Portland State University
Urban Data Science
USP 410/510 · Spring 2026 · 3 Credits
When
Thursdays 3:30 – 5:10 PM
Where
URBN 220
Modality
In Person
Instructor
Dr. Liming Wang
Email
Office Hours
Mondays 11 AM – 1 PM, URBN 350D
About This Course
This project-based course introduces urban data science — an interdisciplinary approach to understanding, managing, and designing the city using data-driven methods. You will learn basic coding in Python, data processing and analysis, visualization and mapping. You will also learn to work effectively with large language models (LLMs) and AI agents to accelerate data science workflows.
No prerequisites required — just curiosity, a tolerance for experimentation, and an interest in learning to code and work with AI tools.
What You Will Learn
- Python programming fundamentals
- Working with LLMs and AI agents
- Data cleaning and processing with pandas
- Workflow and project management
- Data visualization with seaborn and plotly
- Reproducible research with Quarto
- Spatial data analysis and mapping
- Accessing web data and APIs
- Building dashboards with Streamlit
Weekly Schedule
| Week | Date | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| W1 | Apr 2 | Overview, Computer Setup, Introduction to Python |
| W2 | Apr 9 | Learning and working with LLMs and AI agents |
| W3 | Apr 16 | All about data: import, cleaning & processing |
| W4 | Apr 23 | Workflow & project management |
| W5 | Apr 30 | Exploring and visualizing data |
| W6 | May 7 | Reproducible research: Quarto & Jupyter |
| W7 | May 14 | Working with spatial data and maps |
| W8 | May 21 | Accessing public data from the web & APIs |
| W9 | May 28 | Developing infographics and dashboards |
| W10 | Jun 4 | Project workshop |
| W11 | Jun 11 | Project presentations |