Urban Studies

This course considers how the global pandemic of 2020-2021 has challenged the modus operandi, urban development model, and financial viability of the world's great cities at a time when those also have to face the profound challenge of making themselves more resilient against the multi-faceted threat of climate change. It highlights both the danger and opportunity brought on by the pandemic, in terms of rethinking transport systems, commercial real estate, commuting and work arrangements, food distribution, energy, waste management and recycling, housing policy, education, and the provision of essential business as well as personal services. The course examines the shake up of “established wisdom” in urban economics which has led to new thinking and an opening for innovation that extends to new organizational formations within the context of the “circular economy,” as well as “social solidarity economy” such as urban commons and cooperatives.

This course explores urban policy issues through a focus on the intersections between population, housing, and neighborhood dynamics across the Global North. The course considers a number of intriguing policy relevant questions about residential geographies. These include but are not limited to: Why do people live where they do? How does the housing system shape how people move through, experience, and use urban space? What makes urban populations change over time, how can we measure and perhaps influence these dynamics, and how useful are terms such as segregation or gentrification for describing processes of neighborhood change? How is housing provided and regulated in different contexts, and what does this mean for cities and for people's lives?

This course explores the challenges we face and identifies collaborative processes for nature-based solutions in urban planning, design, implementation, adaptation, and care. Through a range of creative processes, with reference to exemplar projects and contributions from industry experts and academics, students learn the principles and application of an urban green infrastructure approach for resilience, health and wellbeing, and social and environmental justice.

In Western culture, the city is the epitome of political and cultural expression, which gives the urban question a complex, diachronic, and dialectical character; it mirrors major economic, social, and political tensions. This course deciphers the fundamental elements of this complexity in tension with the fields of geopolitical thought applied to territories, in the decisive context of the environmental transition. In a dynamic and interactive way, the course takes on a contemporary political culture of the urban condition, allowing a political approach to urban citizenship, more diasporic or mobile where the network prevails over the territorial continuity. Instruction alternates between the classroom and the city.

When car-use becomes restricted on streets, is that called opening or closing a street? The conflict around this question currently splits Berlin. As the automotive city planning paradigm of much of the twentieth century rolls out bumpily, many are ready to replace it with a paradigm that puts people instead of cars first. The claim is that the urban street of the future is not merely a transit space, but rather part of the urban commons, a space that is there for everyone to use. Climate mitigation, space justice, and mobility justice all play a role here as well. In this seminar, we will look at urban (street) space as urban commons, discuss the change of meaning that street space has undergone in the past and still undergoes and get a first-hand experience of the conflict described above by visiting reclaimed spaces and conducting interviews. We will also deal with specific examples of street reclamations worldwide.

This is an advanced course considering the economic forces that govern the geographic distribution of economic activity and its implications for economic outcomes and public policy issues. The course is divided into two parts. The first part develops a simple theory of cities as the result of the interaction between agglomeration and congestion forces. It studies in detail the agglomeration forces that attract firms, consumers, and workers to cities, as well as the congestion forces that limit the size of cities and how to overcome them through transportation networks and housing markets. The second part of the course extends the basic model to study a system of many locations, the dynamics of city growth and decline, and to conclude, the role of cities and geography for climate change.

The urban ecohydrology contains a theoretical part which comprises all aspects related to the urban water cycle including urban rainfall pattern, water availability, groundwater recharge, urban rivers and drainage (traditional and sustainable approaches), urban waterscapes and alternative perspectives for water in cities, and the specific requirements for urban green including urban rainwater gardens, green roofs and facades and aspects of water shortage and heat stress on urban green conditions. Specific requirements of mega-cities and urban areas in developing countries will be assessed. In a practical part of the module, students will learn how to use simple modelling software for the calculation of greywater use and for the configuration of sustainable drainage systems including sustainable rainwater management. In the excursion part, students will get the chance to visit and study different elements of urban water, including e.g. excursions to a sewage treatment plant, the implementations of the water framework directive for urban rivers, integrated rain and grey water management of office blocks, and green wall installations (excursions will vary according to the availability of invited guides).

Practical work with standard software for geographical information systems (e.g. ArcGIS Pro): architecture, components, and functionality, principles of thematic modelling (thematic layers, object classes, etc.), geographical data models and data structures, spatial and topological relations, data acquisition and digitization, methods for geospatial analysis, cartographic theory, elements and principles of cartographic visualization, spatial reference systems and map projections, map design, symbolization, topographic and thematic maps, cartographic information systems, cartographic abstraction and generalization, multimedia cartography, spatial decision support systems, multi-criteria decision analysis.

The city's relationship to water will be considered in a number of different contexts from hydrogeology, engineering, and urban planning to cultural production. Water has been the subject of many films, paintings, and literary texts. We will explore this angle extensively, looking for concrete as well as symbolic and mythological meaning. Through student presentations, we will explore individual bodies of water, discover water infrastructure and research the city's current water management. Swimmers are encouraged to "sample" various bathing sites and report on their experience. The instructor will offer one or two city excursions outside the regular course times. Can I take this course? Yes, if you are interested in history, literature, and culture, and willing to explore the city in ways that go beyond the usual tourist experience.

The course focuses on mapping and listening to acoustic territories in Berlin. It allows academic research for exploring and understanding the city by sensing aural environments. Structured in theory and practice, the central questions of the course are: Which sonic elements can we encounter in navigating historical and contemporary maps? Which methods of research and practices exist in the act of mapping with sound? How can we generate sound maps? From a transdisciplinary approach, the course reflects the city‘s cultural, social, and political dimensions through analyzing and creating maps by listening. It aims to allow students to explore auditory territories, gain strength, and develop knowledge and individual perspective on cultural studies and urban studies. The mapping methods are practice-based on field recordings, soundwalk, and sound diagramming exercises. The academic readings and discussions introduce the student to the field of sound studies.