The year 2008 marked the first time in human history that a majority of the world’s population lived in cities. This trend toward urbanization is well established in developed countries. More than 80 percent of the U.S. population lives in urban areas that account for only 3 percent of our total land. Tokyo, the largest urban area in the world, has a population of 36 million. Now, the trend of urbanization is quickly taking hold in the developing world. In this course, students will ask why cities exist at all and consider how they impact our lives. This will include understanding how cities affect our health and happiness, our economic outcomes, our learning and innovation, our culture, and our environment. We will examine the development and transformation over time of cities in the U.S. and around the world. We will also investigate the role of urbanization in economic development, a theme that is included in the United Nations Millennium Declaration. Our main text will be Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier. This will be supplemented with other books, articles, websites, videos, and travel.