Demography, Society and Urban Economics
Code: 104526 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2503743 Management of Smart and Sustainable Cities | FB | 1 | 2 |
Contact
- Name:
- Francesc Muņoz Pradas
- Email:
- Francesc.Munoz@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- spanish (spa)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Other comments on languages
Catalan will be the language of first choice in teaching, but use of Spanish or English by students is welcomed.Prerequisites
No special requirements
Objectives and Contextualisation
The main purpose of the course is to provide tools for the understanding and analysis of the process of contemporary urbanization from the perspective of interaction between demography and economy. The general approach will be analytical with emphasis on concepts and methods related to the modelling of demographic and economic phenomena in the framework of urban growth.
Competences
- Analyse and model urban and regional dynamics using methodological instruments for qualitative and quantitative analysis.
- Identify and analyse government and management policies for cities in the different fields of urban development, particularly methods of public participation.
- Identify and interpret social, economic, technological and sustainability challenges in different areas such as: town planning, infrastructures, mobility, urban economies, services and equipment, cultural diversity and social inequality, energy and natural resources, waste, etc.
- Identify and use different sources, models and data bases of information generated by urban activity, as well as their principles of operation, access policies and standards.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Work cooperatively in complex and uncertain environments and with limited resources in a multidisciplinary context, assuming and respecting the role of the different members of the group.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyse and understand social and territorial processes.
- Analyse territorial dynamics at various scales.
- Be aware of the problem and sources for studying urban movements and citizen practices.
- Distinguish the main sources and databases for the study of urban reality.
- Identify the principal lines of interpretatiion and analysis .
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Use statistical, cartographic, bibliographic and regulatory sources for the study of urban reality.
- Work cooperatively in complex and uncertain environments and with limited resources in a multidisciplinary context, assuming and respecting the role of the different members of the group.
Content
The contents of the course included in the General Report of the Degree are the following:
- Introduction to the study of urban systems and morphology. Main trends of the contemporary urbanization process: the expansion and integration of urban networks, the dispersion of urbanization and the diffusion of urban uses over the territory.
- The urban population. Processes of demographic transition in contemporary societies and their relationship with the urbanization process. Basic concepts related to the structure and components of population growth (relationship of natural movement and migration with the urban phenomenon).
- The city as an ecosystem, pointing out its heterotrophic nature and its relationship with the consumption of resources and energy.
- Urban economy, from the point of view of the relation of the urbanization process with the production and distribution of goods and services. Dynamics of industrialization and tertiarization, step of the Fordist production and consumption processes post-Fordists.
- Urban society. Ways of life and socialization, structure of social groups, relations and distribution over the territory, rent of land and phenomenon of urban segregation.
- The city as a space for collective reproduction. Housing, services, mobility and transport.
- Urban government. Institutional organization (local government, metropolitan administrations, sectoral administrations, relationship with other levels of administration), urban policies and planning.
- Technical innovations and projects related to the city and urbanization in the city.
Specifically, in the 2021-2022 academic year, the following general syllabus will be followed. At the beginning of the course, a detailed schedule of sessions will be published
1.Introduction
2. Demographic and socio-economic statistical sources
3.Fonamentals of demographic analysis
4.Demographic growth and population structures
5. Principles of urban economic analysis
6.Urban economic growth
Methodology
The course is organized based on training activities of three types: Theoretical classes, laboratory practices and external visits. This set of activities is carried out on three levels:
Directed activities: Theoretical classes (one session per week of two hours) and laboratory practice sessions (PAL) led by the teacher (one session per week of one hour for small groups).
Supervised activities: monitoring of laboratory practices (PAL), in the computer classroom or through face-to-face or virtual tutoring and conducting external visits (VEXT) to institutions related to the production and/or analysis of demographic and socio-economic information.
Autonomous activities: completion of practices, preparation of written tests, study of theoretical contents and complementary readings.
Targeted and supervised activities would be adapted to virtual teaching through TEAMS and other available online resources if it is required.
The teacher will spend approximately 15 minutes of any class to allow students to respond to performance assessment surveys and assessment of the subject or module.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Lectures | 25 | 1 | 1, 5, 7 |
| Problems in computer lab | 21 | 0.84 | 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 8 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| External visits | 12 | 0.48 | 3, 4, 6, 8 |
| Individual or small groups tutoring | 10 | 0.4 | 1, 8 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Autonomous work on assignments | 20 | 0.8 | 2, 1, 4, 5, 6, 8 |
| Studying for exams | 20 | 0.8 | 1, 5, 8 |
| Supplementary recommended reading | 20 | 0.8 | 1, 4, 5 |
Assessment
-Two objective exams, 25% of the final note each exam, 50% of the final grade.
-Practical Session Report (PAL) 30% of the final grade
-External Visits Report (VEXT). 20% of the final grade
All activities evaluated will be scored between 0 and 10 points. An activity will be considered non-approved if its rating is less than 5 points.
The final grade of the course will be a weighted average of all the activities submitted to assessment. The course will be passed with an average grade equal to or greater than 5.
The delivery of the reports after the deadline will be qualified as "Not submitted"
The absence not justified in one of the objective exams will be qualified as "Not attending".
Review procedure:
All activities assessed will be subject to review of the ratings. The student will be informed via the Moodle classroom of the review date in each case. The procedure will be by email. The student will motivate the request for review in their message.
Students who have performed only one of the four activities evaluated throughout the course (two objective tests and two reports) will be rated "Not assessable."
The resit examination will be done through a written test. Students can take this second chance examination on the date announced by the Degree teacher coordinator if they final average grade are less than 5 points. In this case, the grade obtained will replace the one corresponding to the lowest of all activities assessed.
The copy or plagiarism of material, both in the case of reports and objective exams, will be sanctioned. The student will fail the subject.
Gender criteria: The theory and practices of the course will illustrate, depending on the case, social and gender differences.
The grade “with honors" may be given to students who achieve a final a grade equal to or greater than 9.00. Their number may not exceed five percent of students enrolled in the course in the corresponding academic year, unless the number of students enrolled is less than 20. In this case a single grade "with honors" may be awarded.
Repeater students do not have differentiated assessment conditions.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| External visits report | 20% | 8 | 0.32 | 2, 4, 6, 9, 8 |
| First objective exam | 25% | 3 | 0.12 | 1, 3, 5, 7, 8 |
| Practical sessions report (computer lab practice) | 30% | 8 | 0.32 | 2, 4, 6, 9, 8 |
| Second objective exam | 25% | 3 | 0.12 | 1, 3, 5, 7, 8 |
Bibliography
CARMICHEL, Gordon A. 2016. Fundamentals of Demographic Analysis: Concepts, Measures and Methods. Springer International Publishing. Dordrecht.
SIEGEL, Jacob S., SWANSON, David. 2004. The methods and materials of demography. Elsevier. San Diego
PRESTON, Samuel H., HEUVELINE, Patrick., GUILLOT, Michel. 2001. Demography: Measuring and Modeling Population processes. Blackwell Publishers.Oxford.(*)
LIVI BACCI, Massimo. 1993. Introducción a la demografía. Ariel. Barcelona (*)
O’SULLIVAN, Arthur 2019 Urban Economics Ninth Edition MacGraw Hill Education New York (*)
CAMAGNI, Roberto 2005 Economía urbana Antoni Bosch editor Barcelona
COE, Neil M., KELLY, Philip.F., YEUNG, Henry W.C . 2007. Economic Geography A contemporary introduction. Blackwell. Singapore
WHEELER James O., MULLER Peter O., THRALL Grant I., FIK, Thimoty J. 1998. Economic Geography Third Edition. John Wiley & Sons. New York. (*)
(*) Most relevant references
Software
Specific software is not required