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This website features work from the completion of Phase 1 of the SCALES Project.

We are currently seeking partnerships for Phase 2.

Sustainable Design

  • Counting and Observing at Key Intersections (Assignment 1)

    The first assignment is a group assignment, to go out and observe key street cross sections and intersections nearby in Cambridge. This assignment gives you a chance to observe and think about how people, different travel modes, infrastructure, and neighboring land uses interact in a real, live place. You will not only look and see what is going on, but also start to become familiar with how "little numbers" translate to real-world conditions: what does 800 cars/hour look like vs. 800 people riding the T, and what impact do these differences have on the nature of the urban scene? You should become familiar with basic ideas like level of service, saturation flow rate, capacity, speeds, flow, and mode share (see Meyer and Miller, Chapter 3). We want you to think about how you measure and what you measure, and what impact this has on the transportation planning process and built outcomes.

    Read more: Counting and Observing at Key Intersections (Assignment 1)

  • Weekly Reading and Class Responses

    You are required to submit a one-paragraph (no more than 150 words) response to the readings each week by 4pm the night before class. The responses are not meant to be formal, but instead help you engage with the class material and help us lead and focus the class discussion. You should not spend more than 30 minutes each week on the responses, although we expect you will spend significantly more time doing readings. 

    Read more: Weekly Reading and Class Responses

  • Final Project

    Each student is expected to research, present, and write-up a final project. The presentations will be about 15 minutes long and take place during the last three class sessions. The final project write-up should be about 15 pages long (other formats possible for non-standard projects—see instructor for permission).

    Read more: Final Project

  • Term Project

    Household to global scale term projects on water, climate change and health solutions will be developed in teams or individually. You and your team decide on the format—a model, a video, a website, an app, a proposal, an artistic expression, a research paper, a competition entry. This can take any form. 

    Read more: Term Project

  • Dream Project/Term Project Proposal

    The proposal describes your dream project. The proposal is your opportunity to detail the scope of your project, its context, what you need to make this happen, your timeline and milestones, who are your teammates if you have teammates, or if you are planning to proceed individually.

    In the first deliverable, it does not need to be a fully formed proposal but a rough first draft. There’s no specific page requirement, but 4 to 8 pages of text total, or perhaps 10+ PowerPoint slides might be a good length.

    Read more: Dream Project/Term Project Proposal

  • Dream Project Exercise

    Take an index card, and prepare a short summary.

    Step 1 (on side 1 of the index card): Describe your dream project (drawing from any combo of disciplines, any scale, however far-fetched or down-to-earth).

    • Dream project name/title
    • Dream project summary (50 words maximum)
    • What else do you need to make this dream a reality?

    If you don’t have a dream project yet, describe a sector or geographical area in which you would like to be focused.

    Step 2 (on side 2 of the index card): Get yourself recruited into a Dream Team! What are your special gifts?

    • Reason a team should want to recruit you—ie., your special skills and capabilities (50 words maximum)
    • Types of project sought
    • Does your dream project fit in the Drawdown and/or 2020 framework?
    Read more: Dream Project Exercise

  • Assignment 3: Big Plan

    In Assignment 1, you explored the city through large-scale processes. In Assignment 2, you focused on unearthing key issues in specific Boston/Cambridge neighborhoods. For your final assignment, you will form your own vision, your own Big Plan.

    Read more: Assignment 3: Big Plan

  • Assignment 2: Site Probes

    In teams of 1, 2, OR 3, students will conduct visits to sites of their own choice. Using direct observation, photography, mapping, and online data collection, you will “probe” your site, uncovering social, political, economic, physical, and environmental conditions specific to that place.

    Read more: Assignment 2: Site Probes

  • WASH Tutorial

    Students, individually, or in groups of two or three, will sign up for and give a 15-minute WASH tutorial to the class on a selected water/sanitation/hygiene topic. Your topic can be on any subject within the field of water, sanitation, hygiene, or environment. Some may focus on specific technologies, while others will do demonstrations, skills training, or share success stories of case studies, designs, policies, plans, or engineered solutions.

    Read more: WASH Tutorial

Notice something that doesn’t seem right? Want to make a suggestion or provide feedback about how something is classified? 
Please reach out to esi [at] mit.edu and include SCALES Website in the subject of your email.
Feedback and any actions taken with regards to the feedback, will be shared as they are addressed.