Course: Cities Spatial Model Training | Short Courses

  • General

    • About the course

      This online training course provides a practical, in-depth introduction to the Cities Spatial Model, designed for policymakers, urban practitioners, analysts, and researchers working on city planning and economic development. The course builds a clear intuition for how the model works and why spatial and equilibrium effects matter for urban policy.

      Participants will learn what data the model requires, where to find reliable sources, and how to clean, structure, and manipulate datasets into the formats needed for analysis using QGIS and R. Step-by-step guidance is provided on running the model in R, interpreting outputs, and using visual tools to explore results. The course also focuses on how to communicate findings clearly and effectively, translating technical outputs into policy-relevant insights that can inform real-world decisions. There is also an option to use the Shiny app interface - enabling users to upload data and run the basic model without any coding whatsoever. 

      By the end of the course, participants will be equipped with both the conceptual understanding and practical skills needed to apply the Cities Spatial Model to real urban challenges, supporting better-informed, evidence-based planning and investment decisions.

    • Meet your instructors

      Nick Tsivanidis - Associate Professor of Economics, UC Berkeley and IGC Cities Research Programme Director

      Nick Tsivanidis

      Maria Del Mar Gomez - Research Analyst, Cities Spatial Model

      Maria Del Mar Gomez - Research Analyst on the Cities Spatial Model

      Daniel Ruiz Palomo - Research Analyst, Cities Spatial Model

      Daniel Ruiz Palomo

    • Group training

      If you are looking for something more interactive, please join one of our quarterly training groups. As part of a group, you will follow the content over a week-long structured programme, including access to moderated peer discussions, a live support webinar with one of the instructors, and a capstone project to put your training into practice. The courses will start on the following dates:

      2 March 2026 [This group is now full, please select another date]

      1 June 2026 [This group is now full, please select another date]

      7 September 2026

      30 November 2026

      You can sign up here.

      Please note: Certificates are not issued for this course. The training is designed as a learning and knowledge-sharing opportunity, with an emphasis on practical understanding and application.

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  • Instructions: Clicking on the section name will show / hide the section.

    • Welcome to the group training Forum
      Not available unless: You belong to any group

    • Objectives

      • Introduce cities as economic systems shaped by the interaction of households, firms, land markets, and transportation costs.

      • Present quantitative spatial equilibrium models as structured tools for understanding urban complexity and evaluating policy trade-offs.

    • Module contents

    • Interactive content SCORM package

    • Webinar sign up

    • Additional resources

    • Use cases of the CSM URL

      Check how the CSM was used to assess transport infrastructure in Cape Town

    • CSM video URL

      Watch this video for a general overview of the CSM model

    • Objectives

      • Understand the core trade off between agglomeration and dispersion in shaping urban structure
      • Explain how workers, firms, and land markets jointly determine wages, rents, and density in spatial equilibrium
      • Assess why quantitative spatial models are useful for evaluating city wide policy impacts and counterfactuals

    • Module contents

    • Interactive content SCORM package
    • Lets discuss the strengths and limitations of the model Forum
      Not available unless: You belong to any group

    • Additional resources

    • Working paper URL

      This includes a technical description of the model and its original application to Cape Town 

    • Objectives

      • Define spatial units and understand the key trade-offs involved. 
      • Identify the minimum data needed to run the CSM.

    • Module contents

    • Interactive content SCORM package
    • Data catalogue File
    • Lets discuss data innovations Forum
      Not available unless: You belong to any group

    • Additional resources

    • Machine learning for predicting employment URL

      Check how a machine learning algorithm can be used to predict the spatial distribution of employment in urban areas

    •  
      Objectives
      • Understand the core GIS operations required to extract model relevant spatial information.
      • Process vector and raster data to describe land availability, population distribution, and employment location.
      • Define spatial units and calculate travel times between them using GIS tools.
      Before you continue

      This module is highly practical and almost entirely based on work inside QGIS.

      You will perform detailed spatial operations such as cleaning datasets, reprojecting layers, intersecting boundaries, dissolving polygons, and generating travel time matrices.

      The workflow presented here is one structured way to prepare data for the Cities Spatial Model. It is not the only way. Many alternative approaches, tools, and technical pipelines exist. We focus on QGIS because it is transparent, widely used, and accessible.

      This module is for you if
      • You want hands on experience preparing real spatial data.
      • You want to understand how land area, population, jobs, and travel times are constructed before running the model.
      • You plan to build your own city dataset from scratch.
      This module is probably not for you if
      • You only want to run the model with pre prepared inputs.
      • You are not willing to install and use QGIS.
      • You are looking only for theoretical explanations of spatial models.

      In that case, you can continue to module 5. 

    • Module contents

    • Interactive content SCORM package
    • Discussion on using GIS operations Forum
      Not available unless: You belong to any group

    • This data pack accompanies the tutorials in this module and contains all the files needed to follow the steps shown in the videos. It includes administrative and spatial unit layers, thematic GIS datasets, and example files used throughout the demonstrations.

      The data pack allows you to work through the different tutorials in the module step by step, using the same datasets shown on screen. Download the folder before you open the interactive module and keep the files accessible as you watch the videos, so you can pause, replicate each operation, and explore the data in QGIS as you go.

    • Additional resources

    • IMPORTANT NOTICE: We are facing delays in getting a new version of the package uploaded in CRAN. This may mean the code and instructions given in this module will return an error message when using the package. Please use the Shiny app in the meantime while we resolve this - the CRAN package should be working as per instructions again very soon! 

      Objectives

      • Translate a policy or shock into concrete changes in the model’s input variables 
      • Clearly identify and implement the steps required to run the baseline version of the model 
      • Understand the two ways to run the model  (using R code or the Shiny app) and choose the appropriate interface depending on flexibility, parameter control, and connectivity needs

    • Module contents

    • Download this folder which contains data and code sample files to show you how to prepare the data for the model. You will need to use these files to follow the steps in the video Getting the data in the right format from this module.

      Download the folder before you open the interactive module and keep the files accessible as you watch the videos

    • Download this folder which contains sample data and code to run the model in R. You will need to use these files to follow the steps in the video How to run the model  from this module.

      Download the folder before you open the interactive module and keep the files accessible as you watch the videos

      • Running the model sample files Running the model sample files
    • Interactive content SCORM package
    • Lets discuss how to model policy interventions Forum
      Not available unless: You belong to any group

    • Additional resources

    • Details of the code File

      Check this pdf if you want to review the steps of the code for running the model in R 

    • Objectives

      • Understand and navigate the structure of the model outputs, including the full set of result variables stored in R
      • Use core R operations to inspect, filter, join, transform, and rank model results for meaningful analysis
      • Visualise spatial outcomes using maps to identify geographic patterns, clusters, and spillover effects

      You can skip this module if you are using the Shiny app.

    • Module contents

    • Download this folder which contains sample data and code to run the model in R. You will need to use these files to follow the steps in the video Analysing model results  from this module.

      Download the folder before you open the interactive module and keep the files accessible as you watch the videos

    • Interactive content SCORM package
    • Lets discuss the model results Forum
      Not available unless: You belong to any group

    • Additional resources

    • Thank you!

      Thank you for taking part in this training. We hope the course has strengthened your understanding of the Cities Spatial Model and provided practical insights into how spatial data and economic analysis can inform urban planning, infrastructure investment, and policy design. We also hope it has sparked new ideas for applying these tools in your own context, helping to support more evidence-based, inclusive, and effective urban decision-making.

      Your feedback is extremely valuable to us and will help us refine and improve future editions of the course. We would greatly appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to complete the short questionnaire below and share your thoughts, suggestions, and reflections. 

    • Feedback form URL