Introductory description

In 1913 10% of the world’s population lived in cities (UN-HABITAT, 2011), in 2018 this had increased to an estimated 55% (UN 2018). Urban areas are expected to absorb virtually all future population growth (UN 2018) and by 2030 are projected to accommodate 60% of the global population: one-third of which will live in cities with at least half a million inhabitants (UN 2018).

Despite covering only 2% of the world’s landmass, cities produce 70% of total carbon emissions, over half of the world’s GDP, are locations of often stark inequality and are uniquely vulnerable to a changing climate, as a result of their concentrated population and infrastructure. Cities are spaces of social and technological innovation, but also some of the most pressing human welfare concerns. Thus understanding the urban context is critical in promoting more sustainable trajectories of human development.

The module is structured around 3 units, currently defined as, but not necessarily limited to:

The Built Environment;
The Political Ecology of Cities;
Urban Culture, Media and Arts.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

The Built Environment Unit will consider the history and theory of urban development, understood through paradigms of urban design which include built form, governance models and political ideologies, such as modernity and neo-liberalism. It will articulate ways of understanding and critiquing the built environment, as well as the processes which drive them. Finally it will interrogate the contemporary urban challenges presented by the Anthropocene, the need for sustainability, technological change and slow-burn societal changes, such as globalisation and de-industrialisation.

The Political Ecology Unit will consider models of urbanisation in the West and lower income countries, along with the impacts of colonialism and neo-liberalism. It invites learners to view the urban space for the lens of ecological resources and processes, the operations of which are heavily influenced by the nature of human power relations and politics.

The Urban Culture Unit digs deeper into social trends and cultural representations of urban life, drawing on a range of contemporary media examples, such as comic book representations and films, before culminating in a critical media reflection for the output.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Critically analyse the positive positioning of urban spaces within the sustainable development agenda, analysing competing discourses on the subject of sustainable cities in scholarship and practice
• Apply a selection of perspectives on the discourse of “sustainable cities”, including physical urban development policy and practice, political ecology and cultural and artistic notions of the city
• Undertake individual research working with and within the above perspectives
• Identify opportunities for more sustainable urban life and make proposals for their realisation
• Produce rigorous mixed media outputs that analyse the urban fabric and its representation
• Collate and rework individual outputs into a coherent portfolio of research and analysis, connected by appropiate metanarrative(s)

Indicative reading list

6, Perri (1997) Holistic Government. Demos.

Ahern, J. (2011) ‘From fail-safe to safe-to-fail: Sustainability and resilience in the new urban world.’ Landscape and Urban Planning, 100, p.341-343.

Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S. and Silverstein, M. (1977) A pattern language: towns, buildings, construction. Oxford University Press.

Allmendinger, P. (2001) Planning in postmodern times. Routledge, London.

Barnett, J. (2011) City Design: Modernist, Traditional, Green and Systems Perspectives. Routledge, Abingdon.

Brandon P., Lombardi P (eds) (2017) Future Challenges in Evaluating and Managing Sustainable Development in the Built Environment. Wiley-Blackwell, London.

Broadbent, G. (1990). Emerging concepts in urban space design. Taylor & Francis.

Carmona, M. (2014) ‘The Place-shaping Continuum: A Theory of Urban Design Process’. Journal of Urban Design, 19(1), p.2-36.

Carmona, M. and Tiesdell, S. (2007) Urban design reader. Routledge.

Coaffee, J. and Clarke, J.R.L. (2015) ‘Viewpoint: On implementing Urban Resilience’. Town Planning Review, 86 – forthcoming.

Corner, J. (2004) ‘Not unlike life itself’. Harvard Design Magazine, 21, p.32-34.

Fisher, T. (2012) Designing to Avoid Disaster: The Nature of Fracture-critical Design. Routledge, London.

Florida, R. (2005) Cities and the creative class. Routledge.

Florida, R. (2010). The great reset: How new ways of living and working drive post-crash prosperity. Random House Canada.

Giddens, A. (2002) Runaway world: how globalisation is reshaping our lives. New Ed. Profile, London.

Harvey, D. (1989a) ‘From Managerialism to Entrepreneurialism: The Transformation in Urban Governance in Late Capitalism.’ Geografiska Annaler, 71B, p.3-27.

Harvey, D. (2001) Spaces of capital. Routledge.

Harvey, D. (2012) Rebel cities: from the right to the city to the urban revolution. Verso Books.

Healey, P. (2006) Collaborative planning: shaping places in fragmented societies. 2nd edition. Palgrave Macmillan, London.

Imrie, R. & Lees, L. (2014) Sustainable London? The future of a global city. Policy Press.

Jacobs, J. (1961) The death and life of great American cities. Vintage.

Koolhaas, R., Mau, B., Sigler, J., et al. (1995) S, M, L, XL: small, medium, large, extra-large. Monacelli Press, New York.

Massey, D.B. (1994) Space, place and gender. Polity, Cambridge.

McHarg, I. L., (1969) Design with nature. American Museum of Natural History, New York.

Pelsmakers, S., (2014) The Environmental Design Pocketbook. Riba Publications Limited, London.

Punter, J. (2010) Centenary paper: Planning and good design: indivisible or invisible? A century of design regulation in English town and country planning. Town Planning Review, 81: (4): p.343-380.

Punter, J. (2011) Urban Design and the English Urban Renaissance 1999–2009: A Review and Preliminary Evaluation. Journal of Urban Design, 16: (1): 1-41.

Raco, M. and Imrie, R. (2000) ‘Governmentality and rights and responsibilities in urban policy.’ Environment and Planning A, 32 (12), p.2187–2204.

Sorkin, M. (2011). All over the map: writing on buildings and cities. Verso Books.

Tewdwr-Jones, M. (2013) Spatial planning and governance: understanding UK planning. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke.

Urban Task Force (1999) Towards an Urban Renaissance: The Report of the Urban Task Force Chaired by Lord Rogers of Riverside; Executive Summary. Urban Task Force.

Waldheim, C. (Ed.). (2006). The landscape urbanism reader. Princeton Architectural Press, New York.

Research element

Healey & Jenkins (2009) propose that Research-led-teaching design should consider four discrete opportunities. This module has been designed to include three of these opportunities.

1. Research-led learning, where the module syllabus is developed from current research in relevant fields, being based on contemporary and seminal, peer reviewed and other high quality research literature. As such, all knowledge for student engagement will be consciously and specifically chosen for its merits in reference to broader academic understanding.

2. Research-tutored learning, where students engage actively in discussing high quality, contemporary and seminal research literature. This module will involve the critical discussion of prominent literature on the various themes.

3. Research-orientated learning, where students develop methodological skills. In this module, students will be introduced to one methodological approach per unit of study. This will include the practitioner creation of urban design briefs; the creation and analysis of photographs; and media reflections.

4. Research-based learning, where student use developing methodological skills to create original knowledge of their own. This module will provide students with the opportunity to create new primary and analytical knowledge via the opportunities to create various outputs for assembly into an overall assessment portfolio.

Interdisciplinary

The syllabus is inherently inter- and transdisciplinary disciplinary in nature, as students learn to observe and critically cities from the perspectives of planning, political ecology, and the arts and humanities.

International

Case studies as used from countries in the UK, North and Central America.

Subject specific skills

An inclusive and sensitive communication style that engenders trust during group discussions
Research and identify opportunities for more sustainable urban trajectories
Inspire and motivate others to invest in sustainability vision through influential communication
Innovative and creative approach to problem-solving

Transferable skills

As per the University of Warwick framework for Core Skills, students taking this module will develop in the following areas:

Sustainability: Better understands the climate emergency and builds their commitment as an active contributor to a sustainable world, specifically in the area of physical, social, cultural, environmental and economic aspects of urban development.

Organisational Awareness: Understanding of business, government and third sector issues and priorities within the urban context.

Professionalism: Develop competencies for autonomous work, being responsible for developing regular outputs and building a portfolio for assessment; effectively managing the creation of more short term and rapid outputs, in a resilient way; manages priorities and time between learning and ongoing assessment; being self-motivated, setting and achieving goals, prioritising tasks to successful learning and ongoing assessment; being aware of how urban organisation impacts society.

Information Literacy: Critical methodological understanding of how information about the urban environment is generated managed and synthesised; including an understanding of the relative value of different sources and the importance of provenance; the systematic collection, analysis and evaluation of information in the investigation of a topic, during weekly learning and for output and portfolio creation.

Critical Thinking: Recognise patterns, themes and key messages from sometimes confused and incomplete data; make informed decisions on the value of a range of sources allowing an evidence based conclusion based on this analysis for outputs and portfolios.

Digital Literacy: Has the capabilities that enable living, learning and working in a digital society, as a learner and urban citizen; comfortable with using digital media to communicate, respond to problems, manage information, collaborate, create and share content.

Teamwork: Operate within, and contribute to, a respectful, supportive and cooperative group environment, during weekly tasks, discussions; and being sensitive to the impact of actions on others, including how these dynamics play out in the urban environment.

Responding to Issues: Use reasoning to develop appropriate and well-supported propositions for reforms and interventions. Retain an open mind, optimistic of finding proposals, thinking laterally and creatively to look beyond the obvious. Understand that learning requires risk.

Communication: Communicate orally in a clear and sensitive manner that is appropriately varied according to different audiences. Written and mixed media: Present arguments, knowledge and ideas, via diverse outputs using textual and graphical techniques (see assessment details); active listening: questioning, reflecting, summarising of personal research and discussion.

Self-awareness: Actively seek opportunities for personal development in the context of employment and life; aware of personal strengths and emotional intelligence; and reflect on learning, seeking feedback on and evaluating personal practices, strengths and opportunities for personal growth, recognising the value of peer to peer, and collective learning, as well as through more hierarchical social relations

Intercultural Awareness: Develop required observational, analytical and reflection skills to understand impact of culture on self and on interactions with culturally different others, in the context of learning as community, and how these dynamics play out in the urban environment.

Ethical Values: Committed to living ethically, including playing an active role as a reflective, critical and rigorous agent of urban transformation.