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2020/2021

Cities and Metropolitan Areas

Code: 42505 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
4313300 Regional and Population Studies OT 0 1
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
María Antonia Casellas Puigdemasa
Email:
Antonia.Casellas@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)

Other comments on languages

Spanish and English

Teachers

María Antonia Casellas Puigdemasa
Anna Ortiz Guitart

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites.

Objectives and Contextualisation

This compulsory module is part of the master's core teachings along with the Territorial Planning and Geographic information systems, planning and landscape modules and in coordination with the Advanced Themes module. The aim of the core teachings is to provide students with conceptual and practical skills for the design and writing of territorial planning instruments. To do this, a practical exercise will be carried out, consisting in recognizing and identifying the urban, social and environmental characteristics of certain public spaces and the preparation of proposals for the management of these spaces.

Competences

  • Analyze and interpret the interrelationship between population dynamics and historical and recent territorial transformations
  • Apply critical concepts and advanced theoretical approaches to the study of land use and population
  • Apply the different methodologies of geographic and demographic analysis at different territorial levels and population sizes
  • Assess the impact of the framework laws, economic, political and social in the demographic and territorial dynamics.
  • Design projects of urban and regional planning using figures and methodologies appropriate territorial scales
  • Detect the complexity of territorial and demographic dynamics and recognize the most efficient management mechanisms, particularly in conflict situations
  • Promote the implementation and advancement of the principles of ecological, social and economic sustainability.
  • Solve problems in new or little-known situations within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to the field of study.
  • Use acquired knowledge as a basis for originality in the application of ideas, often in a research context.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyze and interpret the population, urban, environmental and landscape problems arising from the processes of contemporary territorial transformations
  2. Apply the concepts of urban environmental ecology in the integrated management of the city and metropolitan areas
  3. Evaluate the processes of territorial transformation and population using methodologies and tools related to theories of reference, able to measure the mechanisms of action and results.
  4. Know the main laws and of urban planning and land development
  5. Knowing the conceptual frameworks to analyze and interpret the territorial conflicts.
  6. Managing conflict and coexistence in urban public spaces
  7. Promote management models based on environmental education, participation and environmental certification.
  8. Promote the implementation and advancement of the principles of ecological, social and economic sustainability.
  9. Qualitative methodology applied to the management of urban space and metropolitan
  10. Recognizing the importance of population and economic dynamics in the evolution of the city and metropolitan areas.
  11. Recognizing the relationship between political and territorial dynamics legal system, population system.
  12. Recognizing the utility of public policies in the management of the city and metropolitan areas.
  13. Reflect on the conceptual and methodological renewal in relation to the urban system and the network of cities.
  14. Reflect on the relationship between urban morphology and planning
  15. Solve problems in new or little-known situations within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to the field of study.
  16. Use acquired knowledge as a basis for originality in the application of ideas, often in a research context.

Content

Antònia Casellas  i Anna Ortiz 

January 12 

Antònia Casellas (AC) i Anna Ortiz (AO)

Part 1.

16-18h. AC

Introduction to the course.

Urban planning and politics: What do we plan, how do we plan it, and for whom?

Casellas, A.; Poli, C. (2013) “Planificación urbana e innovación: de la tecnología y la práctica profesional a la innovación social y política”, Documents d’Anàlisi Geogràfica, 59 (3): 435-454.

Part 2.

18-20h. AO

Daily life, neighborhoods, and a sense of belonging.

Buffel, Tine & Phillipson, Chris (2019). “Ageing in a gentrifying neighbourhood: experiences of community change in later life”, Sociology, 1-18.

Elliott, Jane; Gale, Catherinne R.; Parsons, Samantha & Kuh, Diana; The HALCyon Team (2014). ”Neighbourhood cohesion and mental wellbeing among older adults: a mixed methods approach”, Social Science & Medicine, 107, pp. 44-51.

 

January 14 

Part 1.

16-18h. AO

Public space and citizenship

Amin, Ash (2002). “Ethnicity and the multicultural city: living with diversity”, Environment and Planning A, 34, 959-980.

Kalandides, Ares & Vaiou, Dina, (2012). "'Ethnic' neighbourhoods? Practices of belonging amd claims to the city", European Urban and Regional Studies, 19 (3): 254-266.

Part 2.

18-20h. AC

Urban space and community economies

Gibson-Graham, J.K. (2008). “Diverse Economies: Performative Practices for ‘Other Worlds’. Progress in Human Geography 32 (5), p.1-20.

Lynch, Casey R. (2020). “Contesting Digital Futures: Urban Politics, Alternative Economies, and the Movement for Technological Sovereignty in Barcelona”. Antipode, 52: 660-680.

 January 19 

Part 1.

16-18h. AC

Rethinking urbanization and sustainability

Conferència –  A determinar

Poli, Corrado (2010) “Sustainable Development: from Fallacy to Fraud”, Human Geography. A new Radical Journal, 3 (2): 63-82.

Part 2.

18-20h. AO

Gender, city and daily life

Fenster, Tovi (2005). "The right to the gendered city: different formations of belonging in everyday life", Journal of Gender Studies, 14 (3): 217-231.

Peake, Linda J. (2020). “Gender and the City”. In: Kobayashi, A. (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, 2nd edition. vol. 5, Elsevier, pp. 281–292.

January 21 

Part 1.

16-18h. AO

Children and teenagers urban experience

Bourke, Jackie (2017). “Children’s experiences of their everyday walks through a complex urban landscape of belonging”, Children's Geographies, 15 (1), 93-106.

Vanderstede, Wouter (2011). “‘Chilling’ and ‘hopping’ in the ‘teenage space network’: explorations in teenagers’ geographies in the city of Mechelen”, Children's Geographies, 9 (2), 167-184.

Part 2.

18-20h. AC

City's challenges

Pavoni, Andrea; Tulumello, Simone. (2020). “What is urban violence?” Progress in Human Geography.  Vol. 44 Issue 1, p 49-76.

Sheppard, E., Sparks, T. and Leitner, H. (2020). “World Class Aspirations, Urban Informality, and Poverty Politics: A North–South Comparison”. Antipode, 52: 393-407. 

 

January 26 

16 a 20h.

Students presentations (AC + AO)

Methodology

- Teaching expositions.

- Individualized and group tutorials.

- Debates in the classroom.

The activities that could not be done onsite will be adapted to an online format made available through the UAB’s virtual tools. Exercises, projects and lectures will be carried out using virtual tools such as tutorials, videos, Teams sessions, etc. Lecturers will ensure that students are able to access these virtual tools, or will offer them feasible alternatives.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Discussion at the seminar 5 0.2 16
Teacher's lessons 25 1 16
Type: Supervised      
Preparation of the personal report 5 0.2 2
Preparation of the plan's memory 25 1 2
Type: Autonomous      
Carry out the individual report 15 0.6 15
Carry out the plan's memory 70 2.8 15

Assessment

- Attendance and active participation in face-to-face sessions: 10% (not subject to re-evaluation)

- Elaboration of assessment work

- Core work (in group): 50%

- Core work oral presentation: 15%

- Individual module exercise: 25%

Core work is not subject to re-evaluation

VERY IMPORTANT: Total or partial plagiary of any of the exercises will automatically be considered “fail” (0) for the plagiarized item. Plagiary is copying one or more sentences from   unidentified sources, presenting it as original work (THIS INCLUDES COPYING PHRASES OR FRAGMENTS FROM THE INTERNET AND ADDING THEM WITHOUT MODIFICATION TO A TEXT WHICH IS PRESENTED AS ORIGINAL).    Plagiarism is a serious offense. Students must learn to respect the intellectual property of others, identifying any source they may use, and take responsibility for the originality and authenticity of the texts they produce.

In the event that assessment activities 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
Core work oral presentation 15 0.5 0.02 1, 2, 9, 3, 5, 4, 6, 8, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 13
Presentation of the module's individual report 85 4.5 0.18 4, 15, 11, 12, 13, 16

Bibliography

BASIC BIBLIOGRAPHY

Albet, Abel y Benach, Núria (eds.) (2012) Doreen Massey, Un sentido global del lugar, Icaria, Barcelona.

Amin, Ash (2002) “Ethnicity and the multicultural city: living with diversity”, Environment and Planning A, 34, 959-980.

Anguelovski, Isabelle (2014), Neighborhood as refuge (Community, Reconstruction, Place Remaking and Enviromental Justice in the City), MIT Press: Cambridge, Mass (cap 2: “Environmental justice, urban development and place identity” i cap. 7: “Conclusion: toward a new framework for place-based urban environmental justice and community health”).

Borja, Jordi y Muxí, Zaida (2001) Espai públic: ciutat i ciutadania, Barcelona: Diputació de Barcelona.

Campbell, Scott (1996) “Green cities, growing cities, just cities?: Urban planning and the Contradictions of Sustainable Development” Journal of the American Planning Association, 62 (3) p. 296-312.

Casellas, A. (2016) “Urban Development, Power Coalitions and Citizens Participation in Barcelona: A Narrative from a Critical Geography Approach” Boletín de la Asociación de Geógrafos Españoles, n. 70, 57-75.

Estela, Oriol (2015) “Políticas públicas para economías locales resilientes” Rivista Internazionale di Cultura Urbanistica, p. 81-94.

Harvey, David (1996) Justice, Nature and the Geography of Difference. Blackwell, Cambridge Mass.

Middleton, Jennie (2010) “Sense and the city: exploring the embodied geographies of urban walking”, Social & Cultural Geography, 11 (6), 575-596.

Nel·lo, Oriol (2001), Ciutat de ciutats. Reflexions sobre el procés d'urbanització a Catalunya, Barcelona: Empúries.

Poli, Corrado (2010) “Sustainable Development: from Fallacy to Fraud”, Human Geography. A new Radical Journal, 3 (2) p. 63-82.

Sevilla-Buitrago, Álvaro (ed.) (2017) Neil Brenner. Teoría urbana crítica y políticas de escala. Barcelona, Icaria

Soja, Edward (2014, original inglés 2010) En busca de la justicia espacial, Tirant lo Blanch, Valencia.

Soja, Edward W. (2014) En busca de la justicia espacial, Tirant Humanitats, Valencia.

 

* AT THE BEGINNING OF THE COURSE BIBLIOGRAPHY WILL BE PROVIDED FOR EACH TOPIC TO COVER.