Regional Organisation
Code: 101621 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2501002 Geography and Spatial Planning | OB | 3 | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Francesc Muñoz Ramírez
- Email:
- Franc.Munoz@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- catalan (cat)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Prerequisites
It is advisable to have studied Urban Geography
Objectives and Contextualisation
Contextualisation
One of the most outstanding features of the evolution of contemporary societies is the speed and depth of territorial transformations. Transformations that affect the forms of human settlement over space, the mobility of people, capital, information and merchandise, the use of resources and the evolution of the landscape. At the base of these mutations of spatial structures are the great processes of global change: the integration of the economy that has led to the extension of capitalist production relations to the entire planet, the growth of the population, the pressure on the use of resources and energy, as well as climate change.
These territorial transformations, cause and effect at the same time of the processes of global change, bring obvious advantages from the point of view of the collective welfare: the greater accessibility to the services, the smaller impedance of the distance, the access to the urban forms of life throughout the territory. But they also have very prominent problems, such as the accelerated occupation of the land, the waste of natural resources, housing affordability, the exacerbation of mobility, the loss of landscape values and the degradation of regions, localities and neighborhoods. The distribution of the benefits and the damages of these territorial processes is not equitable, neither in territorial terms, nor in social terms. Thus, the use of the territory becomes an issue that is always more controversial and generates conflicts.
In this context, spatial planning is the discipline that seeks to orient and order over space the economic, environmental and social processes. Obviously, in doing so, it may pursue to satisfy interests of a particular or general nature, to favor certain social groups or the whole of society. This confers on the organization of the territory a double character: it is a technical discipline that obeys to objectives and political considerations. For this reason, Territorial Planning has been defined as"a set of technically assisted political practices".
At present, the depth of territorial changes, the increase in the number and virulence of spatial conflicts, environmental challenges and economic and social problems make the use of Territorial Planning particularly relevant. The approach to the subject from Geography, with its willingness to treat social and environmental processes together, with the combination of analytical knowledge and applied instruments, is particularly appropriate and useful.
Objectives
The degree programs in territorial planning have three basic objectives:
1. To familiarize the student with the character, specificity, theoretical concepts and practical evolution of the planning and management of the territory, both in general terms and in its concretion in Catalonia.
2. Introduce the student to the knowledge of the main concepts, instruments, methods, legislation and normative figures regarding urban planning.
3. To make known to the student the territorial planning figures (general and sectorial) as well as the main instruments for the promotion and management of territorial and urban policies regarding land, housing, landscape and urban rehabilitation.
Although the approach to the topics will have a general character, the subject wants to have an intentionality essentially applied, so that the student can acquire a detailed knowledge of the figures of urban and territorial planning, as well as of the instruments of the urban policies in force in Spain and in Catalonia.
Competences
- Acting and intervening in the territory and its management, displaying the practical and experimental nature of geographical formations.
- Analysing and interpreting environmental problems.
- Identifying the spatial relationships on different territorial levels through the relationships between nature and society through time dimension.
- Mastering the necessary theoretical knowledge in order to pose geographical problems in an integrated way and combining a generalist approach with a specialised analysis.
- Producing innovative and competitive proposals in research and professional activity.
Learning Outcomes
- Drawing up innovative proposals.
- Explaining the spatial relationships on different territorial levels in the field of territorial planning through the relationships between nature and society.
- Interpreting the environmental problems of spatial planning.
- Planning the territory in order to improve its management.
- Posing problems related to the management of resources and territory.
Content
FIRST PART. NATURE AND HISTORY OF LAND PLANNING
1. Land planning: a technically assisted political practice
2. The origins of the discipline
3. The garden city and the City Beautiful mouvements
4. The modern movement
5. The city of the automobile
6. The urbanization without confines and the regeneration of the consolidated city
SECOND PART: CONCEPTS AND INSTRUMENTS OF CITY PLANNING
7. Substance of city planning
8. The basic instruments of city planning
9. The basic instruments of city Planning (II)
10. The legal regime of land
THIRD PART: LAND PLANNING AND URBAN POLICIES
11. Land Planning and territorial policy
12. Regional planning
13. Housing policy
14. Urban rehabilitation policies
15. Landscape policy
Methodology
Methodology:
a) Work in the classroom: master classes illustrated with thematic files and digital resources provided to the studens on a weekly basis.
b) Practices: practices corresponding to each of the parts of the course, which will be grouped in a final work.
c) Conferences: assistance to the conferences eventually organised by the Territorial Planning Program of the Department of Geography
d) Tutorials: individual and group
e) Individual work of the student: readings, exercises based on the materials and contents of the thematic files provided, preparation of the exams.
f) Group work: elaboration of practices on territorial and urban planning. The students will present the works in the classroom throughout a morning session.
g) Fieldwork: displacement to the municipality studied for direct knowledge and information collection. The dates of the exits will be published on the website of the Department of Geography.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Fieldwork | 8 | 0.32 | 2, 3, 4, 5, 1 |
| Practices | 17 | 0.68 | 2, 3, 4, 5, 1 |
| Theoretical classes | 25 | 1 | 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Exams | 3 | 0.12 | 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Group tutorials | 1.5 | 0.06 | 2, 3, 4, 5, 1 |
| Presentations | 0.5 | 0.02 | 2, 3, 4, 5, 1 |
| Self-evaluation | 1 | 0.04 | 2, 3, 4, 5, 1 |
| individual tutorials | 1 | 0.04 | 2, 3, 4, 5, 1 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Essays | 5 | 0.2 | 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Individual study | 20 | 0.8 | 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Practices | 4 | 0.16 | 2, 3, 4, 5, 1 |
| Preparing presentations | 40 | 1.6 | 2, 3, 4, 5, 1 |
| Readings | 20 | 0.8 | 2, 3, 4, 5 |
Assessment
Evaluation
a) Reading of the two textbooks corresponding to the parts of the course. One evaluation test corresponding to each of the readings (20% of the total score).
b) Performing one exam, corresponding to the contents of each part of the course (30% of the total grade).
c) Preparation of the course work based on the compilation of the practices (40% of the total grade). The practices will be adapted to the possibilities of each of the modalities in which the subject is taught (face-to-face or online).
d) Participation (10% of the total grade).
To be evaluated, you must:
- Have completed all the tests for the evaluation of the readings and exams in the dates and formats provided, as well as having delivered the practices of the course work.
- Have attended a minimum of 75% of the class sessions (for students who follow the classroom modality).
Revision
When developing every evaluation activity, the instructor will inform the students about the specific procedure and date in regard ith the revision of the qualifications.
Re-evaluation
There is the possibility of re-evaluating the evaluation testsof the readings and the exams, if they have been submitted within the established period. The maximum grade that can be obtained in the re-evaluation is a 5. It is not expected to reevaluate the course work.
When facing the recovery of the evaluation, students will have to make sure they have presented and have been evaluated in regard with the evaluation activities of the course (corresponding to 2/3 of the global qualification).
When facing the recovery of the evaluation, stdents will be required to be graded wit a minimum qualification of 3,5 in regard with the evaluation activities required during the course.
In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.
In the event that tests or exams cannot be taken onsite, they will be adapted to an online format made available through the UAB’s virtual tools (original weighting will be maintained). Homework, activities and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis and/or discussion on Teams, etc. Lecturers will ensure that students are able to access these virtual tools, or will offer them feasible alternatives.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 evaluation test corresponding to the textbooks | 25% | 1.5 | 0.06 | 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| 1 exam | 35% | 2 | 0.08 | 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Course work based on the compilation of the practices | 40% | 0.5 | 0.02 | 2, 3, 4, 5, 1 |
Bibliography
Hall, Peter Geoffrey, Ciudades del mañana : historia del urbanismo en el siglo XX ; traducción de Consol Freixa, Barcelona : Ediciones del Serbal, 1996 (494 p.)
Esteban i Noguera, Juli, La Ordenación urbanística : conceptos, herramientas y prácticas , Barcelona : Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona TECH : Iniciativa Digital Politècnica, Publicacions Acadèmiques UPC, cop. 2011 (293 p.).
Oriol Nel·lo, Ordenar el territorio. La experiencia de Barcelona y Cataluña, València, Tirant lo Blanch, 2012 (253 p.)