Urban Studies

This course explores urbanization and cities not just as a technical issue or a set of rules for organizing space, but as a powerful, political tool for addressing global challenges. It investigates the city as a site of conflict and potential "repair"—social, ecological, and democratic. By critically examining historical models, contemporary crises, and emerging practices—from tactical urbanism to proximity—the course ask if and how urban planning can contribute to a more just, sustainable, and inclusive future. In the first part of the course, Paris is our field of visits and experimentation. Seeing how Paris may help to interrogate cities from elsewhere, and vice versa. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to understand the political, social, and ecological role of urban planning; critically analyze past and present models of urban development; evaluate tools and practices for creating more equitable and sustainable cities; and articulate a vision of the city as a space for social and environmental repair.

Since the 1980s, Lyon has undergone major transformations aimed at adapting to the context of globalization. Becoming a European metropolis has become the common thread that gives meaning to public interventions in the urban space. What are the results of these public policies? Has Lyon become a European metropolis? After an introduction in the classroom, the teaching takes the form of urban walks in the neighborhoods most marked by these changes. Students learn to read the cityscapes of a large European city, identify the actors of the production of urban spaces, and understand the typology of metropolitan areas.

This course examines the intricate relationship between large urban areas, climate change, and the governance of risks, crises, and disasters from a geographic and political science perspective. The unique vulnerabilities of urban areas to the impacts of climate change is examined, alongside an analysis of the pivotal role of politics and policy in mitigating and responding to these challenges. The course delves into the political, social, and environmental dimensions of global cities' challenges in facing a changing environment and the policies and governance strategies for promoting sustainability and resilience. It explores how the existing frameworks, tools and instruments dealing with risk, crisis and disasters, may be used in the context of climate change risks. The course explores risk, crisis, disaster and climate adaptation governance with a multi-level perspective, from international negotiations to local implementation and contestations. Each session is dedicated to discussing key notions through text analysis, providing the opportunity to work on case studies in groups.

Students will develop skills to design solutions, based on scientific knowledge and innovation opportunities, that contribute to building sustainable future societies and environments, while safeguarding the integrity of the biosphere and ensuring equitable and dignified well-being.

This course is designed as an introduction to the sociological study of lifestyles and social relations in urban spaces. It comprises two parts. The first focuses on the history of this theme in sociology and on the evolution of approaches and paradigms in relation to the social issues of different periods. It both traces how sociology has approached the morphology of urban spaces and the lifestyles associated with them, and follows the social issues related to the distribution/cohabitation/segregation of different social and ethnic groups over time. The general idea is to shed light on contemporary debates about the city related to population dynamics and relations between groups and individuals. The course goes back to the origins of this trend in urban sociology, with the work of the Chicago School, in order to better put more contemporary work into perspective. The second part, which is more methodological in nature, consists of an introduction to urban ethnographic methods through a mini-survey conducted in three contrasting types of urban spaces.

The course analyzes the concepts and models of urban systems from the perspectives of geography, sociology, architecture, spatial economics, and location theory. It then delves into the current dynamics of urban problems and the potential solutions proposed for these processes. Furthermore, readings will be offered on the relationship between the city and the regional, global, and local contexts. The course concludes with the study of advanced contemporary topics such as territory and power, and the social construction of the city.

This course is designed to help students get to know and better understand the capital of Paris. Much has been said, written, and heard about Paris, yet the capital remains a place of mystery. In fact, Paris is three cities in one: an international city, a national city, and the city where Parisians live their daily lives. We know what happens there, but do we know what is at stake behind the cultural representations of Paris, its social change, the public action that takes place there, and its electoral geography? Who are the Parisians during the 2026 municipal elections? These questions are all mysteries to be solved. This course draws on a variety of approaches (culture, cinema, history, geography, sociology) and relies on the curiosity and sagacity of students to solve these puzzles, as they write and present their electoral program as candidates in the 2026 Paris municipal elections.