Urban Studies

This course is unique in its focus on the core challenges facing our increasingly 'smart' cities, from their operational functions and planning through to management and control. The course reflects the changes that technology is making to the operation of, and our understanding of, the city, and gives students the technical and theoretical skills needed to make a difference to the cities of today and tomorrow.

This seminar examines American cities over the past 150 years through major theoretical traditions and empirical themes. It explores housing markets, racial segregation, immigration, suburbanization, gentrification, policing, gender, finance, education, and urban politics. Throughout, it maintains a comparative lens, juxtaposing American patterns with European experiences. The course has two goals. First, to familiarize students with major theoretical frameworks in urban sociology, building a conceptual toolkit for analyzing cities. Second, to develop critical analytical skills through engagement with classic texts and contemporary research.

This course examines the urbanization context, the modalities of development of cities, and the role of change agents. Topics include the theoretical and conceptual foundations that support urban geography as a subdiscipline of human geography. Students analyze different urban theories, the origin of cities, and the global context of urbanization.

How did the cities in the Mediterranean world develop from the 4th to the 8th century? How did the arrival of Christianity and Islam influence the built environments, and how did the urban populations engage with the monuments of the pasts? This course uses texts and material culture (art, architecture and objects) to examine how people lived in, thought about and interacted with the urban space. Students begin with a critical examination of the models that scholars have used to explore the process of urban change. The course adopts a thematic approach by addressing the organization of physical space, examining the fabric of the late antique city, and exploring social and religious practices in the urban environment. Towards the end of the course, students return to the present to explore how archaeological practices and heritage management influences the view of the late antique city.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. At the end of the course, students know how to interpret the characteristics of the contemporary city in a changing climate. The student will know the main available tools and methods to understand, plan, and design adaptive communities, taking into account the peculiarities of diverse context (urban, rural, island, mountain). Greening and ecosystem services are explored as a strong driver of resilience and sustainability, while the principle of environmental and climate justice is integrated throughout the course.

The course begins with an introduction to planning principles, processes, methods, and tools to support students' understanding around the concept of sustainability, resilience, and planning. Planning is considered in both rural and urban environments, considering those as a complex socio-ecological system. Around the idea of planning, the course touches upon the following topics: planning in a changing climate, but how is the climate changing?; climate and environmental justice; climate risks in urban and rural areas; urban areas: greening the city; rural regeneration theory and practice from case studies and projects; and landscape management and values.

In this studio course, students acquire knowledge and hands-on experience at the intersection of cityscapes, artificial intelligence, and data-driven site analysis and urban design development methods. The lectures focus on the theoretical background of data metrics relevant to urban design. The hands-on sessions help students gain technical skills needed to apply the knowledge. Students apply the theories and skills to analyze the study site, extract current issues, and develop concepts and directions for design interventions. The goal is to acquire foundational knowledge on the theoretical basis, measurement methods, and limitations of key quantitative indicators related to urban design, and learn how to select indicators that align with the objectives of a design project. Students acquire skills in data acquisition and preprocessing; learn how to generate, post-process, and analyze indicators using various spatial data and artificial intelligence; and develop effective communication methods through visualization. Students also learn the process of applying data analysis techniques to the design site to assess current conditions, identify issues and challenges, and establish a foundation for developing planning concepts and alternatives.

This course examines how smart technologies like AI, urban digital twinning, and internet of things are reshaping urban planning, design, and decision-making processes. It explores their potential and limitations in tackling urban challenges, improving efficiency, and aligning with sustainability development goals while critically examining ethical concerns surrounding their implementation in cities.

This subject explores traditional and contemporary relationships between tangata whenua and the urban environment in Aotearoa New Zealand. It examines how Māori worldviews shape urban planning practice, with a focus on the impact of Treaty of Waitangi settlements. Key topics include Indigenous development, governance, and resource management, as well as the responsiveness of planning processes to Māori values and aspirations.

This course examines the housing crisis as a central social justice challenge in contemporary cities. Focusing on issues of supply, affordability, and homelessness, with particular attention to Ireland, the course explores the economic and political dynamics of housing markets and the reasons these markets often fail to meet social needs. Drawing on social scientific concepts and empirical evidence, the course analyzes how governments and societies value, regulate, and provide housing. Emphasizing housing as a fundamental human need, the course adopts a social justice perspective to critically assess current conditions and develop creative, realistic solutions aimed at building more equitable and socially just cities.

Students analyze and evaluate the environmental impacts of human activity on the land in general, and of urban and architectural interventions in particular. The course focuses on architectural and urban planning, taking into account urban and environmental planning criteria.