Module GEOG30V7: GLOBAL URBANISM

Department: Geography

GEOG30V7: GLOBAL URBANISM

Prerequisites

• Any Level 2 BA Geography module

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• Develop an advanced understanding of the relations between cities and global change;
• Examine the ways in which forms of global urbanism impact cities and urban life;
• Critically evaluate different ways of conceptualising the connections between the ‘urban’ and the ‘global’;
• Understand and apply key contemporary concepts and approaches in Urban Geography and Urban Studies in relation to global urbanism;
• Develop critical thinking and debate skills in Urban Geography and Urban Studies through workshops and group discussions.

Content

• The globe is urbanising. More and more people are moving to cities. Cities play an increasingly important role in the global economy, and are often viewed as both the driver of, and solution to, the climate crisis. Globally, cities play vital roles in political and cultural change. But how might we understand the relationship between the ‘urban’ and the ‘global’? What is ‘global urbanism’, and what does it mean for how life in our cities is changing? We will examine the different ways in which we might conceptualise the links between the urban and the global, explore what Geographers and Urbanists have had to say about this relationship, and ask how global urbanism might change to meet social, economic, environmental, and political challenges. To do so, we will explore examples from cities across the globe.
• We will examine theories and conceptualisations of global urbanism, including post-Marxist, post-structural, and post-colonial approaches, and ask what they mean for how we understand fundamental ideas like ‘the city’, the ‘urban’, ‘urbanization’, and ‘urban life’. We will ask what different forms of global urbanism mean for the politics of the city, both in the ways that cities are governed and how they are contested. We will explore global urbanism through the materiality of the city, from infrastructure to the everyday commodities and provisions through which the urban and globe come together. We will consider what it means to bring global urbanism into the domain of everyday life in the city: what does it mean to ‘live’ global urbanism, and how is that differentiated across place and according to different social groups? We will examine what global urbanism means for how we understand climate change, and vice-versa. And we will explore how Geographers and Urbanists have sought to research global urbanism, and with what consequences for theory, politics and practice.

Learning Outcomes

• On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
• Demonstrate advanced knowledge and understanding of how global urbanism is differently conceptualised, and critically evaluate different approaches;
• Employ a range of concepts for analysing global urbanism;
• Critically evaluate the ways in which global urbanism takes shape in relation to different domains and problems in cities.

• On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
• Demonstrate critical thinking in relation to different aspects of global urbanism;
• Evaluate how different concepts and approaches of global urbanism help us to understand cities and urban life;
• Apply key concepts in Urban Geography and Urban Studies to contemporary problems and issues.

• On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
• Demonstrate written, team-work, and presentation skills;
• Demonstrate the ability to synthesise information and to relate academic concepts to contemporary issues and problems.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures will examine key themes connected to global urbanism. Content may include conceptualising global urbanism, urban infrastructure, urban political economic change, everyday urban life, urban climate change, urban spatiality (e.g. concentration, sprawl, translocalism), urban research methodologies, and urban resistance, rights and justice;
• Workshops will allow opportunities to discuss key module themes and readings, and to develop debate, presentation, and team-work skills;
• Formative assessment entails a group presentation on a theme connected to global urbanism, and will include oral feedback from staff and peers;
• Summative assessment will be a 5-page essay examining global urbanism in relation to a particular module theme. This will require critical engagement with key concepts of global urbanism and the application of concepts to a theme.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Students will work in allocated groups of no more than five and will prepare a Powerpoint presentation on how global urbanism connects to a module theme. The presentation must examine (i) how a conceptualisation of global urbanism enables understanding of the chosen theme, (ii) the limits of that conceptualisation for understanding the theme, and (iii) the implications for the value of global urbanism as a key concept and debate in Urban Geography.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University