UT-406 Urbanism - life and planning

The course is connected to the following study programs

• Master's Programme in Global Development and Planning

Teaching language

Norwegian

Course contents

The key-theme is urbanism as the socio-spatial forming of cities, and what forces are included here. Architects say "life first, then houses", but what do they mean by `life'? The course departs from earlier introductions to cultural clusters, entrepreneurial cities, experience economy, event cities, digi-cities, and knowledge cities. Themes are (a) traditional forms of cultural planning - art, music - as part of strategic urban development within the interurban competition. (b) Cities prefer 'network-strategies' as governing strategy, and today this includes (c) a greater focus on everyday life and its aesthetic forces. Further it includes the recognition of the city as a space of experience and experience with change.

The course will introduce and discuss urban theory and urban planning theory from the following themes:

 

Urban planning and urban theory

• What is urbanism and urbanity?

• How is the relation everyday life, public space, visual space, urban design understood?

• How is diversity, community, urbanity and experience understood?

 

Key areas of urbanisms

• The socio-spatiality of cities

• Urban design and and socio-material fields of interaction

• City life as values, normativity, everyday life

 

Interventions

• Urban competiton: the event city

• The city as public space

• The lived city: Life-forms and experiences

• Urban life as perceptions, experience, sesning and aesthetic

Learning outcomes

On completion of this course, the students should be able to:

• Be able to discuss theories, concepts and understandings of urbanism as planning for socio-spatiality

• Knowledge on crucial aspect of ur urban planning and urban design

• Having a critical perspective on planning discourses, in particular the planning for city life

• Be able to use theories for intervention in urban planning and urban politics

• Understand and evaluate visible and emergent forces of change and suggest intervention

Examination requirements

Compulsory participation in group-work and seminars.

Teaching methods

Combination of lectures, seminars and group work. The course's teaching is organized through a structured study guide that requires a high degree of student participation.

Evaluation

The person responsible for the course decides, in cooperation with student representative, the form of student evaluation and whether the course is to have a midway or end of course evaluation in accordance with the quality system for education, chapter 4.1.

Assessment methods and criteria

Essay 3000 words for individual, 5000 words for group (max 3 students). The essay is assessed on the basis of graded grade A-F.