skills and attitudes are required for the spatial design creative process.
Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Planning & Design of Sanitation Systems and Technologies (Coursera) Coursera
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Planning & Design of Sanitation Systems and Technologies (Coursera)

Do you want to learn how to plan affordable and context-specific sanitation solutions? Do you want to be updated on the newest developments in urban sanitation planning and programming? Do you want to get insights about best practices examples of urban sanitation systems in low- and middle-income countries? If yes, this course is for you! This course provides you with an introduction to integrated sanitation planning, both on a citywide scale and for specific contexts such as informal settlements.

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Ancient Egyptian Civilisation (edX) EdX
Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Ancient Egyptian Civilisation (edX)

Learn about the history, women, and architecture of ancient Egypt from the Library of Alexandria, Egypt's celebrated learning and cultural complex. This brief, introductory history course will take you on a journey into the wonders of ancient Egypt as you discover why ancient Egypt is the legend that it is. Learners will be exposed to the magnificent accomplishments and contributions that Egypt has made to civilization from Ancient times to today.

No sessions available
5-12 Weeks
Age of Cathedrals (Coursera) Coursera
Yale University

Age of Cathedrals (Coursera)

An introduction to some of the most astonishing architectural monuments the world has ever known—Gothic cathedrals. We shall study the art, literature, intellectual life, economics, and new social arrangements that arose in the shadow of the cathedrals and that were such an important part of the revival of cities in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The goal of the course is a better appreciation of the High Middle Ages, a world that is still recognizably our own.

Oct 26th 2026
5-12 Weeks
The Architectural Imagination (edX) EdX
HarvardX,Harvard University

The Architectural Imagination (edX)

Learn fundamental principles of architecture — as an academic subject or a professional career — by studying some of history’s most important buildings. Architecture engages a culture’s deepest social values and expresses them in material, aesthetic form. This course will teach you how to understand architecture as both cultural expression and technical achievement. Vivid analyses of exemplary buildings, and hands-on exercises in drawing and modeling, will bring you closer to the work of architects and historians.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Sustainability in Architecture: An Interdisciplinary Introduction (edX) EdX
Universitat Politècnica de València,UPValenciaX

Sustainability in Architecture: An Interdisciplinary Introduction (edX)

This course introduces the basic elements and trends that define sustainability practices in Architecture today. It follows an interdisciplinary approach that includes performance assessment and urban policies. This course offers an interdisciplinary approach to sustainability in Architecture. Learners will be introduced to the basic elements of sustainability assessments (first model layer), as well as trends informing the space today.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Explorer l’espace des humains: une introduction à la géographicité (edX) EdX
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne,EPFLx

Explorer l’espace des humains: une introduction à la géographicité (edX)

Explorer comment la géographie, la cartographie, l’urbanisation et la justice spatiale jouent un rôle dans la compréhension de l’espace des humains et des sociétés. Comment définir et comprendre la notion d’espace? Comment l’urbanisation, la mobilité, Internet et la mondialisation ont-ils influencé notre perception du temps et de l’espace? Ce cours a pour objectif de définir la notion d’espace en apportant des clés de lecture pour comprendre les sociétés qui nous entourent.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Interpreting Vernacular Architecture in Asia (edX) EdX
University of Hong Kong,HKUx

Interpreting Vernacular Architecture in Asia (edX)

Discover the value of local peoples' traditional built environments in Asia, find inspiration in these buildings, and learn how to conserve them for future generations. This course is about architecture. But it’s not about grand structures such as monuments or royal palaces. Rather, it is about the built environment that the ordinary people live in. Instead of the architectural techniques, we use stories to understand the processes through which people make their building decisions.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Global Environmental Management (Coursera) Coursera
Technical University of Denmark - DTU

Global Environmental Management (Coursera)

Learn about the best environmental technologies for a sustainable development and how they are managed in various settings around the world. This course gives you an opportunity to learn about global trends that influence our environment and the living conditions and how different management systems and approaches that are used around the world to manage the environment. This includes current environmental technologies built for the environment and technologies for sustainable soil management, groundwater protection methods and integrated Water resources management.

Oct 26th 2026
5-12 Weeks
The Meaning of Rome: The Renaissance and Baroque City (edX) EdX
University of Notre Dame,NotreDameX

The Meaning of Rome: The Renaissance and Baroque City (edX)

Learn how the art, architecture, and urban form of Renaissance and Baroque Rome projected the city’s image of itself to its citizens and the world. We can read a city in a number of ways: in its plan, in the buildings that make its streets and public spaces, in the skyline. We can ask, what are the buildings or spaces saying? How do they say it? How does it all stitch together?

No sessions available
5-12 Weeks
Introduction to Faecal Sludge Management (Coursera) Coursera
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Introduction to Faecal Sludge Management (Coursera)

Do you want learn how to apply concepts of sustainable faecal sludge management (FSM) on a city-wide scale? This course starts with an overview of what faecal sludge is and an introduces you to the engineering fundamentals and required information for the design and selection of technologies. Sanitation solutions are prone to failure if an integrated planning approach that includes stakeholder involvement and the development of appropriate institutional, management and financial arrangements is not implemented.

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Urban Design for the Public Good: Dutch Urbanism (edX) EdX
Delft University of Technology,DelftX

Urban Design for the Public Good: Dutch Urbanism (edX)

Through a unique Dutch approach learn how to design landscapes and cities in response to social and environmental challenges. Are you an urban planner, designer, policy maker or involved or interested in the creation of good living environments? This course will broaden your scope and diversify your take on the field of urban planning and design.

Self Paced
Self-Paced