Urban Studies

The city and language course introduces students to French history, culture, and language through team-taught instruction. In the “City as Public Forum” sessions, students are introduced to French history and culture through a series of lectures and site visits. Students discover some of the fascinating ways the core principles of social justice were tested in theory and practice on the streets of Paris in the past and explore how they evolved into the pillars of French society today. The course focuses on just how an ideal society should be forged, where all are free individuals and members of a cohesive community at the same time. Trying to make individuals believe—as religions do—in the primacy of the collective, and in its concomitant goal of protecting human rights, is at the core of social justice in France. From 52 B.C.E to today, France has been an exemplar of how—and how not—to construct a just society. To render these values visible, and therefore legible, to all by adding a physical dimension—whether constructive or destructive—to the usual means of establishing laws or setting policies, is what distinguishes the history of France's capital city of Paris. Those who control Paris—be they monarchs, revolutionaries, or presidents, past and present—believe that erecting all kinds of physical structures will render their values concrete and immutable. The ideal French society did not always necessarily mean a democratic or inclusive one. Since the French Revolution, however, institutionalizing the concept of “liberty, equality, and fraternity” has been France's greatest universal achievement and a source of constant upheaval, eliciting a unique form of secular activism that has led to targeting buildings and monuments that no longer reflect the collective's values. Students discuss how the diverse social actors, who constitute “the French,” continue to thrust their bodies and minds into the physical spaces of the public sphere in the pursuit of social justice. In the “Unlocking French” sessions, students learn targeted language skills through situational communication, so they have the opportunity to use everything they learn as they go about their daily activities.

This course covers the strategic aspects of facilities management: strategy formulation, planning, studying options, delivery and review. Emphasis is on the strategy and business of the organization and how this translates into the outcomes for the physical workplace. Topics include strategic facilities management framework; the need for coordination between workflow and space; facilities management system and tools; the procedures; automation; integrated FM systems; and strategic FM case studies.

In this course, students gain in-depth knowledge and understanding of contemporary change in the UK. Key themes to be addressed in seminar discussion include neo-liberalism, the North-South divide, culture-led urban regeneration, urban heritage and identity, migration, and urban health. 

This course offers a study of urban planning and land use planning. It discusses instruments of intervention in land use policy and land management, as well as the main lines of land use planning and urban development in Catalonia and Spain.
 

Creative economy and cultural industries have been considered crucial strategies for driving the urban development of global cities. The dynamic landscape of the global cultural scene, where culture converges with the economy, community, heritage, and innovative technologies, has created an impetus for many cities to adopt innovative approaches in utilizing urban spaces and cultural resources, enabling citizens to vividly reimagine their urban and cultural life. These approaches are envisioned as and manifested in the form of the development of large-scale urban regions and city clusters, where major cultural facilities such as museums, art districts, performance venues, and festivals significantly contribute to social well-being and intercultural dialogue. This course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to explore the interface among culture, urban space, and the economy with an eye towards the radically changing cultural landscape of Hong Kong. By offering students both theoretical knowledge and first- hand field experience, this course examines museums, galleries, and various cultural institutions as exemplary cases of how different forms of cultural activities can be turned into powerhouses of creative synergies and economic growth.

This course discusses the various creative fields in which Barcelona has been a pioneer. Topics include: urban design, art, culture, design and fashion, theater, dance, music.

In this project-based workshop course, the background and effects of topics related to environmental justice such as environmental racism, gender issues, disadvantage due to physical impairments and social differences in the city are examined. The discussion-based debate during the event is to be expanded by a media project in which a selected topic is creatively addressed.

You will not only learn about content expertise, but also different methods and the use of different media. This includes:

• Expertise in the meaning of environmental justice and the background and consequences of the prevailing discrepancies
• Expertise in the ecological foundations and ecosystem services in the city
• Different perspectives from different disciplines by working on topic-specific literature
• An ability to reflect on urban infrastructure through a combination of ecological and social expertise regarding environmental justice
• Discussion skills as well as presentation and moderation skills in interdisciplinary exchanges with other participants from different study programs
• Creative process of developing and implementing a media project from finding a topic to presenting the final result
• Scientific and fact-based development of a creative media project and formulation of socio-political demands and solution approaches in a project report
• Be able to apply learned specialist knowledge and critical considerations regarding environmental justice not only to urban areas, but also to transfer them to everyday living environments

The course commences with an overview of contemporary CC/EC discourses, debates, the evidential base and international governance initiatives to address the challenge, including IPCC reports, UNFCCC and Stern, as well as regional and national-scale reports. It then examines the nature of urbanism and urbanization as linked networks and systems of urban areas embedded within multiscalar hinterlands. This provides the context for detailed examination of how urbanization and urbanism contribute to CC/EC; how CC/EC is affecting, and is predicted to affect, towns and cities in different regions, and how urban authorities and diverse groups of urban residents experience, perceive and respond to the phenomenon. Key concepts and literatures assessed include disaster risk, vulnerability, resilience, mitigation, adaptation, transformation, global(ized) urbanism and teleconnections, and the claimed conflict between tackling climate change and meeting immediate development needs.