Inside the City: Patterns, Processes, Problems (U00395)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : GEO-3-INSIDECIT

This is a broad course concerned mainly with cities in the developed world and their planning problems, particularly those related to transport, land use, housing and the general spatial structure and design of the built environment. It is also concerned with policies and plans intended to address such problems and the debates these have generated. Initially, various concepts and theories developed to help understand and explain urban society, and its spatial structure, mostly deriving from the Chicago School, are explored critically. More recent ideas and models dealing with how transport, land use and planning systems can interact to shape the "spatial organisation" of cities and their built environments are then examined in more depth. Contemporary debates on urban transport policy (particularly on the role of the car) and on ideas for making cities more sustainable and improving their quality of environment (especially the "compact city" approach) are discussed against the background of these models and relationships. Theoretical perspectives on how power is exercised in urban systems in the fields of planning, transport and housing, including Weberian and Marxian approaches, are then explored and some of the main concepts and practices of UK urban design and planning are examined critically. Throughout the course general comparisons are made between cities of the UK, of the USA, and of certain of the formerly centrally planned countries of Eastern Europe. Particular reference is made to Los Angeles, Edinburgh, Bremen and Warsaw as cities with contrasting histories, spatial structures, transport systems and cultural environments. Themes discussed in these case studies include the role of the market and the role of the central and local states.

Entry Requirements

? Special Arrangements for Entry : Requests for registration must be made by email to Shiela.Wilson@ed.ac.uk
Availability to Visiting Undergraduates may be dependent on demand from internal students.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Geography, (School of GeoSciences, Schedule N)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : Semester 1 (Blocks 1-2)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
19/09/2006	14:00	15:50	Room 2.01, Old Infirmary (Geography)	Central

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Tuesday	14:00	15:50	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

To help students develop a better understanding of how social and economic processes, the built environment and spatial forms can interact in urban contexts.

To introduce and explore a range of ideas and theories which have affected how cities are viewed, analysed, planned and lived in.

To stimulate discussion on various policy issues affecting cities as living environments and their sustainability.