Section outline

  • Short bio: Yannis Paraskevopoulos is a PhD candidate at NTUA, having experience in many research projects and international publications, specialising in urban geography, advanced spatial analysis, urban analytics, urban morphology, and integrated  planning. Stefanos Tsigdinos is a post-doctoral researcher at NTUA, with experience in several research projects and international scientific publications, focusing on integrated urban and transport planning, transport geography, future mobility, transport equity, and urban geography. He is also an Adjunct Lecturer, teaching urban planning at UniWA. Ioannis Chatziioannou is a Sustainable Mobility Planner and currently a post-doctoral researcher at NTUA. He has participated in numerous research projects and has also published many papers in renowned journals. His research areas include urban planning via geotechnology, sustainable transport policies, systems theory, participatory planning methods, prospective studies, social exclusion and mitigation of transportation’s negative externalities.

    When it comes to NTUA, the Sustainable mobility Unit has adopted an interdisciplinary approach specialising in multiple research fields. Specifically, the main research interests of SMU are urban planning, transport planning, sustainable mobility, urban and transport geography, transport policy and participatory planning. It should be underlined that SMU has embraced an integrated urban and transport planning rationale capable of facing urban complexity and emerging issues.

    Overview & aims: This interactive course on integrated planning tools provides a comprehensive introduction to planning tools that are essential for analyzing, understanding, and changing cities from both urban and transport perspectives. In particular, the course focuses on leveraging open datasets, spatial analysis and scenario planning to formulate the foundation for effective spatial planning. Participants will be introduced to a variety of tools that facilitate a comprehensive approach, ensuring that transport and land use are seamlessly integrated. Moreover, the course will shed light on how to formulate integrated planning strategies through diverse scenarios that define different priorities, planning and design solutions.

    The course’s objective is to bridge the gap between integrated planning theoretical principles and practice, through demonstrating to participants key tools for employing cohesive integrated planning solutions and strategies.

    Keywords: Planning tools, Geographic Information System, integrated sustainable urban mobility, Open data, spatial analysis, space syntax

    Information about the course instructors and partners involved:

    Instructors´ Names: Yannis Paraskevopoulos, Stefanos Tsigdinos, Ioannis Chatziioannou
    Instructors´ Institution: National Technical University of Athens

    Course content: This interactive course offers a robust introduction of key planning tools and strategies, having been structured properly to transfer knowledge effectively, while inspiring participants. The main points of the course are the following:

    • Revisiting key integrated planning principles and implications
    • Lecture on the basic concepts and characteristics of planning tools and the importance of open datasets
    • Brief lecture on strategic scenario planning to support participants envision creative solutions
    • Demonstration of multiple planning tools and strategies with real-life examples
    • Hands-on practice, where participants will be requested to formulate their scenarios and deal with a real case study (of their preference) in Europe through an integrated planning perspective. This will help them to acquire significant practical experience.


    Learning outcomes: By the end of this 135 minutes course on integrated planning tools, the following learning outcomes are expected:

    • Utilise open data planning tools effectively
    • Formulate strategic scenarios underpinned with integrated perspectives
    • Creative thinking to planning solutions and practices
    • Understand how theory could be “translated” into practice
    • Teamwork and interaction with individuals coming from different disciplines and background
    • Administer urban complexity


    Who is this course for: The interactive course on integrated planning is suitable for:

    • Students and academics with a keen interest in urban planning, transport systems and environmental sustainability
    • Professional and experts dealing with urban, transport and environmental topics
    • Policymakers and local administration authorities
    • Other actors (such as NGO, groups, collectives) that might aspire to engage in strategic planning


    Group size: Max 30 participants (physically and online):

    • MSc-level planning-related students
    • Planning-related professionals (practitioners + policy officers)
    • Early-stage researchers or other academics interested in the subject.


    Specific requirements, if any: The participants should have basic prior knowledge of Geographic Information Systems principles and software (QGIS and ArcGIS Pro). Furthermore, familiarity with statistics and simple analysis procedures will be a considerable asset.