Urban Studies

This course uses London to explore how contemporary cities are being theorized, experienced, and understood. Consideration is given to how cities are conceptualized in and through the context of globalization. The concept of "global cities" is to be contrasted with perspectives that emphasize the "ordinary" quality of cities, to allow students to engage analytically and critically with the complexities and diversities of urban life and experiences. A range of interdisciplinary themes within urban studies are employed to explore the diverse socio-spatial and cultural dynamics and practices both with respect to London and to students' home cities.

This course is a study of countryside planning and the contemporary issues, functions, and conflicts of different landscapes, ranging from traditional rural to peri-urban settings. The course examines cultural landscapes, local, national and international policy, planning processes, governance, actor analysis, EU physical planning approaches, landscape analysis and multifunctional landscapes, nature and water management, recreation, cultural heritage, national parks, rural development programs, agricultural diversification and social farming, peri-urban agriculture, counter-urbanization, and rural-urban relationships.

Cities around the world face rapid changes in their transportation systems with the advances in ICTs. Recent trends include on-demand and shared mobility modes and automation in public and private transportation systems; these new solutions impact the transport industry, infrastructures management, as well as political agenda. Focusing on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), a new “Smart Mobility” system and real-time network management have been developed as potential solutions to mitigate congestion issues and improve network efficiency.
This course brings a general overview of sustainable and smart transportation in the future smart cities in terms of i) industry trends, business models, technical, and urban design aspects. Based on different European case studies especially in Germany, this program explores innovative methods which Smart cities are currently dealing with as well as future solutions. The course combines theoretical and practical learning materials for transportation modeling and simulation techniques, with a focus on Smart Mobility and ITS solutions and real-world applications. Students review the most well-known traffic simulation models, learn about demand forecasting methods, business, social, and political issues and related analytical techniques. The course examines the concept of smart mobilities and how their business models could grow by analyzing case studies and companies. The course requires students to have basic knowledge of the fundamentals of mathematics and statistics as a prerequisite.

This course examines the relationship between transport planning and urban design in diverse urban, Australian and international contexts. It will investigate contemporary practices and policies of efficient integration between transport planning and design that delivers human health, ecological sustainability and social equity outcomes.