UC Berkeley · Fall 2026

CP 101

Introduction to Urban Data Analytics

Lectures Mon & Wed, 12:30–2:00 pm · Wurster 112

Lab sections Thu & Fri · Wurster 214B

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Module 1: Foundations Aug 26–Sep 18

Module 2: Geospatial Analysis & Visualization Sep 21–Nov 6

Module 3: Data, Decisions, and the City Nov 9–Dec 4

Module 1: Foundations Aug 26 – Sep 18 ▾

Week 1 Module 1

Date	Topics	Resources
Wed, Aug 26	Introduction to the course Why Urban Data Matters? Course logistics Final Project overview MTC collaboration and presentation	Slides Lecture slides - W01 S1 MTC Presentation Required Read Jacobs, J. (1961). The kind of problem a city is. In The death and life of great American cities.

Week 2 Module 1

Date	Topics	Resources
Mon, Aug 31	Computational Thinking (CT) through urban problems CT Principles Problem formation	Slides Lecture slides - W02 S1 Activity Problem Definition Exercise Required Read Wing (2006) Computational Thinking Bad Choices: How to Make Smart Decisions in a Complex World
Wed, Sep 2	The data behind the map Intro to Geospatial Data CRS & Projection overview Raster & Vector data CT: Decomposition & Abstraction in Maps	Slides Lecture slides - W02 S2 Activity Map Projection Optional Read Axis Maps - Map Projections Tools USGS Map Projections True Size of Africa
Thu, Sep 3 & Fri, Sep 4	Lab 1 - JupyterHub & GradescopeLab 2 - Computational Thinking	Lab Lab 1 - JupyterHub & Gradescope Lab 1-2 - My Places Dataset Lab 2 - Computational Thinking

Week 3 Module 1

Date	Topics	Resources
Mon, Sep 7	Labor Day · no class
Wed, Sep 9	Python Basics I Intro to Python & OSS Variables Operators Core data types Collections A1 releaseTeam formation due	Slides Lecture slides - W03 S2 Assignment Assignment 1 - Variables, Data Types & Operators Activity Python Assessment Quiz Required Watch Variables (cs50) Lists (cs50) List Methods (cs50) String Methods (cs50) String Slicing (cs50) Tuples (cs50) Read GDS Python: Part I Tools Variables tutorial Strings tutorial Optional Tools Python Standard Library Variables (Advanced) Final Project Submit Submit your group here
Thu, Sep 10 & Fri, Sep 11	Lab 3 - Python Basics I	Lab Lab 3 - Python Basics I

Week 4 Module 1

Date	Topics	Resources
Mon, Sep 14	Python basics II Truthiness Conditionals Loops	Slides Lecture slides - W04 S1 Activity Your Places, W04 S1: Filtering Your Places Required Watch Conditionals - Full Lesson (cs50) Boolean Expressions (cs50) Conditionals (cs50) Loops (cs50) Conditional Execution: Part I & II (py4e) Loops and Iterations (py4e) Read Conditional Execution (py4e)
Wed, Sep 16	Functions & Errors & Debugging Writing Your Own Functions Return values Error & Tracebacks Error Types Debugging A1 dueA2 release	Slides Lecture slides - W04 S2 Assignment Assignment 2 - Control Flow, Functions, and Debugging Required Watch Functions (cs50) Return Values (cs50) Side Effects (cs50) Debugging (cs50) Read How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Debugging Tools Function Sandbox Python Error Types Lab
Thu, Sep 17 & Fri, Sep 18	Lab 4 - Python Basics II	Lab Lab 4 - Python Basics II

Module 2: Geospatial Analysis & Visualization Sep 21 – Nov 6 ▾

Week 5 Module 2

Date	Topics	Resources
Mon, Sep 21	The Power and Perils of Urban Data Intro to urban data What gets measured, what gets left out Dark Data Urban data ethics Quantification trap FP proposal due	Slides Lecture slides - W05 S1 Required Read Dark Data Ch.1-2 The Quantification Trap Glaeser et al. (2018) Optional Read A Brief History of Open Data (data.gov) Final Project Read Final Project proposal requirements Submit Submit proposal - main track Submit proposal - MTC track
Wed, Sep 23	Dictionaries & Pandas I: Wrangling Python Dictionaries Data wrangling with Pandas Vectorized operations	Slides Lecture slides - W05 S2 Lecture Notebook W05 S2 - Pandas fundamentals Activity Your Places, W05 S2: Your Places as a Table Required Watch Dictionaries (cs50) Dictionary Methods (cs50) Pandas (Data School) Read Getting Started with pandas Pandas Comparison with Spreadsheets Optional Read Pandas Visual Intro
Thu, Sep 24 & Fri, Sep 25	Lab 5 - Dictionaries & Pandas I Practice pandas with ACS data A1 walkthrough & review	Lab Lab 5 - Dictionaries & Pandas I Optional Read The American Community Survey: Warmer (More Current), but Fuzzier (Less Precise) than the Decennial Census (MacDonald, JAPA 2006)

Week 6 Module 2

Date	Topics	Resources
Mon, Sep 28	Pandas II Exploratory data analysis (EDA) Confirmatory data analysis (CDA) Sanity checks Groupby & merge A2 due	Slides Lecture slides - W06 S1 Lecture Notebook Pandas II: Exploring, Cleaning, and Joining Data Required Watch Pandas Groupby (Data School) Tools Pandas Data Explore Optional Read Pandas Pivoting & Reshaping
Wed, Sep 30	GeoPandas I: Spatial Data Model Geospatial data types in Shapely GeoDataFrame and GeoSeries Spatial data I/O	Slides Lecture slides - W06 S2 Lecture Notebook GeoPandas I: Spatial Data Model Activity Your Places, W06 S2 Required Watch What is spatial analysis?: Luc Anselin
Thu, Oct 1 & Fri, Oct 2	Lab 6 - Pandas II & GeoPandas Practice Pandas & Geopandas with Census data Census API	Lab Lab 6 - Pandas II & GeoPandas Optional Watch data.census.gov for Beginners: How to Get Started (Census Bureau webinar) How to Download Census Data Tables

Week 7 Module 2

Date	Topics	Resources
Mon, Oct 5	GeoPandas II: Spatial Predicates + Spatial Join Spatial relationship (predicates) Spatial operations Spatial join	Slides Lecture slides - W07 S1 Activity Your Places, W07 S1 Required Read Dark Data Ch.3 Spatial Relationships (predicates) Tools Spatial Predicates Lab Optional Read Amaral, P., Anselin, L., & Pirotte, A. (forthcoming). Spatial econometrics. In L. Matyas & A. Pirotte (Eds.), A history of econometrics: The challenge of remaining relevant. Springer Nature.
Wed, Oct 7	Final Project Workshop A3 release	Assignment Assignment 3 - HealthFirst NYC Required Watch Introduction to GeoPandas and Its Python Ecosystem
Thu, Oct 8 & Fri, Oct 9	Lab 7 - Spatial Joins & Overlay Joining ACS data to census tracts & calculating per-capita measures Spatial predicates, overlay & measurements in a projected CRS A2 walkthrough & review	Lab Lab 7 - Spatial Joins & Overlay

Week 8 Module 2

Date	Topics	Resources
Mon, Oct 12	Data Ethics and Governance Guest Lecture: Lucy Andrews Data Governance Strategist | CA Office of Data and Innovation	Slides Lecture slides - W08 S1 - Lucy Andrews Lecture Notebook W08 S1 - To publish or not to publish Required Read Dark Data Ch.4
Wed, Oct 14	Visualization, Interactivity and Co-design in Exploring Humanity and the Built Environment through Data Guest Lecture: Sam Pottinger	Slides Lecture slides - W08 S2 - Sam Pottinger
Thu, Oct 15 & Fri, Oct 16	Lab 8 - Street Networks Street networks data acquisition & analysis with OSMnx Shortest paths Isochrones & catchments	Lab Lab 8 - Street Networks

Week 9 Module 2

Date	Topics	Resources
Mon, Oct 19	Data Visualization in Action The value of visualization Expressiveness and effectiveness Bar & line charts: dos and don'ts (Avoiding!) pie charts Interactive Plots in Python Plotly Express and animated charts	Slides Lecture slides - W09 S1 Lecture Notebook W09 S1 - Datasaurus W09 S1 - Plotly Express Required Read Do No Harm Guide Optional Read Why are we even doing all this? (Gambhir, on Terence Tao's blog) Tools From Data to Viz Python Graph Gallery Final Project CP101 Project Midterm Check-in
Wed, Oct 21	Thematic Mapping: Map Types & Classification Schemes Elements of Maps Color perception & accessibility Choropleth maps Proportional symbol maps Classification schemes Data Normalization Large Scale Mapping with Lonboard Lonboard and Overture Maps Interactive visualization	Lecture Notebook W09 S2 - Lonboard - 3 Million Data W09 S2 - Lonboard - Overture Maps Required Read Design and Redesign: Wattenberg & Viégas Wilke FDV Ch.19 Wilke FDV Ch.20 Tools Pypalettes (Color Maps for Python) Optional Read Datawrapper: A Detailed Guide to Colors in Data Vis Tools ColorBrewer Python Graph Gallery: Color Palette Finder Coblis Color Blindness Simulator USGS National Map: GIS Data Download
Thu, Oct 22 & Fri, Oct 23	Lab 9 - Land Use & Buildings Land use & building footprints from Overture Maps 3D & interactive mapping with Lonboard A3 due Fri, Oct 23	Lab Lab 9 - Land Use & Buildings

Week 10 Module 2

Date	Topics	Resources
Mon, Oct 26	Land Surveys and Mapping the City Guest Lecture: Jack Moorehead
Wed, Oct 28	MTC Midterm Workshop Midterm project workshop A4 release	Assignment Assignment 4 - Debugging & Visualization Critique
Thu, Oct 29 & Fri, Oct 30	Lab 10 - Git, GitHub & Publishing Git & GitHub basics GitHub Pages & ArcGIS StoryMaps: first version of your project story A3 walkthrough & review	Lab Lab 10 - Git, GitHub & Publishing

Week 11 Module 2

Date	Topics	Resources
Mon, Nov 2	Exploratory Data Analysis and Visualization Guest Lecture: Min Ragan-Kelley Senior Open Infrastructure Architect at BIDS Founding member of the Jupyter Steering Council Co-creator of JupyterHub FP Midterm due	Lecture Notebook W11 S1 - Interactive Data Final Project Read Final Project midterm requirements Submit Submit midterm
Wed, Nov 4	Accessibility, Equity, and the Built Environment Guest Lecture: Anwar Baroudi	Slides Accessibility, Equity, and the Built Environment slides Required Read Páez et al. (2012) Measuring Accessibility
Thu, Nov 5 & Fri, Nov 6	Lab 11 - Accessibility & Publishing the Interactive Map Measuring accessibility: amenities within catchments Publishing your interactive maps	Lab Lab 11 - Accessibility & Publishing the Interactive Map

Module 3: Data, Decisions, and the City Nov 9 – Dec 4 ▾

Week 12 Module 3

Date	Topics	Resources
Mon, Nov 9	17 Years on Wheels: Subways, Maps, Handcycles and Disability Pride Guest Lecture: Sasha Blair-Goldensohn Google Maps Staff Accessibility Lead
Wed, Nov 11	Veterans Day · no class
Thu, Nov 12 & Fri, Nov 13	Lab 12 - Public-Facing Story Framing & structuring your story for a public audience A4 due Fri, Nov 13	Lab Lab 12 - Public-Facing Story

Week 13 Module 3

Date	Topics	Resources
Mon, Nov 16	Misinformation, Deceptive Visualizations, & Spurious Correlations Deceptive Patterns Spurious Correlation Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP) Ecological Fallacy	Required Watch How to Mop the MAUP Read Pennycook et al. (2015): On the Reception and Detection of Pseudo-Profound Bullshit Kwan (2012) Uncertain Geographic Context
Wed, Nov 18	Data Ethics and Privacy Responsible data collection and use Quantification Trap, Revisited Quantification Trap: What is measured is not always what matters Data-driven decision making?	Required Read Dark Data Ch.6: Intentional Dark Data: Fraud and Deception
Thu, Nov 19 & Fri, Nov 20	Lab 13 - Critique Studio Spotting deceptive visualizations Peer review of project stories A4 walkthrough & review Final project checkin

Week 14 Module 3

Date	Topics	Resources
Mon, Nov 23	Advanced Topics: LLMs in Urban Analytics LLM basics: it's all about probability	Required Read The Peril of Laziness Lost
Wed, Nov 25	Non-instructional day · Thanksgiving recess begins
Thu, Fri	Thanksgiving · no lab

Week 15 Module 3

Date	Topics	Resources
Mon, Nov 30	Advanced Topics: Computer Vision in Urban Planning Computer vision applications in urban planning AI in everything! Do we really need it?
Wed, Dec 2	Final Project Workshop Formal classes end Fri Dec 4.
Thu, Dec 3 & Fri, Dec 4	Lab 15 - Final Project Studio

RRR week Dec 7 – Dec 9 ▾

Week 16 RRR week

Date	Topics	Resources
Mon, Dec 7	RRR week RRR week (Dec 7–11)
Wed, Dec 9	RRR week