Course Syllabus

Getting There: Transportation in Urban Europe C

Semester & Location:	Spring 2024 - DIS Copenhagen
Type & Credits:	Elective Course - 3 credits
Major Disciplines:	Urban Studies, Sustainability, Environmental Studies
Prerequisite:	None
Faculty Members:	Juan Carlos Finck Carrales (current students please reach out to faculty via Canvas Inbox)
Time & Place:	Tuesdays 10:05-13:00 | Købmagergade 52 (Studenterhuset) - Main Hall

Please note that for the bicycle infrastructure mobile lecture, cycling skills are required.
Syllabus is subject to change throughout the semester.

Course Description

Moving people around within cities - getting them to and from work, school, and play - is a complex problem. In this course we will experience urban mobility from a multitude of angles:  we will consider how the urban form of a city structures, facilitates, and restricts movement and social interaction.

Copenhagen provides an exceptionally rich laboratory for students of urban transportation. The city is famed for its conscious planning and policy that has made it one of the better cities in the world for public transport, bicycling, and walking. With this in mind, we will discuss how Copenhagen broke with the dominant modern pattern of auto-centricity and evaluate if this is a model that other cities could/should emulate in the future. Additionally, you will be able to develop your own serious game in order to understand the complex interactions between city structure, form, and the people that make a city move.

Learning Objectives

• Experience urban transportation and mobility from a multitude of angles
• Experience and reflect on how individuals can experience the same spaces differently
• Understand how the urban form impacts movement and social interaction
• Understand the importance and necessity of transportation for city life
• Be able to reflect on the effectiveness of various transportation policies

Faculty

Juan Carlos Finck Carrales is a Lecturer of Social Sciences and Urban Planning Studies at Roskilde University (RUC), Denmark. He also is a professional consultant on Green Mobility, Urban Planning, and Social Communication in Copenhagen. He holds a PhD degree from the Program of Society, Space, and Technology of RUC. His transdisciplinary research profile intersects the fields of Public Policy, Mobility, Urban Planning, and Internationalization of Higher Education within Decolonial Studies. Finally, he has a background and professional experience in the NGO and Private sector, working with Policy Analysis, and Social Communication and Management. 

Education

• PhD Degree, Program of Society, Space and Technology (Roskilde University, Denmark).
• M.Sc. Urban Development Projects (Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico).
• B.Sc. Policy and Social Management (Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico).
  

Current employments

• External Lecturer, Roskilde University.
• Professional Consultant on Green Mobility, Urban Planning, and Social Communication, Finck Consulting.
• Support Teacher, Olivia Danmark.

Previous experience

• General Secretary, Actúa DF – NGO (2014-2015).
• Research Manager, SEEMA Agency of Digital Marketing and Social Communication (2013-2015).
• Analysis Supervisor, Eficiencia Informativa S.A.P.I de C.V (2012-2013).
• Strategic Analyst, Eficiencia Informativa S.A.P.I de C.V (2011-2012).

With DIS since 2023.

Approach to Teaching

The class will meet once a week during the semester. Lectures and assigned readings will act as background for mobile lectures (learning while doing). Copenhagen will also serve as a living laboratory and mobile lecture site for understanding key elements of European transport development. Students are highly encouraged to bring their own experiences of urban transport planning and particularly their experiences during the semester into the discussions. Moreover group work is essential for producing better transport planning strategies following real life working scenarios.

Readings

The reading for each class is attached/indicated under Modules. They are provided by either by scientific articles or by sections from the Readings in Planning Theory book (which is also available at the DIS library), as follows:

• Abduljabbar, Rusul L., S. Liyanage, and H. Dia. 2021. The role of micro-mobility in shaping
  sustainable cities: A systematic literature review. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and
  Environment, 92.
• Poplin, A. (2011). Games and serious games in urban planning: study cases.
• Jacobs, J. (1961). The uses of sidewalks: Safety, The Death and Life of Great American Cities 
• City of Copenhagen (2011). Good, Better, Best- The City of Copenhagen’s Bicycle Strategy 2011-2025
• Knowles, R. D. (2012). Transit oriented development in Copenhagen, Denmark: from the finger plan to Ørestad.
• Sheller, M. & Urry, J. (2000). The City and the Car
• Sheller, M., & Urry, J. (2006). The New Mobilities Paradigm. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 38(2), 207–226. https://doi-org.ep.fjernadgang.kb.dk/10.1068/a37268
• Koefoed, L., Christensen, M. D., & Simonsen, K. (2017). Mobile encounters: bus 5A as a cross-cultural meeting place, Mobilities, 12:5, 726-739, DOI:10.1080/17450101.2016.1181487
• Banister, D. (2008). The sustainable mobility paradigm
• Siemiatycki, M. (2012). Implications of Private-Public Partnerships on the Development of Urban Public Transit Infrastructure: The Case of Vancouver, Canada
• EEA Report (2016). Transition towards a more sustainable mobility system. Chapter 6&7
• Banister, D. (2011). Cities, mobility and climate change.
• Picon, A. (2015). Urban Intelligence, Space and Maps. Smart Cities, Chapter 3.
• Urry, J. (2016) What Is the Future?, Polity Press.
  

Field Studies

Field studies form an integral part of the course to support our understanding of how transportation infrastructure development is conducted in a practical urban setting. While in Copenhagen, we will be going on a half-day field study around the city.

Expectations of the Students

This course is not a traditional lecture class, but relies heavily on class discussion, informed by an in-depth, critical reading of the assigned texts. The readings for each class have purposely been kept to reasonable amounts and it is expected that all students have read, seen, or played the material prior to the lectures.

I expect you to fully engage in the lectures, participate actively in discussions, and be open minded about your fellow students' points of view. Your overall grade is dependent on engaged, informed, and highly active participation in class discussion.

Illness and Missing Class

We all have a collective responsibility towards each other at DIS. Please monitor yourself carefully for symptoms of COVID-19, flu, stomach flu,... If you experience any of these symptoms, please stay at home and inform your instructor that you won’t be in class or at a field study – this will count as an excused absence. 

Do keep up with your coursework and join activities as soon as you feel better, no later than the following class. This should include doing all the class preparation and checking in with your classmates for the class activities. If you are too sick to do work, please reach out to the DIS Care team at care@dis.dk for medical support.

Evaluation

Class participation:

Participation will be evaluated by the extent to which students attend classes, actively engage in class discussions, contribute to workshops, and critically reflect on the assigned readings. You are expected to bring your reading notes as well as questions to class. The reading required is the one going beyond finding information, or identifying main ideas. It will ask you to dig deep to identify meaning, relationships between ideas, and to challenge yourself finding your own response to these ideas, and its impact to the world around. Such response involves analysis, synthesis and creativity. You are encouraged to bring your own experiences into the discussions.

Creative journal:

This is your collection of class reflections, representing the connection between readings, discussions and our visits in the city. A minimum of a creative, crafted page per class (collage, drawing, mind map, manifesto, recipe book, letter ...), each of structured observations and critical reflections on what you experienced, learned, and thought about during and after the mobile lectures. This journal is meant to hone both your observational and critical reflection skills, as well as to practice concise writing techniques and develop your creative skills.

This creative journal forms the foundation for the final project.

Final project:

Serious transport planning game report:

You will be asked to develop a transport planning game. You will work in groups and you will have the chance to choose from a number of different kinds of games (board games, card games, role-playing games, video games). There is also an entire workshop devoted to the use of games in planning that will help you to get started. Work for both game and research report will have to start early in the semester.

Research presentation:

Another element of the final project is a group research presentation that is intended to build upon your field studies' journals and experiences derived from drafting your game's proposal. Your presentation will have to include your game's design, analysis, choice, motivation, expected outcomes, and limitations and reflections (upon the lessons learned of creating a serious game as a planning tool for your specific case study/place).

All assignments must be handed in on the due date electronically (i.e. on Canvas). Late hand-in and lack of references are not accepted. To be eligible for a passing grade in this class you must complete all of the assigned work.

Grading

Assignment	Percent
Active individual participation in class and on field studies	20%
Creative journal	30%
Serious game report	30%
Research presentation	20%

Academic Regulations  

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on: 

• Course Enrollment and Grading  
• Academic Expectations and Honor Code 

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