SPL 507 - Restructuring of Cities (Critical Perspectives in Urban Studies)

Course Objectives

All over the world, cities are undergoing a great change and transformation depending on the global and local dynamics influenced and enforced by economical and political restructuring. It is important to gain awareness about the challenges that affect the reproduction of urban space, the cultures and societies dependent on this space, and to gain the competence to facilitate strategic approach and solutions that are needed for the effective management of this process. In this respect, the aim of the course is to introduce students to different subject areas related to the reproduction of urban space by presenting a critical assessment of the policies that make up the urban agenda; to gain the theoretical background that enables to bridge between socio-economic culture and the politics of reproduction urban space. The course is based on a series of thematic seminars that illustrate different perspectives on the reconstruction of the urbanity, while encouraging critical thinking, especially after the 1980s under the influence of globalization. It examines the transformation of urban systems and the impact of this transformation within the frame of urbanization politics and urbanisation of politics under the themes of spatial ecology, the commons of food, temporality and hospitality, conflict heritage, art and memory, public space, urban opposition, and the right to the city. Besides examining both local and transnational forces driving contemporary urbanization, it focuses on key issues emerging in the rapidly growing cities of the developing world, ranging from growing income inequality and socio-economic exclusion, environmental challenges and rising violence to fragmented yet sprawling and underserviced landscapes that often lack effective institutions for sustainable metropolitan management.

Course Description

All over the world, cities are undergoing a great change and transformation depending on the global and local dynamics influenced and enforced by economical and political restructuring. It is important to gain awareness about the challenges that affect the reproduction of urban space, the cultures and societies dependent on this space, and to gain the competence to facilitate strategic approach and solutions that are needed for the effective management of this process. In this respect, the aim of the course is to introduce students to different subject areas related to the reproduction of urban space by presenting a critical assessment of the policies that make up the urban agenda; to gain the theoretical background that enables to bridge between socio-economic culture and the politics of reproduction urban space. The course is based on a series of thematic seminars that illustrate different perspectives on the reconstruction of the urbanity, while encouraging critical thinking, especially after the 1980s under the influence of globalization. It examines the transformation of urban systems and the impact of this transformation within the frame of urbanization politics and urbanisation of politics under the themes of spatial ecology, the commons of food, temporality and hospitality, conflict heritage, art and memory, public space, urban opposition, and the right to the city. Besides examining both local and transnational forces driving contemporary urbanization, it focuses on key issues emerging in the rapidly growing cities of the developing world, ranging from growing income inequality and socio-economic exclusion, environmental challenges and rising violence to fragmented yet sprawling and underserviced landscapes that often lack effective institutions for sustainable metropolitan management.