Urban Studies

This course examines city and regional economics in relation to the practice of city planning. It covers a range of key economic concepts and models that shape urban land uses, and urban housing and labor market systems. It encompasses the following main areas: micro/macroeconomic processes that drive urban land use, governance and planning systems; market failures as the source of urban planning problems; development feasibility; and the economic theories of urbanization, gentrification and technological transformation.

This is a problem and knowledge based course that offers a unique insight in the linkages between peoples’ recreational use of nature and the sustainable management and planning of nature areas in the Anthropocene. The course deals with practical and theoretical aspects of planning, management, and governance of outdoor recreation with strong focus on balancing use and protection of nature. From a management point of view, it discusses how to deal with visitors and users of nature areas. The course has an international set-up and includes examples and cases from Denmark and other countries. Outdoor recreation is an integrated part of multiple policies, e.g. forest and afforestation policy, public health policy, municipal landscape planning, urban green space planning, agricultural policy, rural development, nature policy, and protected area management. These different policies, planning, and management fields form the basis of the course. Hence, a multitude of recreation environments are in focus, including urban green space recreation, forest recreation, countryside recreation, protected area visitation, wilderness recreation, and coastal and marine recreation. The following themes are included: visitors’ values, norms, attitudes, experiences and behaviors; conflicts between user groups; monitoring of visitor flows; accessibility and availability; children and nature; pro-environmental behaviors; and nature-based integration.  The planning and management focus includes: novel and traditional visitor monitoring; strategies and tactics in management of visitor flows; use and protection of nature; protected area management; volunteering; zoning and multifunctional approaches. In a sustainable development perspective, outdoor recreation connects people and nature, and thereby offers insight into social-ecological interactions and dynamics that are central to sustainability science. The course relates to Sustainable Development Goals 3 (good health and well-being), 10 (reduced inequalities), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), 14 (life below water), and 15 (life on land).  

From Roman traders to modern commuters, millions of people have lived in the same few square miles where students now study. In this course, students form into groups with fellow Liberal Arts students and stage an investigation into some of these London lives. Students begin an interdisciplinary exploration of the history and culture of London and are introduced to some essential skills and methods of academic study that students use throughout the course. Students form into groups and enquire into an aspect of London, past, or present. Guided by a tutor, students seek to answer questions by engaging not only with primary and secondary readings and resources for study within King’s, but with the streets and spaces of the city itself. They present their findings via a digital portfolio and a group presentation. As students come to see by the end of this course, London - in all its struggles and achievements - is a fascinating microcosm of the wider world; and as such, an ideal laboratory for the study of Liberal Arts.

This course examines the social, cultural and economic processes that have shaped and transformed cities over the last several decades. It considers the impacts of these transformations on the people living in urban areas and whether they enhance or hinder the opportunities of different social groups in the city, and what this might mean for our global efforts to meet the UN SDG, especially goals 5 (gender equality), 10 (reducing inequalities) and 11 (sustainable cities and communities). Through the use of case studies, students will explore notions of difference, encounter and inequality in the city. Students actively participate in geographical enquiry through independent research on difference and diversity in the city. This courses utilizes active and action-orientated pedagogies to work with students to build their own knowledge of the city and urban experiences and to develop a range of graduate attributes to enable students to be confident researchers, effective communicators of geographic knowledge and socially responsible global citizens who understand the complex nature of social life and inequalities in cities across the globe.

This course examines plants and plant communities through a focus on medium to large scale planting design and green infrastructure that supports healthy urban environments. It covers planting design strategies and structures as integral components of urban and suburban landscape systems, as well as planting design strategies that have been implemented or proposed in the Sydney Region. 

This course introduces urban studies in the Middle East, drawing on textual, visual, and collaborative resources to critically explore contemporary urban life in the region. It situates the region within broader discussions on the global “urban age,” an era where purportedly half of the world’s growing population lives and works in cities. The course explores the structural and everyday forces and actors—states, people, culture, nature, wars, and disasters—that shape and connect cities across the region. It draws on debates and methodologies in urban sociology, political economy, and anthropology. The course blends theory and practice through collaborative, experiential methods such as urban diary writing, visual ethnography, and field visits.

This course 1) provides an introduction to how to understand and analyze urban process and urban change; 2) introduces issues confronted by citizens, planners, policymakers and citizens in both urbanized and rapidly urbanizing areas. Throughout the course, we will take a comparative approach to the topics, not only drawing case studies drawn from different regions in the world but also paying particular attention to the ongoing urban transformation in China.

This course examines the rapid transformation of cities by information technology and socio-economic innovation; growth in citizen-generated data and the internet of things; and emerging theory, methods, and frameworks for understanding Smart Cities.

This course aims to develop a basic level of spatial planning literacy among urban studies students. It's divided into three modules: contemporary issues in spatial planning, the history and evolution of spatial planning and spatial planning as a process; and contemporary issues in spatial planning. Through various case studies, the course sensitizes students to various pertinent spatial planning issues in the specific institutional and legal context of Hong Kong.

Students will embark on an exploration of riverbanks, lake environments, coastal regions, and island communities, seeking to capture the myriad ways they access and inhabit these areas in the 21st century. In the growing wave of island and coastal studies, students will also consider how coastal societies offer important examples of behavioral and cultural evolution, with religious icons, cultural ideas, linguistic patterns, and stories told and retold, featuring connections to water. Students will learn how these regions serve as natural conduits for migration, fostering cultural exchanges, and the flourishing of innovation and social networks. These include the fishing First Nations and Inuit communities in northern Canada and Greenland, the societies living in the depths of the jungle along the Congo River, and even Hong Kong’s coasts and communities such as those in Mui Wo, Tai O, Lei Yue Mun, Aberdeen, and Sai Kung.