S1406 Cities, Global Change and Sustainable Development
Turvani Margherita, Costa Camilla
The course aims to provide students with the basic tools and frameworks to recognize and analyse contemporary urban issues. The course will explore from an interdisciplinary perspective how cities work and change, in terms of urban life, configurations of people and place, social and environmental issues, and urban sustainability. Starting from a theoretical introduction on cities, the course focuses on Venice as a peculiar case of global city. From the second week on, students will have the chance of working on four “hot spots” of the city, chosen as enlightening some of the key urban components. In particular, the selected components and the related case studies are the following:
CITY COMPONENTS CASE STUDIES
Architecture Arsenale
(MOSE – European Project Second Chance)
Economy The Harbour (Cruise tourism)
Environment Marghera
Culture Magazzini del Sale
Students will be organized in four groups and from the very start of the course they will work on these case studies with the dual aim of investigating the underlying phenomenon and trying to evaluate their impacts on the city. Four field trips will be arranged in order to let the students become familiar with the “spots” as early as possible. Each field trip will be introduced by a lecture exploring the theoretical background. Since the sixth week, students will be provided with the main tools to understand the urban functioning, with a focus on the governing side and the policy making process and the issue of sustainability. The course will end with a view on some of the main concepts that are currently influencing and leading urban development, for instance the organization of big events and the ideas of creativity and innovation.
Course organization and requirements
Students will be expected to do the required readings and to attend class regularly. Attendance is compulsory for all students. Required readings will be designated on a weekly basis according to the themes listed in the course outline. Students will be also encouraged to find additional material for their group works by searching the Internet and accessing suggested websites.
Exam:
Two parts will compose the final exam:
1. The presentation of research results on case studies (group work) - A detailed framework for the analysis will be provided at the beginning of the course.
2. A written test based on four open questions.
The first evaluation is scheduled on week 9th.
The second one on week 12th (final presentation of group work) and on week 13th (written test)
40% Group work:
Power Point presentation teamwork
40% Written test:
20% Attendance/class participation/interaction
Syllabus
Module I: Cities and global changes
Week Lecture Title
1 Week
1 Lecture Urbanization: an introduction
2 Lecture Venice and globalization
2 Week
3 Lecture Urbanization & Architecture
4 Lecture Observing cities: Field Trip - ARSENALE
3 Week
5 Lecture The evolution of global production and its effects on cities
6 Lecture Observing cities: Field Trip – HARBOUR
4 Week
7 Lecture Introduction to sustainable development
8 Lecture Observing cities: Field Trip - MARGHERA
5 Week
9 Lecture Urban society and global culture
10 Lecture Observing cities: Field Trip – MAGAZZINI DEL SALE
Module II: Governing cities in the global era
Week Lecture Title
6 Week
11 Lecture Urban growth and the environment
12 Lecture Urban sustainability and well-being
7 Week
13 Lecture Smart Cities
14 Lecture Strategic Plans: the case of Veneto Region and Venice Municipality
8 Week
15 Lecture Global Governance
16 Lecture Urban Governance
9 Week
17 Lecture Work in progress Presentations
Module III: Reshaping Cities
Week Lecture Title
10 Week
19 Lecture Theoretical approach to urban regeneration
20 Lecture Global cases
11 Week
21 Lecture Big Events
22 Lecture The Creative City
12 Week
23 Lecture Group Presentations
24 Lecture Group Presentations
13 Week
EXAM: second part
The course examines the process of mass urbanization and the environmental, economic and social changes taking place in cities around the world as a result of globalization and it discusses major challenges in achieving a more sustainable urban development. Drawing on theories of globalization, development, and sustainability, we will consider how the global context shapes changes and policy issues in cities, making more complex our understanding of social life in urban places. Cities are growing rapidly, both in terms of population and their over-consumptive use of land: over half of the world’s population now lives in cities and, as a result, urban social and economic systems have expanded and now they constitute the engine of change and growth, economically and socially. Furthermore, cities are also the primary consumers of natural resources and energy, and the major creators of waste.
Earth’s ecosystems are increasingly influenced by both the pace and patterns of urban growth. The future of ecosystems will depend upon our ability to make urban regions sustainable. Urban regions are major determinants of global and continental scale changes through land transformation and modification of biogeochemical processes. The knowledge and understanding of the city as an integrated system will be our major goal.
City-regions are replacing nation-economies in most countries, both developed and underdeveloped. In developing countries mega city and city-regions are widely spread and cities are facing challenges that range from increasing competition for economic growth, to environmental protection versus economic development, housing reform and slum upgrading in the process of urban renewal, and rising conflicts over land use and property rights
This course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to critically examine the relationship between cities, the environment, economies and global change, and it offers the tools to envisage how further globalization will affect those relations. Venice and its Lagoon will be proposed as a case study; it has been a true global city in the past and it is still now, yet from a very different perspective, as one of the world-class city and a people’ patrimony.
Learning objectives:
-To develop an understanding of the processes of urbanization, global change and growth, in developed and developing countries.
-To develop an understanding of the concept of cities as coupled human natural systems.
-To foster the ability to assess current environmental, economic and social urban issues and problems in the context of further globalization.
-To gain experience in understanding global cities sustainability issues and demands and to develop capacity to envision sustainable solutions and answers.
-To demonstrate the acquired capacities and understanding in studying the case of Venice and its Lagoon.
Course organisation and topics:
The course is divided in 3 modules organized in lectures.
Lectures are mainly aimed at providing a theoretical introduction and consistent knowledge blocks, and they will be conducted by researches, guests and field experts. Field trips and vision of videos and movies are to be considered essential part of the programme.
Module I: Cities, global change and urban ecology
- Key ideas about urbanism in historical perspective;
- Cities and urban studies;
- Key ideas and concepts on the demographic, economic and social aspects of cities;
- Urban growth and the environment;
- Cities as Coupled Human-Natural Systems
- Complexity and Resilience in Urban Ecosystems
- Urban Planning under Uncertainty
- Integrated Modeling and Scenario Planning
- The changing nature of urban economies and societies and their relationships with changes at the local and global levels
- Urban sustainability and well being .
Module II: Cities in developing countries
- Development Challenges Facing Cities in Developing Countries under Globalization
- Cities as Industrial Cluster;
- Determinants of Urban Growth in Developing Countries
- The Struggle between Environmental Protection and Development in Developing Countries
- Urban Renewal and Slum Upgrading
- Land Tenure and Property Rights
Module III: Living in cities in time of global change: the case of Venice and its Lagoon
- The city and its environment in historical perspective;
- Current economic and social issues and policies;
- The safeguard of Venice and its Lagoon;
- Developing visions for a sustainable Venice;
Evaluation Method is based on:
Student presentations
Attendance/class participation Evaluation
Intermediate Evaluation
Teamwork Final Paper Evaluation
Aim: to demonstrate you are able to apply the concepts learnt during the course to the critical analysis of specific issue
Format 10 and 12 pages including references
Evaluation
30% three summary module essays
40% final teamwork paper
20% in-class participation
10% final paper in-class presentation
Exam Schedule
essays due on April 5, May 3 and 27; final team work paper due on May 31; presentation of final projects May 27,May 29
Syllabus
The global course duration is 13 weeks + 1 week for the exams: 2 lectures per week (90 minutes each), for a total of 3 hrs per week. The course is divided into three modules.
First module: the first 5 weeks (two lectures per week, 1 field trip)
MIDTERM BREAK
Second module: week 6- 8 (two lectures per week and 1 field trip)
Third module : week 9-12 (two lectures per week and 2 field trips)
EXAM WEEK: project work reports, presentations
MODULE 1: CITIES, GLOBAL CHANGE AND SUSTAINABILITY (Turvani and Prof. Marina Alberti) (10 lectures, 1 field trip)
Week 1
Lecture 1 Urbanization: an introduction
-S. Kim, “Urbanization” The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, Second Edition,
-Washington University in St. Louis and NBER
Lecture 2 Urbanization and urban studies
-Paul M. Hohenberg and Lynn Hollen Lees, 1985, "Introduction: Urbanization inPerspective" (1-21), from The Making of Urban Europe 1000-1950, Harvard U.P.
-Edward Glaeser, 1994, Economic growth and urban density: a review, WP E94-7, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Week 2
Lecture 1 The nature of the city: economy, geography and human behavior
-Weber M., The nature of the city; Simmel G., The metropolis and metal life; Spengler O., The soul of the city; Park R., City and human behavior, in Sennet, 1969, Classic essays on the culture of cities, New York: Meredith Corporation
Lecture 2 Urban growth and the environment
-Kahn, M. A., 2006. Green cities: urban growth and the environment, Brooking Institution Press, Washington, Cap. 6,8
Week 3
Lecture 1 Cities as Coupled Human-Natural Systems (Alberti)
-Alberti, Marina. 2008. Advances in Urban Ecology: Integrating Humans and Ecological Processes in Urban Ecosystems. New York. Springer. Ch. 1
-Alberti, M., Marzluff. J. Shulenberger, E., Bradley, G. Ryan, C. and C. Zumbrunnen. 2003. Integrating Humans Into Ecology: Opportunities And Challenges For Urban Ecology. BioScience. Vol. 53, No.12.
Lecture 2 Complexity and Resilience in Urban Ecosystems (Alberti)
-Liu, J., T. Dietz, S.R. Carpenter, M. Alberti, C. Folke, E. Moran, A.C. Pell, P. Deadman, T. Kratz, J. Lubchenco, E. Ostrom, Z. Ouyang, W. Provencher, C.L. Redman, S.H. Schneider, W.W. Taylor Complexity of coupled human and natural systems. Science 317:1513-1516
-Alberti, M. 2010. Maintaining ecological integrity and sustaining ecosystem function in urban areas. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 2 (3): 178-184.
Week 4
Lecture 1 Planning under Uncertainty (Alberti)
-Alberti, Marina. 2008. Advances in Urban Ecology: Integrating Humans and Ecological Processes in Urban Ecosystems. New York. Springer. Ch. 9
-Carpenter, S. R., and L. H. Gunderson. 2001. Coping with collapse: ecological and social dynamics in ecosystem management. BioScience 51: 451–457.
Lecture 2 Integrated Modeling and Scenario Planning (Alberti)
-Peterson, G.D., Graeme S. Cumming, and Stephen R. Carpenter. 2003. ‘Scenario Planning: a Tool for Conservation’ in an Uncertain World. Conservation Biology 17(2):358-366.
Field Trip on Friday, March 22
Week 5
Lecture 1 The Global City : changing role of cities and the new economic base
-Bridge G., Watson S., 2003, A companion to the city, Blackwell publishing, chapter 11: Amin A., The economic base of contemporary city).
-S. Sassen, 2005, ‘The global city: an introduction’, Brown Journal of World Affairs, Winter/Spring, VOLUME XI, ISSUE 2l
Lecture 2 Urban sustainability and well being
-Ash Amin, 2006, ‘The Good City’, Urban Studies, Vol. 43, N 5/6, 1009–1023
MIDTERM BREAK WEEK
MODULE 2: CITIES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES (6 lectures given by Prof. Xin Li)
Week 6
Lecture 1 Development Challenges Facing Cities inDeveloping Countries under Globalization
-What is globalization? http://Globalization101.org. (Introduction to globalization issues)
-Richard Florida, 2005,‘The World Is Spiky’, The Atlantic Monthly, pp. 48-51. (an easy 2-page reading with interesting
maps)
-Mario Polese, 2009, “Size and Location,” The Wealth and Poverty of Regions: Why Cities Matter. Chicago:The University
of Chicago Press. pp. 29-66.
Lecture 2 Cities as Industrial Cluster
-Ann Markusen. 1996. “Sticky Places in Slippery Space: A Typology of Industrial Districts.”, Economic Geography. 72(3):
293-313. (Provides an overview of cluster types and gives examples)
-Gilles Duranton and Diego Puga. 2002. “Diversity and Specialization in Cities: Why, Where and When Does It Matter?”
In Industrial Location Economics, edited by Philip McCann. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK & Northampton MA USA, pp.
151-186.
(Relatively theoretical. Students can focus on the assumptions as well as the advantages and disadvantages of
diversified and specialized cities)
Week 7
Lecture 1 Determinants of Urban Growth in Developing Countries
-D. da Mata, U. Deichmann, J.V. Henderson, S.V. Lall, and H.G. Wang. 2007. “Determinants of City Growth in Brazil.”
Journal of Urban Economics, 62(2007): 252-272. (Examines critical factors that affect the growth of Brazilian cities.
Students can skim through the modeling part.)
-J. Vernon Henderson, ZmarakShalizi, Anthony J. Venables. 2001. Geography and Development, Journal of Economic
Geography, 1 (1): 81-105. (Emphasizes the importance of physical dimensional (geography) factor to urban growth.)
Lecture 2 The Struggle between Environmental Protection and Development
-Elizabeth Economy. 2006. Environmental Governance: the Emerging Economic Dimension. Environmental Politics. 15(2):
171-189. (Introduces China’s efforts to use market-based instruments to solve its environmental problems.)
-Lois Marie Gibbs. 1998. Love Canal: The Story Continues…. pp. 1-12 and 19-25.New Society Publishers. (A story about
grassroots movement pushing forward the progress of environmental legislation in the US.)
Field trip on Friday, April 20
Week 8
Lecture 1 Urban Renewal and Slum Upgrading
-Liza Weinstein and XuefeiRen. 2009. ‘The Changing Right to the City: Urban Renewal and Housing Rights in Globalizing
Shanghai and Mumbai.’ City and Community 8(4): 407-432. (Presents a comparative view on urban renewal strategies of
two rapidly globalizing cities.)
-SumilaGulyani and DebabrataTalukdar. 2008, ‘Slum Real Estate: The Low-Quality High-Price Puzzle in Nairobi’s Slum
Rental Market and Its Implications for Theory and Practice.’ World Development 36(10): 1916-1937.
Lecture 2 Land Tenure and Property Rights
-Geoffrey Payne. 2001. ‘Urban Land Tenure Policy Options: Titles or Rights?’ Habitat International 25 (3):415-429. (A
literature review of land tenure and property rights)
-Kathryn Firmin-Sellers and Patrick Sellers. 1999. ‘Expected failures and unexpected successes of land titling in Africa.’
World Development 27(7): 1115-1128.
Field trip on Friday, April 26
MODULE 3: LIVING IN CITIES IN TIME OF GLOBAL CHANGE: THE CASE OF VENICE AND ITS LAGOON
Week 9
Lecture 1 Venice: historical path (1)
-Exenberger, 2004. ‘Venice´s and Portugal´s Contribution to a World Becoming Global.’, Working paper in economics. University of Innsbruck
-C. Friedrichs, 1995, The Early Modern City, 1450-1750, Ch.2, Longman
Lecture 2 Venice: historical path (2)
-Lane F. C., 1973, Venice a maritime republic, The Johns Hopkins University press, Baltimore and London
Week 10
Lecture 1 Venice: a metropolitanvision (1)
-OECD, 2010, Venice: a metropolitanvision, http://www.fondazionevenezia2000.org/OECD-Territorial-Reviews-Venice.html
Lecture 2 Venice: a metropolitanvision (2)
-R. Florida, 2003, Cities and the creative class, City & Community, Vol. 2, N.1, 3-19
Field Trip , Friday May 24
Week 11
Lecture 1 Natural and human threats to physical and environmental protection of the Venice and its lagoon
-Carbognin L., Teatini P., Tomasin A., Tosi L., 2009, ‘Global change and relative sea level rise at Venice: what impact in term of flooding’, ClimDyn DOI 10.1007/s00382-009-0617-5)
-Ravera, O., 2000, The Lagoon of Venice : the result of both natural factors and human influence, J. Limnol., 59(1): 19-30
-Suman et al., 2005, Integrated coastal management in the Venice lagoon and its watershed, Hydrobiologia, 550:251–269
Lecture 2 The safeguarding of Venice and its lagoon: current actions, opportunities for innovation and remaining challenges for sustainable development
-Da Mosto et al.,2005, ‘Venice and the Venice lagoon, communication, uncertainty and decision making in an environmentally complex system’, in C. Fletcher et al., Flooding and environmental challenges for Venice and its Lagoon: the state of knowledge, Cambridge University Press
-Musu I.,2001, ‘Venice and its lagoon, a problem of local sustainable development’, in Musu I.( ed.), Sustainable Venice: suggestions for the future, Kluwer Academic
Week 12
Lecture 1 Venice : Scenarios planning (1)
-Bruno Bernardi (editor), 2012, ‘Impact of Global Change on the Socio-economic Development of Venice’, Unesco, www.unesco.org/venice
Lecture 2 Venice : Scenarios planning (2)
-AAVV, 2012, ‘Culture and Development in Venice:From Restoration to Revitalization?’, Unesco, www.unesco.org/venice
EXAM WEEK Project work presentations and final reports
Readings
The readings are included in the syllabus and divided per week.
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