Illustrative: a block model of a city with water rising and falling through its streets, a heat island over its core, or the city growing

Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium · Course catalogue · Infrastructure, Energy and Industry

Cities and Infrastructure Systems

Cities, housing and the built environment

Cities, housing and the built environment, taught twice over: as the working methods of the field and as its frontier since 2024, with labs on the Academy's tools, open data and the Nexus Standards.

Core course Frontier course

The discipline

01Core course · L2 Intermediate

Cities, housing and the built environment: foundations and practice

This area covers how urban form, buildings, housing, mobility and services concentrate exposure, and how planning, design and municipal governance reduce it.

Level
L2 Intermediate
Study time
about 24 hours (planning estimate)
Status
In authoring
Prerequisites
An L1 course in the area, or an entry review

Why now

Updated urban population baselines feed exposure models, infrastructure demand projections and city-level risk prioritisation. UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, World Urbanization Prospects 2025, 18 November 2025

Learning outcomes

  1. Define urban heat island and the other key terms of the discipline and use them correctly in a written case
  2. Explain urban growth and land use and informal settlements with a worked example and its source
  3. Apply the discipline's method to a documented case and explain each result with its source
  4. Analyse a named case against buildings, codes and heat, stating evidence, date and limits

Modules

  1. Urban growth and land use
    • Urban growth and land use
    • Informal settlements
    • Buildings, codes and heat
  2. Housing and affordability
    • Housing and affordability
    • Urban drainage and green-blue infrastructure
    • Urban utilities and services
  3. Municipal risk governance
    • Municipal risk governance
    • Real estate and construction risk
    • Urban mobility
  4. Lab: the discipline's method
    • A fragility curve turns the intensity a building stock receives into a probability of damage; multiplied by the stock's count and replacement value it gives an expected loss; a retrofit shifts the curve, and the avoided loss divided by the retrofit cost is the ratio the decision rests on.
    • Work the method through a documented case and explain each result
    • Read the method's sources and stated values

Labs with Academy tools

Nexus Standards

Teaches

  • NRS-X5 Cities and built environment risk
  • NRS-H47 Hazard family: Structural and civil failure
  • NRS-H91 Hazard family: Urban and building-stock stress
  • NRS-M3 Method fabric: Exposure and asset intelligence

Relies on

  • NS-1 The UNI and the artefact catalogue
  • NS-16 UNI application profile (how articles, documents, code, data, APIs and interfaces carry the UNI)
  • NRS-C1 Risk vocabulary and ontology
  • NRS-C2 Risk assessment method
  • NRS-C3 Hazard, exposure, vulnerability and capacity data
  • NRS-C4 Risk data model, identifiers and exchange
  • NRS-C6 Systemic and cascading risk
  • NRS-C7 Early warning, triggers and anticipatory action

Assessment

  • 40%Lab recordWork the discipline's method through a documented case and explain each result with its source and date
  • 40%Case memoApply the discipline's methods to a named place or organisation, stating evidence and limits
  • 20%Key terms checkShort answers on the key terms, marked against the definitions

Delivery

  • Self-paced online, with the labs in the browser
  • Cohort study over six to eight weeks, with a weekly lab review
  • Co-delivered with a partner institution, inside its own courses

Partner on this course

  • Co-teach a module and bring a current case from your work
  • Host a cohort for your learners, with your own schedule and review
  • Contribute a lab: a dataset your institution publishes openly, or a model
  • Review the course content and its references before it opens
  • Translate the course and adapt its cases to your region

How institutions and experts take part

In the Academy LMS

Course on the learning platform
Intermediate, 4 topics
Cohort group
A community group for each cohort of learners
Achievement
Recorded on completion of the assessed work

Open now in this discipline

References

  1. UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, World Urbanization Prospects 2025, 18 November 2025
  2. Kircher, Whitman and Holmes, HAZUS earthquake loss estimation methods, 2006
  3. Silva et al., Development of a global seismic risk model, 2020
  4. Hallegatte, Rentschler and Rozenberg, Lifelines: The Resilient Infrastructure Opportunity, 2019
02Live map

Urban signals in India

Night-time lights, population density, nitrogen dioxide and urban heat, over India.

The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.

Layers 2

Urban signals

Latest available

NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth

Loading the latest NASA imagery.

Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.

Urban signals, framed on India.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date. They are indicators, not assessments of any place.

Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · NASA EONETSources and licences

  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • VIIRS Black Marble night-time lights, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; distributed by the NASA Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System (LAADS DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University. 2018. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). doi:10.7927/H49C6VHW. CC BY 4.0
  • OMI nitrogen dioxide (Aura) and OMPS aerosol index (Suomi NPP), NASA; distributed by the NASA GES DISC; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Cite as: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (2019). ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003. doi:10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.003. NASA open data
  • Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
  • © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). ODbL
  • Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
  • Globe: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © MapLibre contributors.
  • Live events: NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); events are indicative and keep their original source links.
  • NASA GIBS: We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
  • Air quality forecast, 5 days, PM2.5 (CAMS via Open-Meteo): Contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information 2026.
  • Past year, daily temperature and sunshine (NASA POWER): These data were obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) POWER Project funded through the NASA Earth Science/Applied Science Program..
  • Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (https://open-meteo.com/), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
  • Optional layers (14 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.

Layers and dates

  • Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
  • Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
  • Nitrogen dioxide, lower atmosphere column: OMI Aura, NASA GES DISC · 10 Oct 2026
  • Land surface temperature, day, 8-day composite: VIIRS NOAA-20 Level 3, 8-day, NASA LANCE · 14 Sep 2026
  • Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026

03How learning runs

How learning runs, as a process you can run

Select a scenario and press Play: course, pathway, practice, faculty, cells and record.

04What is changing

Frontier course · L3 advanced, programme courses and standards

Cities, housing and the built environment: frontier methods

The methods, data, tools and studies that changed cities, housing and the built environment between 2024 and 2026, taught by reproducing them on open data.

Level
L3 Advanced
Study time
about 28 hours (planning estimate)
Status
Planned
Prerequisites
Cities, housing and the built environment: foundations and practice; Working knowledge of a scripting language (Python or R) for the labs

Why now

Updated urban population baselines feed exposure models, infrastructure demand projections and city-level risk prioritisation. UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, World Urbanization Prospects 2025, 18 November 2025

Learning outcomes

  1. Explain what changed in cities, housing and the built environment since 2024 and cite the studies, data or rules behind each change
  2. Reproduce world Urbanization Prospects 2025: cities home to 45% of people on open data and state the uncertainty of the result
  3. Evaluate a 2024 to 2026 study: its question, data, method, limits and what it changes for practice
  4. Design an analysis that combines a frontier method with the faculty's instruments, and justify each choice

Modules

  1. World Urbanization Prospects 2025: cities home to 45% of people
    • UN DESA's 2025 revision of World Urbanization Prospects found cities now hold 45% of the global population of 8.2 billion, more than double the 1950 share, with estimates for 237 countries or areas and projections to 2050.
    • Updated urban population baselines feed exposure models, infrastructure demand projections and city-level risk prioritisation.
    • UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 18 November 2025
  2. UK government responds to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report
    • The UK government published its response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry's Phase 2 report, setting out steps to implement the inquiry's recommendations and wider building safety reforms, followed by a progress report in May 2025.
    • Building safety regulation, construction product oversight and accountability reforms affect fire risk, insurance and liability across the built environment.
    • UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 26 February 2025
  3. Reproduction lab
    • Extend the discipline's method with one frontier method and compare its results
    • State the uncertainty and the limits of the result
    • Peer review against a shared checklist
  4. Technology that helps and the risks it carries
    • Digital twins, sensors and robotics for inspection.
    • Cascading cyber-physical failure and vendor lock-in.

Labs with Academy tools

Nexus Standards

Teaches

  • NRS-X5 Cities and built environment risk
  • NRS-H47 Hazard family: Structural and civil failure
  • NRS-H91 Hazard family: Urban and building-stock stress
  • NRS-M3 Method fabric: Exposure and asset intelligence

Relies on

  • NS-1 The UNI and the artefact catalogue
  • NS-16 UNI application profile (how articles, documents, code, data, APIs and interfaces carry the UNI)
  • NRS-C1 Risk vocabulary and ontology
  • NRS-C2 Risk assessment method
  • NRS-C3 Hazard, exposure, vulnerability and capacity data
  • NRS-C4 Risk data model, identifiers and exchange
  • NRS-C6 Systemic and cascading risk
  • NRS-C7 Early warning, triggers and anticipatory action

Assessment

  • 50%Method reproductionReproduce one frontier method on open data and state the uncertainty of the result
  • 30%Study reviewA critical review of a 2024 to 2026 study: question, data, method, limits, what it changes
  • 20%Peer reviewReview two other learners' reproductions against a shared checklist

Delivery

  • Self-paced online, with the labs in the browser
  • Cohort study over six to eight weeks, with a weekly lab review
  • Co-delivered with a partner institution, inside its own courses

Partner on this course

  • Co-teach a module and bring a current case from your work
  • Host a cohort for your learners, with your own schedule and review
  • Contribute a lab: a dataset your institution publishes openly, or a model
  • Review the course content and its references before it opens
  • Translate the course and adapt its cases to your region

How institutions and experts take part

In the Academy LMS

Course on the learning platform
Expert, 4 topics
Cohort group
A community group for each cohort of learners
Achievement
Recorded on completion of the assessed work

Open now in this discipline

References

  1. UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, World Urbanization Prospects 2025, 18 November 2025
  2. UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report: Government response, 26 February 2025
  3. Kircher, Whitman and Holmes, HAZUS earthquake loss estimation methods, 2006
  4. Silva et al., Development of a global seismic risk model, 2020
  5. Hallegatte, Rentschler and Rozenberg, Lifelines: The Resilient Infrastructure Opportunity, 2019
05Take part

Take part in the work

Start from who you are.

06Questions

Questions, answers and key terms

Is the course free?
Yes. Every course and learning material of Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium, is free to study, self-paced or with a cohort. Ordinary participation has no fee; paid work, internships and fellowships are separate arrangements.
What does completing a course give me?
A completion record: the course, its version, the date and what was assessed, private by default and shared by you. It stacks into discipline, department and programme achievements. A record states what was studied and assessed and does not certify competence; it is not a licence, a professional title or an employment status.
Where do the data and the places come from?
Every faculty teaches on a twin of a real place built from open data; each layer carries its provider, licence and date, and every result on the Academy states its source. Maps and figures are indicators for teaching, never an assessment of a place.
How do I take part beyond the course?
Form a competence cell of three to seven people, study a shared pathway, take a supervised assignment in the National Working Groups, or bring a cohort from your institution. For organisations.

Key terms

Term

Urban heat island

The higher temperatures of built-up areas compared with their surroundings.

Term

Informal settlement

A residential area built without formal land rights or planning approval, often with limited services.

Term

Building code

Rules that set minimum standards for the design and construction of buildings.

Term

Green-blue infrastructure

Networks of vegetation and water features that provide drainage, cooling and other services.

ReportsContribute

Contribute evidence from this page.

Reports is the Consortium's quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.

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