SEMINARS FALL 2008
HONR228B Planning for Cities
Thursday 1:30-4:00 PM
Dr. Alexander Chen, Urban Studies and Planning Program, School of Architecture,
Planning, and Preservation
This seminar will trace the development of the city from the first urban
settlements to the global cities of today. In the course of these travels,
we will use a multidisciplinary lens, to view different aspects of the
city and develop a holistic perspective of the city as a complex system
of interrelated parts. A multidisciplinary lens will allow us to see how
fields of study as diverse as architecture and economics, preservation
and mathematics, and real estate development and sociology combine to
respond to the planning challenges and opportunities of city life. By
zooming in on specific issues and topics, we will focus on the complex
dynamic between people and preferences, power and politics, as well as
property and place.
Students will leave this course with a better understanding of how and
why we should plan for cities; with insight into the significance of the
urban environment to the individual and society; with knowledge of the
importance of people and preference in planning our urban environment;
with understanding of the politics and power of planning and the role
of citizen participation; and with a keen appreciation of property and
place in planning for a sustainable urban environment.
Through lectures, discussion, case studies, gaming, and simulation exercises, students will be introduced to the theory and practice of planning for cities. Students will be graded on written homework assignments focusing on class activities and readings (25%), participation in class activities (20%), a midterm exam (25%), and final exam (30%).
Required texts will include:
E. Barbara Phillips. City Lights: Urban-Suburban Life in the Global Society.
Oxford University Press, Second edition. 1996 ISBN10: 0195056892 paper
Siegel, Fred and Harry Siegel (eds). Urban Society Annual Editions: Urban
Society, 13/e, Thirteenth Edition. 2007 ISBN: 0-07-339743-1 paper
CORE: Interdisciplinary and Emerging Issues [IE]
