Urban Studies

Urban economics is concerned with the spatial form of cities and the division of national economic activity into cities, both at a point in time and over time.  Three fundamental questions are: Why are economic activities within a country so unequally distributed across space? Why do cities (and agglomerations of firms and workers) emerge and in what locations? How and why are economic activities within cities unequally distributed in general and between the city center and the suburbs?

The course introduces basic concepts of energy and the understanding of its territorial deployment, along with a critical and innovative look at its implications (risks and opportunities) in terms of sustainability, as well as the role that energy plays in the development of various territories and their inhabitants. The course will combine expository classes, case studies and collaborative learning, along with group studies and presentations on contingent cases, which reveal a reflective approach from the students' various disciplines.

Why do cities exist? Why do firms cluster? Why is economic activity not equally distributed across space? This course addresses the central questions of why cities emerge, what roles cities will continue to play in the economy, and what determines the rise and fall of cities. Technically, the course provides an introduction to the field of urban economics. It focuses on stylized facts, basic microeconomic concepts, and empirical applications. Special
attention is paid to social problems in cities, including housing, public transit, crime, and the role of local governments. The course aims to make students familiar with economic tools and concepts useful for the analysis of urban issues. More generally, students learn to apply economic theory to real-world problems. A special focus is placed on evidence and examples from Berlin. With its long and vibrant history, Berlin provides an excellent environment to study and explore various features of the economics of cities. Field trips allow participants to learn more about the past and the future of cities, their functions, their internal spatial structure, and their dynamics.

This course begins by exploring the intellectual interventions and traditions that have emerged in the anthropology in and of Britain over the last 50 years, and then swiftly moves into exploring the ways in which interdisciplinary ethnographic research has been conducted across Britain. While reading ethnographies in cross cultural, global contexts, in this course students place a particular emphasis on the urban context of Greater Manchester. Students explore ethnographies that have been based on ethnographic research across Greater Manchester, and which raise and address urgent questions of social, political, and economic change in Manchester and beyond. The course tackles the concept of "the urban’" by exploring ethnographic examples from anthropology, sociology, human geography, and business studies that focus on social and cultural lives and relations. Students take two fieldtrips (Cheetham’s Library and Manchester Airport) and two walking tours (Fallowfield and Rusholme) to visit and reflect on the ethnographic locations of the materials and readings they engage with.