CityScope 2008 was a combination undergraduate course and graduate practicum at MIT, focused on the coastal town of Tambo de Mora (TdM), Peru. Today, TdM is host to a toxic mix of some of the worst problems of a post-disaster urban zone since a devastating earthquake in August 2007. Using social and political science, engineering and technical tools, architectural design and other fields and methods, students explored the complexity of cities. The class is organized toward the production of practical, useful and hopefully transformative products that are most relevant to improving the situation in Peru. To achieve this, we have linked this class to the ongoing development of a long-term relationship with active stakeholders, researchers, academics and others in Peru, including faculty from the Universidad del Pacifico.