Course Syllabus
The European Urban Experience: Why Cities Matter B |
 |
| Semester & Location: |
Spring 2020 - DIS Copenhagen |
| Type & Credits: |
Core Course - 3 credits |
| Core Course Study Tours: |
Hamburg + Barcelona |
| Major Disciplines: |
Anthropology, Urban Design, Urban Studies |
| Faculty Members: |
Bettina Werner and Hilde Finess Evensmo |
| Program Director: |
Neringa B. Vendelbo - nb@dis.dk |
| Program Assistant: |
Julia Magnusson - jma@dis.dk |
| Time & Place: |
Thursday, 08:30 - 11:25, N7-C24 |
Program Orientation: Wednesday, January 15 at 14.00 in V10-A32
Description of Course
Cities are both creative and destructive friction machines, full of contradictory tensions, goals, and visions about what constitutes the good life. This course is an introduction to the driving forces of this friction within a European context, including social, economic, environmental, technical, cultural, historical, and spatial influences. The main goal of the course is to provide a connection between theory and practice, between thinking and making. The texts we will read provide our theoretical framework. The sites we will visit, mainly from Copenhagen, Hamburg, and Barcelona, will be our case studies which will help understanding how these concepts apply in practice.
Learning Objectives
This course aims to offer an understanding of:
- the challenges with urbanisations and the solution to these challenges that cities offer.
- historical and contemporary European urban development
- the role of culture, infrastructure, urban governance and the built environment in shaping a city and city life
- the complex relationship between the various scales of the urban experience (bottom up vs. top town)
- the relationship between theory and practice in urban development through the application of critical thinking
Faculty: Bettina Werner
M.A., Cultural Analysis, Copenhagen University (2016). Bettina is a native Swede living in Copenhagen. She is co-founder of COurban design collective and have previously worked with urban design firm CITITEK as a researcher and project manager. Projects include data collection, research, and co-creation of playgrounds and public space, interior spatial analysis of office environments, as well as educational seminars with both state and private clients. With DIS since 2016.
Faculty: Hilde Finess Evensmo
MSc Geography and Geoinformatics from Copenhagen University (2015). BA Development Studies, University of Bergen (2012), Norway. Cofounder and director at COurban design collective, working with research, public space analysis and citizen involvement. Hilde has worked as a project manager and consultant for several Norwegian municipalities wanting to co-create public life. With DIS since 2018.
Readings
There is no textbook for this course. Below is a listing of some the most significant readings the class will be referencing.
Key references:
- Alexander, C. (2013) A city is Not a Tree, The Urban Design Reader (pp.152-166). Routledge
- Danish Ministry of the Environment (2007). Spatial planning in Denmark http://naturstyrelsen.dk/media/nst/Attachments/Planning_260907_NY6.pdf
- Hamburg: Green City of the Future?
- Flyvbjerg, B. (2012). Bringing Power to Planning Research: One Researcher’s Praxis Story. In Fainstein, S. and Campbell, S. (eds.). Readings in Planning Theory (pp. 241-267). Oxford: Wiley & Sons
- Eisenhardt, K. Building Theories from Case Study Research
- Morelli, John (2011) Environmental Sustainability: A Definition for Environmental Professionals, Journal of Environmental Sustainability: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 2.
- Sutton, Philip (2004) A Perspective on environmental sustainability?, A paper for the Victorian Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability
- Naess, P. (2003). Urban Structures and Travel Behaviour. Experiences from Empirical Research in Norway and Denmark.EJTIR, 3, 2(2003), 155-178.
- Harvey, D. (2008). The Right to the City. New Left Review. II (53): 23–40.
- Campbell, S. (1996). Green cities, growing cities, just cities?: Urban planning and the contradictions of sustainable development. Journal of the American Planning Association, 62(3), 296-312.
- UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals
- Hunt, A., & Watkiss, P. (2011). Climate change impacts and adaptation in cities: a review of the literature. Climatic Change, 104(1), 13-49.
- Habitat III New Urban Agenda, & Quito Papers
- Global Utmaning, Nordic Urban Ways: Local Leadership, Governance and Management for Sustainable Development, October 2016.
Field Studies and Study Tours
Field studies form an integral part of the course to support our understanding of how development is conducted in a practical urban setting. While in Copenhagen, we will be going on a half-day field study around the city:
Field Studies
- Wednesday morning, 19th Feb. 2020 [8:30 am -12:30 noon]
- Wednesday afternoon, 29th April 2020 [13:00 – 17:00]
Study Tours
Core Course Week and Study Tours
Core Course week and study tours are an integral part of the core course as we take the classroom on the road and see how theory presented in the classroom is translated into practice in the field. You will travel with your classmates and DIS faculty/staff on two study tours; a short study tour during Core Course Week to Hamburg and a long study tour to Brussels.
CCW: Core Course Week = 3-8th of February 2020
- 3th - 5th February 2020 = Day tours of Copenhagen region
- 6th - 8th February 2020 = Short Study Tour to Hamburg
The short study tour is to the city state of Hamburg, the metropolitan hub of Northern Germany. Hamburg has a rich history as a center of trade and commerce. Hamburg is a vibrant city with dynamic urban life radiating throughout Northern Europe, including Denmark. Today, Hamburg is Germany’s second-largest city and one of Europe’s most important ports. Its industrial potential not-withstanding, it was voted the European Green Capital in 2011.
15th - 20th March 2019 = Long Study Tour - Barcelona
Barcelona is an obvious choice for studying contemporary urban studies. The Catalonian capital is currently undergoing a political situation which over the past decades have greatly influenced urban development and the urban life in the city. The city has influences from its history within the Roman Empire, that will be further discussed through a day trip to Tarragona in the north, and at the same time it is known for a very strong identity in terms of politics, society, and culture such as food and arts. Furthermore, Barcelona has unique infrastructure within the L’exiample - the superblocks, which in combination with the coast and former olympic villages creates an urban playground not to be seen and experienced anywhere else in Europe. In Barcelona, you will discover how the city has become a focal point for cultural expression, social movements, and a venue of human interaction and experience.
Expectations for study tours:
- Participate in all activities
- Engage in discussions, ask questions, and contribute to achieving the learning objectives
- Respect the destination, the speakers, DIS staff, and your fellow classmates
- Represent yourself, your home university and DIS in a positive light
While on a program study tour DIS will provide hostel/hotel accommodation, transportation to/from the destination(s), approx. 2 meals per day and entrances, guides, and visits relevant to your area of study or the destination. You will receive a more detailed itinerary prior to departure.
Travel policies: You are required to travel with your group to the destination. If you have to deviate from the group travel plans, you need approval from the program director and the study tours office.
Approach to Teaching
The class meets 18 times during the semester. Lectures, assigned readings and student presentations will act as background for class discussion. This course relies heavily on readings in order to gain a deeper understanding of varying case studies addressed during the semester. Assigned texts are to be read in advance of the class. Reading will go beyond finding information, or identifying main ideas. The purpose with the readings is to dig deep to identify meaning, relationships between ideas, their impact on the urban world. This involves analysis, synthesis and creativity. You are encouraged to draw on and share own experiences of cities and urban issues. In short, critical reading requires intense questioning.
Copenhagen will serve as a living classroom and will be discussed in juxtaposition with various European cities. Cities are a collective effort. And the class will also include group work in the analysis and understanding of the European urban experience.
Expectations of the Students
This is not a traditional lecture course. Classes will be conducted both in the classroom and out on site in the context of the city. It relies on
- experiencing the European city full on, together as a class, and on your own,
- recording and reporting your urban observations and experiences
- sharing your urban experiences and observations in class discussions, with your fellow students and via assignments
- and on class discussion, informed by an in-depth, critical reading of the assigned texts.
You are expected to engage and participate actively in class discussions. Students are expected to come to class prepared with questions with points of departure in the readings or references. You are expected to keep a notebook or journal recording your observations, experiences, and critical analysis of readings. You may be required to turn in written analysis (300 words) of readings and observations. Readings are to be analyzed and critiqued. Overall grades will be depending on an engaged, informed, and highly active participation in class discussion.
Evaluation
Participation
Individual participation, preparation of questions, in-class presentations and engaged and active study tour participation.
Comparing European cities (assignment 1 + 2)
Consists of recorded & written documentation of observations from the two study tours. Observations are to report on urban development learning points from the site visits, specifying urban challenges and solutions experienced in the field, referencing pertinent course readings. Documentation is to include illustrations in the form of photos, images or sketches. Readings and images should be correctly referenced.
Final Project
Student will be delivering a final project that presents solutions to urban challenges covered during the course. The student should draw from learnings in class, from tours and visits as well as their own European urban experience. The solution is presented as a case study.
More info to come.
Grading
| Assignment |
Percent |
| Participation - individual participation, preparation of questions, in-class presentations |
20% |
|
Assignment 1: Comparing cities - Hamburg |
20% |
|
Assignment 2: Comparing cities - Barcelona |
20% |
|
Final Project |
40% |
Policy on late papers: Late papers will be accepted, but your grade for the paper will be reduced.
Academic Regulations
Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:
DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
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