Infrastructure Planning & Financing

Catalog description

This online course provides an advanced overview of the processes and institutions shaping the planning, management, financing, and development of infrastructure. The intent of the course is to expose students to the basic parameters of how infrastructure is planned and managed and to open-up students to a broader asset class of infrastructure. The course includes an introduction to the basic operations and metrics of the major infrastructural sectors (water, transportation, energy, public facilities, solid waste, and communications). The course will cover project master planning and demand analysis; environmental and social impact analysis; economic impact methods; and, project delivery models for public, private and P3 projects. Throughout the course, each infrastructure sector is viewed through the lens of various applicable financing models and associated capital structures utilized by municipal and private utilities. These models will be contextualized within an array of federal and state-level funding sources and financing products. The course will conclude with a survey of contemporary issues in urban development relating to the equitable access to infrastructure; brownfield redevelopment; gray and green infrastructure dynamics; green bonds and public procurement; strategic obsolescence; innovations in material lifecycle analysis; and, asset management strategies under conditions of deep uncertainty. This course provides a central exploration for students in real estate, architecture, engineering, and environmental studies who seek to understand the basics of infrastructure. This course is intended to be an advanced elective for undergraduate and graduate real estate students.